High Profile: MIKE HUGHES

List of most frequently asked questions to Mike Hughes, Part I:

What's your handicap?

"No idea."

What's Tiger Woods really like? Or Phil Mickelson? Or (golfer's name here)?

Sorry, "I don't have direct contact on a regular basis."

But don't you play golf all the time?

Hardly. "They're a little startled when they find out that's not necessarily the case."

Most times, they're just as surprised to discover Charleston to be home of a major international golf organization, and Hughes its chief executive officer.

The NGCOA

Hughes, who played golf at the College of Charleston against the likes of Curtis Strange and Jay Haas, heads up the National Golf Course Owners Association. More than 6,000 courses comprise the organization, headquartered on Daniel Island. The bulk of courses is located in the United States, many in Canada, some in Europe, a smattering in Asia, Australia and other parts of the world.

Here's an idea of what the group does:

It puts on the largest annual trade show for golf course owners in the world.

It manages the largest purchasing program for golf course owners in the world. That includes insurance, golf balls, food and beverage, equipment, golf carts, et al.

And it puts out Golf Business Magazine, the industry's leading publication, which is distributed to — you guessed it — golf courses all over the world.

So, this might be why Hughes isn't on the links every day.

"People expect me to be on the course a little more," he says. "But once I describe my job, I think they understand it pretty well."

Litigation vs. golf

Wasn't always the case, however. Hughes, 52, once had a different career, an unlikely prerequisite for golf. He worked as a litigation attorney in Charleston in the '80s, handling a number of cases, including asbestos lawsuits, and patent and antitrust work.

It's a business of conflict.

"If you go to litigation, it involves somebody being unhappy. Either your client has had a bad experience with a business partner, or family relations have gone bad. It's some unhappy scenario. It's not necessarily a fun way to make a living on a day-to-day basis."

And golf makes people happy. Mostly.

Married and with a child, Hughes and his family moved in 1990 to Athens, Ohio, where he enrolled in Ohio University's sports administration program. He took an internship with the United States Golf Association; at the time, the organization had no lawyers on staff. One of his bosses took a stack of legal work measuring about 2 feet high, and dropped it on Hughes' desk.

"I tell people I went from making $150 an hour to about $5 an hour doing legal work," he says.

But it had benefits. While there, Hughes met a group of Midwest golf course owners pushing for a broad organization, one that would cater and help ownership, i.e. the NGCOA. He agreed to run the nascent group in 1990, as long as he could return to Charleston.

"I was in the right place at the right time," Hughes says.

'A Bridge Too Far'

Hughes' career is a continuation of a childhood passion. He grew up playing golf, his love of the game fostered by his father, a career naval officer. Hughes and his identical twin brother, David, played with their dad on a small "dog track course" on the Charleston Naval Base.

"We scooted around there day after day after day," Hughes says.

His dad was a tough guy, reserved, laconic and battle-tested. He fought with the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II, venturing across Italy and the Netherlands.

"Have you ever seen the movie, 'A Bridge Too Far'? " asks Hughes.

His dad took part in a dangerous assignment re-enacted in the film: Crossing the Rhine in fragile canvas and wooden boats, trying to secure a bridge in broad daylight.

"He was shot making that river cross," Hughes says.

But he returned, participating in the Battle of the Bulge, and freeing a concentration camp. Later, he fought in Korea, retiring as a major shortly before Vietnam.

"He had quite a career," Hughes says. "He was extremely reluctant to talk about it."

Hughes gleaned details from books and conversations with his mother, a homemaker and a woman of great faith.

Hughes followed their lead, in fact, joining the naval JAG program after graduating from law school at the University of South Carolina. He also maintains a great faith, active as a senior warden at St. Andrew's Mount Pleasant.

Back nine

Mike Hughes' most frequently asked questions, Part II:

Favorite courses?

"Shinnecock Hills, Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Augusta National, St. Andrew's."

Favorite golfers?

There's Tiger Woods, Curtis Strange, Tom Lehman and Bernhard Langer, who famously missed a 5-putt in the 1991 Ryder Cup, held at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course. The gaffe cost Europe the trophy.

"What people don't realize," Hughes says, "is the following week he entered the German Open, and won it. I don't think there are many people who would be able to recover."

Finally, so you'll be working another 10, 15 years?

"Maybe, maybe not. I just sort of take it as it comes," Hughes says. "I've had a lot of success. The job's afforded me a lot of flexibility to spend time with my wife and three kids. I've cultivated great friendships. It's been great fun to be able to come home and stay here."

Reach Rob Young at 937-5518 and ryoung@postandcourier.com.