What that life would look like was uncertain when we spoke in January . However , the highlight of the year ’ s final day was his retirement at age 65 , after more than four decades devoted to golf in and around Danville .

“ I ’ ve got a lot of fond memories to look back on ,” said the man who , by purchasing Southern Hills Golf Course 15 years ago , brought it back from the grave . “ But at some point , you ’ ve got to figure , ‘ Well I ’ ve got other things to do .’”

Perhaps Hopkins and golf were destined for each other . At the age of 12 , young Mark crossed the railroad tracks near his grandma ’ s house and made his way to a course then known as Glen Oak .

He had a slight interest in the game , he said , but his high school didn ’ t have a golf team . Hopkins focused his energy on basketball . Who knows what might have happened if Danville native Bobby Mitchell hadn ’ t hung his hat at Glen Oak when returning home from the PGA Tour .

Mitchell , a 2023 Virginia Golf Hall of Fame inductee , won the 1972 Tournament of Champions by outdueling Jack Nicklaus in a playoff , and he finished tied for second in that year ’ s Masters .

“ I got to see him hit golf balls ,” Hopkins said . “ All of us kids — and we had a lot of

It ’ s the thing I ’ ve enjoyed the most . Even now , I have people come up to me — I have no idea who they are — and they say , ‘ I remember playing on the Junior Tour and how much time you put into it .’”

— Mark Hopkins

guys 12 and above — idolized Bobby . We all wanted to follow in his footsteps .”

First , though , Hopkins earned a twoyear degree in chemistry with the intention of attending pharmacy school . But he took a job at a local course , which led to a PGA apprenticeship — and his career path was forever changed .

By 2010 , Hopkins was leasing a course in North Carolina , 50 miles from Danville , when a friend phoned . Their childhood course , then known as Ray ’ s Creek , had closed . Was he interested in taking a look ? The pull of old memories proved irresistible . A different man would have run . “ It had weeds as tall as I am ,” he recalled . “ You could hardly tell it was a golf course , except from memory . There

was no clubhouse , burned down in a fire . Irrigation system ? Gone , too . No buildings . We had to build a clubhouse , maintenance building and re-do the pool .”

After all of that , a new name seemed appropriate . Southern Hills was born .

The good news was that he only needed to look across the kitchen table to build his staff . Vera Hopkins served as club manager , bookkeeper , merchandiser and the sultan of food , beverage and the pro shop . On Thursdays , she ’ d even take her favorite mower for a spin over the rough , umbrella in tow .

Their four daughters — Hannah , Sarah , Mariah and Norah — all worked at the course after Dad taught them to mow greens , fairways , rough , weed eat and maintain the bunkers .

“ Anything and everything he needed a hand with , we did ,” Mariah said .

She proudly proclaims that her father ’ s reach extended well beyond Southern Hills . For years , Hopkins served as director of Danville ’ s unique junior golf tour , an opportunity for area kids to play all over the region without bankrupting their parents . In its heyday , 144 kids were registered , with another 20 on a waiting list .

“ It ’ s the thing I ’ ve enjoyed the most ,” he said . “ Even now , I have people come up to me — I have no idea who they are — and they say , ‘ I remember playing on the Junior Tour and how much time you put into it .’”

Tuesday evenings were also special . That ’ s when the Danville church league — a concept he began in 1980 — held its ninehole tournaments . Ten congregations participated last year .

He ’ ll deeply miss both , but what he can ’ t live without —“ the thing that ’ ll keep me from going crazy ”— is teaching . When we spoke , there was a possibility he ’ d take on some part-time instruction .

“ The core of the PGA is teaching and coaching ,” he pointed out . “ It ’ s innate in us , and we tend to keep our hand in it in some form or fashion . I ’ ve always operated on the theory that when one door closes , another one opens .”

Unlike so many others in the golf industry , Hopkins is blessed to be the one able to shut it .

COURTESY MARIAH HOPKINS