This week, Black acting like a golfer

DECATUR - Golf or act?

Lucas Black loves to do both.

Give him an option, however, and he'll reach for his clubs without hesitation.

The Speake native who made his name appearing in movies such as 'Sling Blade' and 'Friday Night Lights' isn't done acting, but at 26, he's got an eye on adding a second page to his resume.

His quest to become a professional golfer brought him back to Decatur this week to compete in the Spirit of America golf tournament at Burningtree Country Club. The event is for amateurs, but the winner will get an exemption to compete in a Nationwide Tour event.

"Playing professional golf - that's the ultimate dream," Black said. "Walking down the 18th fairway at Augusta - that's probably every golfer's dream."

To achieve those dream scenarios, Black is putting in work.

After first picking up a golf club at 16, Black took some time away from the sport when he graduated from Speake High School in 2001.

About 2 1/2 years ago, the passion returned.

Now living in Columbia, Mo., he started playing in amateur events in Missouri while occasionally traveling to Tennessee and Kentucky for similar events. This will be his first Spirit of America appearance on the Burningtree course he hadn't seen in six or seven years before Wednesday's practice round.

Since refocusing on the sport in which he won a section title as a senior at Speak, the scratch-golfer has recorded a pair of top-10 finishes in the past few weeks but is still searching for his first title.

Two weeks ago, he was sixth at an tournament in Columbia followed by a semifinal finish in a match-play event the next week.

John Weston is a friend of Black's who helps him with his game. What separates his soft-spoken buddy from the Northern Alabama countryside, Weston said, is his desire.

"His potential is vast," Weston said. "I've been steering him in the right direction because he has a tremendous amount of talent."

And while he'd choose a day on the course over a day on the set, Black isn't about to give up acting.

He's got two movies in the pipelines, including an independent film he shot last winter called 'Get Low.' Working alongside big names such as Bill Murray and Robert Duvall didn't keep Black away from the golf course.

Shooting in Georgia gave a few of the stars an opportunity to play a round at Atlanta's East Lake Country Club, where golf legend Bobby Jones learned the sport.

"I walked in the club house and I had chills running up and down my back," he said.

Black said he resisted any urge to drop any lines from 'Caddyshack' while playing the round with Murray, who famously portrayed Carl Spackler in the classic 1980 golf flick.

"Well, maybe a 'na-na-na-na' to get a couple of putts to drop," a chuckling Black said.

Even on the set, golf is on Black's mind. He's not afraid to practice his putting and chipping while waiting for his turn in front of the camera.

It's his skill as a scrambler that gives Black confidence to compete against the elite Spirit field packed with top-notch college golfers from around the country.

"It's my passion," he said. "And if it keeps progressing and I keep getting better, I am going to try out and see how a professional career goes."

He's even caddied a few times for buddies on the Nationwide Tour so he knows the ropes.

Weston said he has the raw ability to make it as a pro, but he needs to gain more experience competing. Black's clubhead speed has been clocked at 125 miles per hour - a quality that can't be taught.

"When you have someone who has that much talent, you just make sure he is pointed in the right direction, so when the club is moving 125 miles an hour, it is going towards the hole," Weston said.

Lucas Black

Hometown: Speake

Alma mater: Speak High School (2001)

Current home: Columbia, Mo.

Movie resume: The War (1994), Sling Blade (1996), The Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), The X Files (1998), Cold (2003), Friday Night Lights (2004), Jarhead (2005), Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

Future movies: Get Low (2009), Legion (2010)

Source: Internet Movie Database