Tin Cup

It's appropriate that the first major Pro-Am PGA golf tournament of the year, the Bob Hope Classic, which begins Jan. 17, was created by a comedian. Because let's face it, the only really good movies about the sport are funny ones. The serious ones tend to be double bogeys with audiences, critics and golfers alike. "When you are sending golf up, the stuff is great," says golf journalist Jeff Silverman, who has written for such publications as Sports Illustrated and is working on a book about Pennsylvania's famed Merion Golf Club.

It's appropriate that the first major Pro-Am PGA golf tournament of the year, the Bob Hope Classic, which begins Jan. 17, was created by a comedian. Because let's face it, the only really good movies about the sport are funny ones. The serious ones tend to be double bogeys with audiences, critics and golfers alike. "When you are sending golf up, the stuff is great," says golf journalist Jeff Silverman, who has written for such publications as Sports Illustrated and is working on a book about Pennsylvania's famed Merion Golf Club.

Supervisor Roger Stanton's exposure at this time for violation of the county TIN CUP ordinance and the California State Fair Political Practices Act was for the benefit of the Baldwin Co. Supervisor Thomas Riley's vote for Paul Hegness' developer clients after accepting a $250 company contribution from Mr. Hegness lacked ethical and moral judgment. Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez's Oct. 7 fund-raiser in a non-election year reads like a Who's Who of the development industry. In observance of the Constitution's anniversary, they have abandoned the pretense of impartial government and have their meetings at the "prestigious Lincoln Club," where a ritualistic serpentine chain dance occurs.

The new headquarters of one of the world's most popular websites is 3,000 square feet of rented space furnished with desks and chairs bought on the cheap from EBay and Craigslist. A sheet of printer paper taped to the door says the office belongs to the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia, the online almanac of anything and everything that users want to chronicle, from Thomas Aquinas to Zorba the Greek.

In his first post-"Waterworld" role, Kevin Costner is back on top at the box office, as "Tin Cup"--a romantic comedy set on the golf links--debuted in first place. Though the opening was solid rather than sensational, it was considerably better than those of the other new entries, such as "The Fan," "Alaska" and "Bordello of Blood." "These are the dog days of August," said John Krier, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

The dispute over two political campaign contributions to Supervisor Harriett Wieder has again focused attention on the need to close some loopholes in Orange County's TIN CUP (Time Is Now, Clean Up Politics) campaign reform ordinance. The ordinance prohibits a supervisor from voting on issues affecting major campaign contributors, which under today's maximum is anyone who gave the supervisor more than $1,739 in the last four years.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Roger R. Stanton on Tuesday asked the county counsel's office to put every opinion it issues on application of the so-called TIN CUP political contribution law in writing and to warn supervisors about pending votes that might trigger the law. The TIN CUP (Time Is Now, Clean Up Politics) ordinance prohibits supervisors from voting on measures affecting contributors who have given more than $1,704 to their campaigns over a four-year period.

A self-styled watchdog over the county's campaign-financing ordinance has mounted an attack on what she says is widespread violation of the measure. Many major contributors to the political campaigns of county supervisors are ignoring a requirement that they report their contributions to the county registrar of voters within 30 days after they are made, Shirley Grindle said Friday.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday added a cost-of-living increase to the county's TIN CUP campaign contribution law. Under the modified ordinance, a supervisor cannot vote on an issue that involves a contributor who has donated more than $1,808 to his or her campaign during the previous 4 years. The previous limit had been $1,739.

Orange County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder's vote last month on a controversial development agreement involving an Irvine Co. project did not violate the county's campaign financing ordinance, the office of Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks has decided. In a statement released Wednesday, the district attorney's office also agreed with the Irvine Co.

Orange County voters may be asked in November to repeal a groundbreaking political-reform law that for 25 years has restricted campaign donations to local candidates. In the absence of the Orange County law, donations would be regulated by more generous state limits that allow, for instance, married couples to contribute 10 times as much. Supervisor Chris Norby floated the idea of a repeal last week as the Board of Supervisors discussed an August deadline to put matters on the November ballot.

I wasn't surprised by what I read in your article about the "King of the Hill" writers going to Texas ("Deep in the heart of Arlen, Texas," Oct. 20). I just can't understand why people writing about Texas have to always keep writing the same old mundane stereotypes -- rednecks and barbecue, horses and trucks, twangy talk and country music, etc. Same old garbage from Hollywood. Every book and every movie, from "The Last Picture Show" to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." When will these people find different material in Texas for a change?

The Times endorses selectively, on a case-by-case basis. Here are recommendations for the Nov. 5 election. * Measure A It's scary to imagine what Orange County's political races would look like without Shirley Grindle, the feisty, sandpaper-voiced former engineer who has made a second career of scrubbing local campaigns clean. Her latest attempt, Measure A, is downright tame in comparison with previous reforms but provides needed updates to campaign finance law.

I've mentioned recent approaches by high-tech panhandlers, including one who asked a driver if he could "spare some cell minutes" and another whose sign read, "www.any sparechange.com." But old-fashioned appeals survive. Cliff and Phyllis Kirst of Glendale spotted a street person with a sign that admitted, "I won't lie. I need beer." Speaking of handouts: In the latest issue of FHM magazine, Heidi Fleiss, once known as the Madam to the Stars, was asked by an interviewer about big tips her workers received.

Kevin Costner, who played pro golfer Roy McAvoy in the 1996 movie "Tin Cup," told reporters at the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach that he might have given people the wrong impression. "I represent a lot of golfers," said Costner, who is listed as a 16 handicap. "I shoot 7s and 8s all the time. I think making 'Tin Cup' put enormous pressure on me. "People thought I could play, when really it was a cutup movie."

Here's how my 5-iron wound up among the naked tai chi people on the first full day of the "Golf in the Kingdom" workshop: Our guru-pro, Fred Shoemaker, sets up a cage on the main lawn of the Esalen Institute so we can throw clubs into it. Oh, we hit a few balls first so he can videotape our normal swings. But the idea is to learn how much better we look when we LET GO. So Fred tells us to fling one club after another at a bull's-eye on the back of the cage. Just fling 'em. Let 'em go.

The new headquarters of one of the world's most popular websites is 3,000 square feet of rented space furnished with desks and chairs bought on the cheap from EBay and Craigslist. A sheet of printer paper taped to the door says the office belongs to the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia, the online almanac of anything and everything that users want to chronicle, from Thomas Aquinas to Zorba the Greek.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz today scoffed at the idea of the United States' passing "a tin cup" for help in keeping the Persian Gulf open, while another official ruled out asking Japan to pay. Staking out a limited role for U.S. Navy escorts for oil tankers in the volatile gulf, National Security Adviser Frank C. Carlucci expressed satisfaction with the support allied leaders registered at the economic summit here for freedom of navigation in the waterway.

Despite the start of school, a spate of sports events and a weak crop of film offerings, the traditionally slow post-Labor Day weekend was up over last year. Total 1996 box office is about 10% ahead of last year's record-breaking pace. Universal's "Bulletproof," a buddy film starring Adam Sandler and Damon Wayans, arrived in first place with an unspectacular $6 million, but another new entry, "Bogus," failed to make the Top 10.

Despite generally bad reviews, New Line's thriller "The Island of Dr. Moreau," starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer, debuted in first place, narrowly edging out last week's top grosser, the Kevin Costner comedy "Tin Cup." Edward Burns' latest comedy, "She's the One," just missed the top 10, taking in $2,088,500 on 459 screens for an average of $4,550 per screen. *--* Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. "The Island of Dr. Moreau" $9.