Golf Pro’s Wife Chose to Shoot From Hip

Eddie Merrins, the longtime head teaching professional at Bel-Air Country Club, has a new book out, “Playing a Round With the Little Pro,” written with Mike Purkey. Merrins’ friend, the legendary Byron Nelson, wrote the foreword.

Merrins talks in the book about the time in 1996 when he and his wife, Lisa, were paired with Nelson and his wife, Peggy, in a pro-member event at Las Colinas in Dallas.

“During the course of this delightful round,” wrote Merrins, “Byron had a 40-foot birdie putt on the fifth hole and left the approach putt some 12 feet short of the cup. Lisa, no shy wallflower, stated, ‘Byron, that was a half nelson.’ ”

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Trivia time: Merrins, 73, coached the UCLA men’s golf team from 1975 to 1989, winning the national championship in 1988. Merrins was an All-American at what college?

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The pyramid and golf: Merrins writes that he once asked his friend John Wooden to talk to the UCLA men’s and women’s golf teams about winning.

According to Merrins, Wooden, known for his pyramid of success, prepared like a college lecturer and talked for 1 hour 20 minutes.

“Never once did he mention the word winning,” wrote Merrins. “He talked about preparation.”

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The West of the story: Jerry West, a regular at Bel-Air, was among Merrins’ pupils. Merrins notes in the book that West once shot a 28 on the back nine at Bel-Air, where no one else has broken 30. Merrins says that West was as low as a plus-two handicap and had the ability to play professionally.

“When he had the time to devote to golf, I think he let his sense of pride get in the way,” Merrins wrote of West. “Even though he loved to play and no one was a better competitor, I believe he shied away from high-level competition for fear he’d shoot some embarrassing scores.”

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A real fanatic: Merrins, who is still the pro emeritus at Bel-Air, wrote that Al Michaels currently has the distinction of playing more rounds of golf there than any other member.

Michaels last year told Golf Magazine about a conversation he had with Tiger Woods in 1999.

Woods had remarked, “You probably don’t get to play much.” Michaels, with ABC at the time, said he told him, “Tiger, my biggest fear in life is that my boss, Michael Eisner, who belongs to Bel-Air, shows up at the club. My 16 handicap would give him no pause, but if he checked the books for rounds played in June, he would see I played 23.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1983, the Philadelphia 76ers completed a four-game sweep of the Lakers in the NBA Finals with a 115-108 win at the Forum.

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Trivia answer: Louisiana State, where Merrins finished second individually in the 1952 NCAA championships.

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And finally: The season Albert Pujols is having reminds reader David Macaray of what the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Preacher Roe said when asked how he pitched to Stan Musial: “I throw him four wide ones [to walk him] and try to pick him off first base.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.