I don't know about you, but when it's 30 degrees outside and my part of the world is enveloped by a wintry fog, the last thing I want to do is pull my golf clubs out of the garage, slip on my spikes and go chase a silly little white ball around for four hours.

And after searching around on the Internet, it's obvious that there are some people at The Sporting News with the same mindset.

Thanks to their Ultimate Fantasy Golf game, none of us has to worry about dragging our sticks out to the local bog that we call a municipal golf course, hacking up a 95, and then heading back to the house with nothing more than soaked feet and a queasy feeling in our stomachs from the clubhouse egg salad sandwich we ate at the turn.

For the reasonable sum of $19.95, you can purchase your own foursome and then captain your own team right through the U.S. Open in June.

Here's how it works:

The Sporting News will give you $4 million fictional dollars to spend on your foursome, which will play in a season-long, fantasy best-ball tournament based on how they do in the PGA events.

And you're not going to be stuck with the same golfers all year long.

Similar to many of The Sporting News fantasy games, you'll be allowed to trade players weekly, and the prices of the players will fluctuate depending on how you and your rivals buy and sell them.

The players' salaries will be market-driven, just like the stock market, so it's beneficial to your team to buy low and sell high.

And you'll have plenty of time to maneuver and choose a team that is to your liking.

Season 1 starts on Jan. 24 with the Phoenix Open and concludes in June with the U.S. Open. In all, your team will be entered in 21 tournaments.

And if you have friends who are interested in getting their fill of golf without braving the elements, they can join in on the fun as well.

With Ultimate Golf, you can join an already-existing division, create your own among friends and family members, or just be assigned automatically into a random division.

And for less than a twenty spot, you're going to get six months of entertainment and also have a chance to win a host of prizes.

The top dog, or tiger in this case, of all the game's entrants will win the grand prize of $1,000. Cash prizes and private golf lessons will also be given out to the second-through fifth-place finishers.

Other top finishers will receive free game credits for other Sporting News fantasy games.

Now, I can't disclose who I'm picking as my initial foursome, but I can tell you this: My sources tell me that Mike Weir and David Toms are a couple of players that are poised for breakout years.

Weir, the diminutive Canadian, already showed that he's ready to join the upper echelon of players with his performance in the Mercedes in Hawaii.

Don't wait any longer. Play starts on the 24th. And your first foursome needs to be in by midnight on the 23rd. Go to sportingnews.com for more details.

So leave your clubs in hibernation for a little while longer and do what I do -- live vicariously through the lives of the guys who can REALLY play. Heck, I plan on being 50-under-par by Valentine's Day.

You can e-mail Greg Lucas at: greg@mrfantasy.com