Nerves flew faster than golf balls Tuesday at the Riverside Country Club when Mike Weir played the course for the first time.

The nerves didn't come from Weir; he was calm and cool.

But his playing partners, who rotated onto Weir's foursome every three holes, had to hit golf balls in front of a couple-hundred hushed onlookers . . . and the 2003 Masters champion.

Were there some awkward gaffes? Oh, yes.

"It was nerve-wracking," conceded Saskatoon's Ed Carleton, who played the fourth through sixth holes with Weir and his assembled gallery.

Carleton -- better known in these pages as the defensive co-ordinator with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies' football team -- said his short stint with Weir was far from a normal golf outing.

But with the butterflies fluttering on his first drive, he came through in the clutch -- unlike a few other golfers through the day.

"You know what? I hit the longest drive by 40 yards," Carleton recounted later. "Weir hit his five-iron and I hit my driver, but I was out there the furthest. I was pretty happy about that. Then the next hole together, it was a par three and I hit it right into the water off the tee box."

Weir complimented good shots and offered sympathetic words for bad ones.

"I didn't see that," he remarked when one golfer trickled his tee shot 10 feet away, a comment that -- loosely translated -- means "try that one again."

The guy did, and hit it good and long.

The round was far from normal for Weir, too, even if you discount the rotating partners.

The renowned golfer -- who paid his own way to Saskatoon while working to raise money for a planned children's hospital -- gamely signed autographs, shook hands and conducted media interviews between holes.

Orlo Drewitz is a huge Weir fan and he got a book signed on the front-nine. Drewitz, a former competitive curler, said Weir is the one athlete he follows closely.

"I'm not generally a big sports nut," Drewitz said. "I don't watch much hockey or NFL football or basketball or baseball. When it comes to sports, he's far and away my sports hero.

"It's awfully exciting when you see him walking the fairways and putting the greens on a course you play. Having one of the world's best players here is really something."

Weir has been a compelling presence all week. You just had to watch how he conducted himself during the afternoon golf clinic at Griffiths Stadium to know the perfect fundraising front man was in place.

Weir, standing in a steady drizzle for over an hour, answered questions from the 500 or so people in the audience and hit a variety of shots -- explaining grips and angles and approaches. He recreated a few of his more famous shots, talked about playing with Tiger Woods, told a few inside tales from his 2003 Masters victory, explained strategy in layman's terms and did it all with ease and grace.

"I'd like to think I'd be cheering for him even if he wasn't a Canadian," Drewitz said earlier in the day while watching Weir work his magic at the Riverside. "He doesn't have a big ego like a lot of sports people."

Tuesday showcased just how good (Weir) and bad (some of Weir's partners) the game of golf can be when you pit man against dimpled ball.

And by doing what he did, Weir also demonstrated the perfect use of celebrity.

Children's Hospital of Saskatchewan fundraisers were looking to build a little momentum, and they found their fulcrum in Mike Weir.