L Black

Number 8
Lucas Black
Handicap: 2.3
Despite his success on the silver screen, you get the idea that Lucas Black is a frustrated golfer. The actor, who appeared in Jarhead and The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, told Men’s Fitness magazine that he’d love to embark on a second career;

“If I had to pick a dream job, I’d be on the PGA tour,” Black told the magazine. “I like to see the ball go in the hole. Don’t we all? But I am pretty good — I played golf on the set of All the Pretty Horses every day. So, I think I can make it one day.”

He blended in better than his camouflage golf bag as he trudged up and down A.L. Gustin Golf Course’s rolling terrain yesterday during the first round of the 50th edition of the Phil Cotton Invitational.

People who didn’t already know Lucas Black but who happened to hear him speaking in his thick Southern drawl would have no doubt figured out he wasn’t from around here. But they still might not have recognized him the way most of America does: as an actor with a growing career in Hollywood.

That’s the way Black wants it.

“He doesn’t like the Hollywood scene,” said John Weston, one of Columbia’s leading amateur golfers, who’s befriended Black the past two years. “He’s a down-to-earth kid, and I think that’s why he likes Columbia.”

The 25-year-old Black, best known for his roles as Frank Wheatley in “Sling Blade,” quarterback Mike Winchell in “Friday Night Lights” and Kruger in “Jarhead,” was raised in the small town of Speake, Ala. He moved to Columbia about five years ago after filming the 2004 movie “Killer Diller,” an independent film shot in nearby Fayette.

Since living here, Black has made friends with many prominent members of the Columbia golfing community, including Weston, Jake Poe, a former teammate of Tiger Woods’ at Stanford who manages the golf course and driving range at Perche Creek, and most of the Missouri golf team. It was Poe who suggested he begin entering amateur events last summer.

“I wanted to take my game a little bit more serious instead of just playing around for fun, and I talked to him about it, and he told me I should enter in these tournaments,” Black said. “I’ve got a couple buddies on the golf team, and I just got the tournament information from them and then just started entering that way. The ones that the Missouri golf team entered, I’d enter.”

Unlike most of those MU golfers, Black hadn’t been playing golf his entire life. He’d only really picked it up when he was 16.

“I played football all throughout my life,” Black said. “Growing up as a little kid from Alabama, that’s what we do is throw around the pigskin.”

He played on his high school golf team as a junior and senior and has continued to develop his game ever since.

His schedule allows him plenty of free time. Earlier this year, he filmed a movie called “Legion,” due out in 2009, but he said he’s planning to take the next few months off before embarking on his next role.

When he’s not working, Black, who joined The Club at Old Hawthorne, spends hours every week at the range or on the putting green. He’s picked up tips from Richard Poe, the former Missouri golf coach and the director of golf at A.L. Gustin. He’s also worked with Weston, who played at MU in the 1970s and is a two-time winner of the city championship.

“From last year, it’s improved a lot,” Black said of his game. “Last year, I didn’t play so well in tournaments. I feel like I’ve just got a little bit more experience in tournaments and am a little bit more comfortable and don’t make as big of mistakes as I used to as far as triples and doubles. It’s getting better, but I’ve still got a long way to go.

“I’m still going to get working on it and hopefully one day come out with a win in one of these tournaments.”