THE EDUCATION OF A WOMAN GOLFER

Nancy Lopez, rookie golf sensation of 1978 (and Female Athlete of the Year), loved Barbie dolls as a child and now is ""car crazy,"" has seen Saturday Night Fever five times (""but I'm still just 22""), and couldn't be happier with her clothing contract and her new condominium. It seems--from this half-burble, half-brass-tacks autobiography--that she also set a record by winning $200,000 in her first pro year. She started at eight years, under her father's tutelage, and mastered golf without a country club. The best advice she has gotten--""Come up on the back swing real slow and real high, extend, and hit the ball."" For the rest, Lopez suggests that you find your own natural swing, practice, and be very confident. She offers general tips on putting and she includes excerpts from an article in Golf Digest that breaks down her swing in a series of detailed photographs. She compares men's and women's golf: the 15-yard handicap isn't perfect but it is adequate, women are going after birdies just like men do--and they are getting the big money too. Lopez denies that women golfers are lesbians and she offers a bland paragraph of introduction about the women on the tour. And, of course, she describes her fabulous streak of five wins in a sport where even the best can only hope to win 20 percent. She loves signing autographs for ""Nancy's Navy,"" finds happiness in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and can find nothing significant to criticize about the LPGA. Lopez can't say enough about how nice her managers are: they have taken care of her by getting her endorsements for a golf device, orange juice, Colgate products (including golf clubs), Fila clothes, and this book. It won't do much for women in sports, but it's expert on golf.