Email this page
Print this page
del.icio.us
digg
Practicing his putting in front of The Lodge at Pebble Beach, Kevin Costner took a few minutes to talk about the best caddy he ever had, playing with Tiger Woods, and if the game of golf exposes character.
Do you get together with the other celebrities before the pro am to warm up — a little practice time with them?
I don’t have [the same] passion for the game that those guys have. And they always want to know what kinds of things that I have done and I tell them “nothing” — I look at their face and they look like, “geez, Kev — shoot!” They’re great guys. I enjoy them outside the lines of golf, too. (Laughing, Costner surveys the scene in front of him — Don Cheadle, Kenny G, Huey Lewis, all putting, laughing, signing autographs.) I’m having a real good time, but today looks like a panic situation for sure. Maybe I should have practiced more.
How many times a year do you play Pebble Beach?
Just this time. I come here and I O.D. on Pebble for about five days.
What’s the most challenging part of the course for you?
None really. This just feels good to me, this whole week, the whole 18 holes. I normally don’t play 18 holes, but at Pebble I always put it in. I think, maybe I’ll never get to walk here again. I kind of keep that in the back of my head: It is a privilege and I’m flattered to be here.
How many holes do you play if you don’t play 18 holes?
It depends. If my mind shifts to writing or other things, I just walk off.
Would that be a little ADD on the golf course?
(Laughing) Maybe. That might be what you call it. And I am not playing for anything normally, so it’s real easy to step away.
Where else do you play?
I have a little course I play in Santa Barbara called Birnam Wood and that’s really about it. I play on TV mostly, or a quick Bucket and I’ll come play.
Is Cheech Marin the best caddy you ever had? (In reference to his movie, Tin Cup, where Marin plays this role.)
Cheech was the best caddy I ever had. [Ron] Shelton [writer and director of the movie Tin Cup which Costner starred in] caught the vulgarity and poetry of golf all at once.
You used to hang out with Tiger Woods here.
He’s an amazing player. We played a couple of years together. One year he was going to play with his father, but his father was not feeling well and so we played. And then we played a second year.
Is he fun?
Yes. He is fun. But you know, he has a personality. Tiger’s been around the world. He knows what time it is.
Does this game expose character?
I’ve always heard that cliché and it’s an interesting one. It reveals it on a certain level. You know when you have to call a foul on yourself, sort of like a pick-up basketball game, and most people don’t want to do that. So it’s an interesting game in that way.
Is conviviality the best part of the atmosphere here?
(Joking) What’s that word? I've never heard of that word. Does that mean that people get along — that they enjoy each other’s company? Yeah, because we all suffer a little bit because we know that 50 percent of the shots that we hit in this format are going to be good and 50 percent are going to require “Oooooooohhhhhh.” So people suffer that way. You know it’s the ego.
You don’t seem to get nervous.
No, I don’t really choke. But if I make a bad shot off that tee, it will be because I’m trying to make a good one; it won’t be because I’m nervous. It will be because I really want it and I don’t have enough good swings in the bag, so it’s not that. I just want to immerse myself in this place. I took my son out for a walk really early this morning. He’s 9 months old today. We took a long walk and then ended up in the clubhouse. The sun was coming through the windows and the carpet looked like a big football field to him. And then three babies came out of the woodwork and it turned into a damn nursery in there! But that’s the pleasure of Pebble. You can make up your own rules.
