And, In A Prettier Part Of The Forest...

Laura's mother, who gets out and jogs with her daughter to keep in shape, says that sometimes in the winter the sun has set when Laura gets to the 17th and 18th holes, but Mrs. Baugh adds with a smile that she is always on hand to chaperone Laura's after-dark golf. If Laura feels any resentment toward her mother's presence she does not show it.

"All I need to play golf is my clubs and my mom," she says.

Laura often plays with the assistant pro and two other good men golfers, who used to spot her two strokes a side. Not anymore. The foursome has a little ritual: whoever wins a hole gets to pick the tee—ladies', men's, championship—on the next one. When Laura is the winner she picks the championship tee.

"I get more shots into the game that way," she says. "More practice time."

"I never see her without a club in her hand," marvels Ernest deTournillon, the starter. "You mention golf to her, you mention the world."