It's doubtful that anyone was sadder to see the Regions Cup golf tournament season end Sunday at Jones Creek Golf Club than Augusta's Carl Pilcher.

Pilcher has been bitten by the golf bug for the second time -- at age 60.

If the Regions Cup gave a year-end award for most enthusiastic golfer, Pilcher would win it going away.

He started playing golf four months ago after a 10-year layoff, and enjoyed the Regions Cup competition so much he played in the final eight events of the 10-tournament season. He would have played in the other two but he couldn't find a schedule.

Pilcher isn't one of the circuit's better senior players; he usually shoots in the 80s and 90s, though he had his Regions Cup career-best with 78 in Sunday's final round of the Jones Creek Invitational. That came after 94 the first day.

Pilcher is usually accompanied at the tournaments by his girlfriend, Pam Scott.

"I love coming out here with him; he has such a good time with it," Scott said. "It doesn't matter what score he shoots; he has a good time."

"He has fun," said Mark Givens, who played with Pilcher in the first round at Jones Creek.

So what brought Pilcher back to the game after a decade away?

"I missed it; I missed that thrill of hitting the ball, even out of the woods," he said. "Golf is just awesome. Your brain has to work all the time. I said, 'I've got to go back.' But it's not like riding a bike. I've been working at it."

He recently pulled off a flop shot that he won't soon forget.

"The ball was in the rough next to a green; it was sitting up there like an ice cream cone," Pilcher said. "Someone said 'do that flop shot.' I did it. It was just exhilarating to see it."

Not all of his shots have come off so well.

"When I got in these tournaments, I got serious again but I said, 'I've got a long way to go.' "

Pilcher wasn't kidding about getting serious about the tournaments. For the Orville White Cup two weeks ago at Midland Valley Country Club in Graniteville, Pilcher booked a motel room in Aiken to be near the course in the days leading into the weekend tournament.

"It was three miles away," Pilcher said of the motel. "I got there Wednesday and played 18 holes a day and then went and chipped and putted and went to that driving range.

"That's how serious I am," added Pilcher, who didn't go home until the tournament was over.

He wasn't discouraged after shooting 88-91 at Midland Valley because he had a bad putting week, he said. He putted better at Jones Creek, especially during the final-round 78, his low Regions Cup round by three shots.

"He's the backbone of golf; the enthusiast that he is," said Regions Cup golfer Doug Hathaway. "It's unusual to find someone so enthusiastic about golf at his age."

Pilcher's not sure why he got the golf bug all of a sudden again. It certainly wasn't from watching the sport on TV.

"We might be flipping through the channels, and he'd stop at golf for a minute and then move on," Scott said.

"I've always said that I'm a participator, not a spectator," Pilcher said.

Pilcher, a native Augustan, didn't take up golf until he was 39.

Once his brother got him hooked, Pilcher was determined to become an accomplished player.

"Everything I've ever done -- pool, basketball, motorcycle racing -- I was always in the top five," Pilcher said.

In 1991, two years after taking up the game, Pilcher decided to play in Regions Cup events (the series was called the Cadillac Cup then). He shot "at least 105" in both rounds of his debut at Persimmon Hill Golf Club.

"People asked me why I was playing; it was because I wanted to play with guys I could learn from," Pilcher said. "I wanted to watch people who knew how to play."

Two years later , Pilcher was shooting in the mid-70s in friendly games (his Regions Cup low was 81).

"But I didn't practice like I should have, and when I couldn't break par, I faded out," Pilcher said. "I had put a lot of effort into getting into the mid-70s, but I wasn't willing to put in the practice I needed to get to that next level."

He's retired now, and determined to get his game back. Four months ago he joined North Augusta Country Club. He plans to work on his game more now that the Regions Cup season is over.

"Without a doubt, I have the ability, but it takes a lot of practice," Pilcher said. "I'm going to be practicing over the winter; it doesn't matter how cold it is."

Pilcher believes he'll contend for a Regions Cup senior division title within the next two years.

"He said, 'wait until next year. When we start back, my name is going to be in the championship flight,' " Scott said.