Foolish expectations are par for the course for golf-mad Ronnie

TO proud Scotsman Ronnie Corbett golf is a religion. But as far as his many fans are concerned, nothing is sacred when it comes to the wee comic.

''They expect me to fool around on the course and fluff my shots,'' laments Corbett, ''but I do that naturally, anyway.'' He's being modest. The smaller half of the famed TV series The Two Ronnies, Corbett - one of Britain's funniest men - plays off a 15 handicap and has teed off with the likes of Palmer, Nicklaus, Trevino, Faldo and Ballesteros.

His golfing guru, however, is Britain's former Ryder Cup captain, Brian Huggett, who, as it happens, began his career as an apprentice in Hong Kong.

Said Corbett: ''Whenever I'm in trouble with my game, which is nearly always, I call Brian up and he instantly puts it right over the telephone.'' Keeping Posted caught up with Corbett yesterday at the Marriott, where he will speak at the Reuters dinner tonight - that's after he has played in the news agency's charity golf tournament at Discovery Bay earlier in the day.

What news of his ex-sparring partner, Ronnie Barker, we asked. ''Oh, Ron,'' Corbett mused. ''He's now running an antique shop called the Emporium, which I always think is a very Hong Kong sounding name.

''He's completely retired and living in the Cotswolds. In fact, on the day he made the decision to quit he changed all his telephone numbers except one, on which he left a recorded message saying 'my life and career as you know it has ceased to be'.'' Next, we had Corbett pondering the news that, at today's tournament, a Porsche 911 was on offer at the eighth for a hole in one.