Her husband Dana is an admitted golf "freak." When he tees off this morning in the first round of the Turtle Bay Championship, it will be his 230th consecutive start, dating to the 1997 BankBoston Classic.

Quigley's ironman record on the Champions Tour might never be approached. But it isn't just how often Quigley, 56, plays. It is how much.

His record, up to now, is 73 holes in one day. Some people try to shoot their age. Quigley pretty much just plays that many holes.

"I go 36 or 54 (holes) a day everyday when I'm not in a tournament," Quigley said. "I don't have any other life. I'm pretty boring."

Not according to Angie, who plays to a 12-handicap and often goes out four times a week. She takes her clubs on tour and plays with other wives. She broke 80 twice last winter and had her first hole-in-one three weeks ago. She trails her husband by 20 now.

Angie, a licensed massage therapist, insists she is not a golf widow — "surprisingly enough."

"He plays and goes to work just like anyone else," she said. "He leaves for work at 9 in the morning during the week and practices until 4 or so. Then we usually go to the mall and walk around, have dinner. Right now we come home and watch baseball games."

Not surprisingly, they met through golf. He was already deep into his golf addiction, which started at age 14 when he got a caddie job at Rhode Island Country Club. In the evening, he and his brother sneaked onto the course off the road at No. 8.

Quigley graduated from the University of Rhode Island — he is in its Hall of Fame — with a business degree he knew he would never use. He turned pro in 1971 and played on the PGA Tour intermittently, winning $31,509.

He ultimately settled in as head pro at Crestwood Country Club in Massachusetts, playing dawn to dusk between lessons until he joined the senior tour in 1997. Through it all, he never sought therapy for his golf addiction. Golf was his therapy.

"My therapy is getting out there in the morning and hitting that first shot," Quigley said. "It gets my blood going for the day. Golf is a great thing for me. I was an alcoholic and I haven't had a drink in 13 years. I went through a divorce. I had things to deal with. But once I was on the golf course ... it's like fishing for some people. It helped me get through that time that was not so good."

Now Quigley is in shock at his success. When he made the MasterCard Championship his eighth tour victory in January on the Big Island, his earnings leaped over the $8 million mark and he rhapsodized over the incredible blessing golf had become.

"All my success the last six years is still a total surprise," Quigley said. "I still feel like the club pro I was and always will."

The perks on the Champions Tour, however, are a bit better. Just ask Angie Quigley.

"We couldn't do it if we didn't do it together," Angie said. "I usually don't have enough days in the week to do what I want to do."

Same can be said for Dana's son Devon, a sophomore at Rhode Island. When he was 17, he went out with his father to play 178 holes in four days.

"He's sick already," Dana admitted. "He plays everyday, hits balls everyday."

Surely he got the bug from a father who never tires of "trying to find a goofy white ball."

"After all these holes it's still a challenge wondering where the ball is going to go," Dana said. "There's never been a day in my life I didn't play golf because I didn't want to."