BY MARLA BALLARD

REPORTER

The game of Golf is enjoyed worldwide, it is the most popular in Ireland,

but Canada, the UK, and the US come in after. Golf is on record as having

been invented in Scotland in 1457. Surprisingly, golf was banned three times

in Scotland between 1457 and 1744, because the government believed it

interfered with military training.

Hunter Hawkins played many different sports in high school; football,

basketball, baseball, and golf. It was golf that he stuck with. He caught

the golfing bug from his father and grandfather, and this exposure to the sport

led him to play on the golf team in high school. "We won second place at

State High School Championships twice," said Hawkins.  Hawkins is a 2008

graduate of Fort Payne High School. After high school, he played on a golf

team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Hawkins is a husband, father, and Alfa Agent, but the love of the game is

still there and he plays in several pro/am tournaments each year. He said

his best score ever was 60 and he would have loved to have gone pro. "I was

able to beat out 5,000 players to play a USGA Mid-Amateur game," said

Hawkins. "The problem with making it all the way to pro is there are so many

other good players."

Over the years Hawkins has played at some beautiful and famous courses,

which included a golf course in Hawaii when he was playing on a team for

UAB. He has also played at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort - Pacific Dunes in

Oregon, but said his favorite was the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles,

California. His bucket list includes Pebble Beach and Augusta National.

"Augusta National is a private, members-only club, so I'm just hoping one

day someone will invite me to be their guest," said Hawkins. 

Hawkins said, locally he enjoys Terrapin Hills Country Club (Fort Payne),

Goose Pond Colony Lake Course (Scottsboro), Rainsville Golf & Country Club,

DeSoto Golf Course (Fort Payne), Lil' Mole Run Golf Course (Mentone), and

Dogwood Hills Golf Course (Jackson Country). He has also played about half

of the courses on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, which is a trail of 11

sites across the state of Alabama.

One of the things that Hawkins really likes about the game of golf is the

fact that players can still play late in life. "I know people who still play

golf well into their 80s," said Hawkins. "What other sport allows its

players to do that?" He also said he prefers the game because he needs no

one else to be able to play the game. "There's no referee, no pitcher, it's

also a good life lesson game," said Hawkins.

Growing up Hawkins was impressed with the way Tiger Woods played the game

and said Woods' determination to play well inspired him. "The dream of going

pro is challenging on many different levels, one of which is financial, but

even when the dream of going pro doesn't happen you can still play just for

the love of the game" said Hawkins.

"What other people may find in poetry or art museums, I find in the flight

of a good drive," - Arnold Palmer.