NUT? YEAH, THAT'S THE RIGHT NAME.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Golf

So your wife is ready to divorce you, your oldest friends struggle to empathize, only your golfing buddies truly understand your obsession to be on the course, and you think you're the golf nut of all golf nuts?

Think again.

Meet Nobby Orens, a 62-year-old Encino resident and Braemar Country Club member who has been voted the 1999 Golf Nut of the Year by the Golf Nuts Society.

With good reason.

To list just a few of Orens' golf feats last year, he:

--Played 134 rounds on 36 courses in 27 cities, five states, six countries and two continents;

--Logged 38,445 air miles during one six-month period for golf-related trips;

--On July 20 played 18 holes in each of three cities on two continents, teeing off with a 4:58 a.m. round at Stockley Park GC near London, then flying to New York, where he played a one-hour, five-minute round at Clearview GC, then taking another flight to LAX and a helicopter ride to Braemar, where he completed his third round of the day.

``I'll probably be a golf nut forever, or as long as my wife will keep me,'' said Orens, happily married to Carol for 31 years. Their doormat reads, ``A golfer and a normal person live here.''

The 16-handicapper, a father of three and grandfather of six, says he became officially hooked on the game when he went to Pebble Beach seven years ago to attend the wedding of one of his children.

``We went to the driving range just to waste some time and . . .''

The rest is amazing, even for someone who has as golf-friendly a job as Orens, who owns Plaza Travel, Inc. and describes himself as ``Director of Golf Research.''

Since that fateful day on the range at Pebble Beach, he has:

--Once played 200 holes in a single day at a tournament in Alaska and wound up disappointed daylight lasted only 19 hours;

--Twice crossed an ocean to play at least 18 holes at sites more than 5,000 miles apart on the same day, aided by the international date line on a 1998 New Zealand-to-Los Angeles trip.

--Played 100 holes in a tournament in Hawaii one day the day after his trip from New Zealand;

--Once lost 17 balls in a single round playing in high winds and on another occasion played - in the only group on the course - in torrential rain so severe his golf cart ``drowned'' in a hollow near the 18th tee.

The day Orens got a 4:15 a.m. phone call to go to the hospital for the birth of his sixth grandchild, he threw his clubs into the trunk just in case his daughter delivered in time for him to make his 8:28 a.m. tee time. She did, and so did he.

So goes life and golf for the man who owns nine golf statues, 249 golf shirts, a TV remote that changes channels to the sound of a club hitting a ball, and has golall collections of 220 at home and at the office, where his desk is topped by a replica of a golf hole - with working waterfall.

Orens' most unusual golf endeavor, however, might be the one that failed. On New Year's Eve, he was a few minutes late for his 11:59:58 p.m. tee time and missed hitting a golf ball from the old millennium into the new millennium. But he surely became one of the quickest to hit a ball in 2000, teeing off from his friend's patio shortly after midnight.

Also the Golf Nut of the Year runner-up for 1998, Orens ranks third on the all-time points list for the society (www.golfnutssociety.com), based in Salt Lake City and founded by Ron Garland in 1986.

Orens was bested in 1998 by Wendi Keene, the society's first female champion. She prevailed after taking up the game at age 38 and becoming so thoroughly hooked she built an indoor driving range in her garage, practiced there nightly for the first six months and after seven years switched from playing right-handed to left-handed.

Keene and Orens are merely continuing the head-shaking history of the society, some of whose past accomplishments are worthy of note and possibly awe.

Joe Malay, the inaugural Golf Nut of the Year, won that award for 1986 after driving to a tournament 85 miles away, having a flat tire, discovering his spare also was flat and then lacing on his spikes, shouldering his golf bag and hitchhiking to the nearest town, where he hired a local cropduster to fly him to the tournament.

Merle Bell, the 1992 Golf Nut of the Year, played golf in all 50 states one year, then did it again - left-handed - the next year.

Pat Seelig, named Golf Nut of the Year for 1991, achieved lasting fame the day he was nearly killed in an automobile accident, woke up in an ambulance and asked, ``Where are my clubs?''

But the best story of all involves E.M. Vandeweghe, named Golf Nut of the Year at age 89 in 1993. He played golf 74 years, practiced every day for 50 consecutive years and one day ``Got it!'' while practicing his swing in his backyard. His son Ernie put down the top on the convertible and E.M. - still holding the club in his newly discovered grip - was driven to the course. There, Ernie teed up a ball for his dad, who promptly shanked it into the pro shop.

THIS WEEK IN GOLF

PGA TOUR 

Bay Hill Invitational

Site: Orlando, Fla.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Bay Hill Club and Lodge (7,207 yards, par 72).

Purse: $3 million.

Winner's share: $540,000.

Television: USA (Thursday-Friday, 4-6 p.m.) and NBC (Saturday-Sunday,3-6 p.m.)

LPGA TOUR

Standard Register Ping

Site: Phoenix.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Legacy Golf Resort (6,392 yards, par 72).

Purse: $850,000.

Winner's share: $127,500.

Television: ESPN (Thursday, 1-3 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; Saturday, 6-7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 5-7 p.m.)

SENIOR PGA TOUR

Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf 

Site: St. Augustine, Fla.

Schedule: Friday-Sunday.

Course: The Slammer & The Squire (6,606 yards, par 72).

Purse: $1.74 million.

Winner's shares: $155,000 each.

Format: Two-man teams, best-ball.

Television: ESPN (Friday, 1-3 p.m.) and ABC (Saturday, 1-3 p.m.; Sunday,2-4 p.m.)

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Box: THIS WEEK IN GOLF (see text)