Chubb Classic notebook: 'Fast and Furious' actor caddying at Tiburon in Naples this week

Actor Lucas Black has played as an amateur in the PGA Tour's Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, starred as a golfer in a movie, and even talked about taking it up professionally.

This week, the 38-year-old who will be in the next "Fast and Furious" movie later this year — it will be his third — is inside the ropes as a caddie for sponsor exemption Craig Bowden in the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.

Black, who was also in "NCIS" and "NCIS: New Orleans" on TV from 2014-19, was in the third installment of the "Fast and Furious" franchise -- "Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift" -- in 2006 as Sean Boswell, had a cameo in "Furious 7" and will have another in the upcoming ninth movie slated to be released this summer.

"The other day we got to teach the First Tee kids, and that was fun, just watching them hit balls and try to help them with a few tips," Black said Saturday. "They recognized me mainly from Tokyo Drift. A lot of the youngsters have seen the Fast and Furious franchise."

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Black also played quarterback Mike Winchell in the movie version of "Friday Night Lights" in 2004.

After an even-par first round in Friday's first round, Bowden shot a 4-under 68 to move up into the top 25.

"Lucas and I have been friends for 13, 15 years, something like that," Bowden said. "He caddied for another buddy of mine, Jason Schultz, back at the Wayne Gretzky event a long time ago, and we just kept in touch and have grown really close as buddies and brothers in Christ and just enjoying each other's company.

"This is the maiden voyage (with Black as his caddie). We spoke a lot on the phone, and I help him with his golf swing from time to time."

Black and Bowden would see one another at the BMW charity pro-am in Greenville, South Carolina, regularly. They'd play practice rounds, and also were paired together.

"I hit him up on the phone, 'Hey, give me some tips, what do I need to do, what do I got to do. I'm feeling this, what do you think?'" Black said.

Black said he is practicing a lot with his boys, especially after finishing his stint as Special Agent Christopher Lasalle on "NCIS: New Orleans" in 2019.

"I've got a lot more time to get back out there, and I'm learning a lot out here," Black said. "Craig is teaching me a lot, so it's awesome."

"I'm teaching him how to hit it short and keep it in play," Bowden joked.

Black played golf in high school in Alabama, and also was golfer Luke Chisholm in the movie "Seven Days in Utopia" in 2011.

"I love the game," he said. "I think you've got to use your imagination, or at least I do, around the short game area, and I think it kind of feeds into acting, too. You can create something and create shots.

"You only get one take in golf. You might get multiple takes in front of a camera, but that's good, just accepting the challenge and it's a fun game. I love it."

Kirk Triplett supporting Black Lives Matter

Kirk Triplett had the perfect motivation in his own home so his ensuing commitment to the national Black Lives Matter crusade made sense.

The Scottsdale, Arizona, resident made the decision in August to have a “BLM” logo on his golf bag that recently was replaced by the logo of the Dedication to Community organization.

Triplett and wife Cathi have what would be considered a large, diverse family with one African-American son Kobe, 18, previously adopted Latino daughter Alexis, 20, and her own twin boys, Conor and Sam, 24. The Tripletts also have another adopted daughter who's Hispanic and another adopted son who's half African-American, half Japanese.

“I'm not trying to make a big statement,” Triplett said Friday after opening with a promising 5-under-par 67 in the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO. “I was motivated because we're not thinking enough about this in the circles that I travel in.

“I think we see it. We're well read. But I don't think things are going to get accomplished until my circles understand it better. Sometimes it's too easy to really not even think about it.”

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Kobe was 10 days old when the Tripletts took him in. His biological mother was Japanese, and his biological father was Black. Alexis was passed over before the Tripletts adopted because her mother used methamphetamines.

Triplett became more educated about protests and the Black Lives Matter movement last summer while staying at home during the pandemic.

“I thought of my son Kobe and having discussions with him, knowing it would be him alone and not my other sons,” he said. “But he's a teenage boy living under the radar, a pretty quiet kid.

“We've been talking with him for many years about the fact that 'you may get in some situations where you don't understand why people are coming at you the way they are. We've talked about it and it usually sort of gets shrugged off because it really isn't part of his day-to-day life.”

Triplett got involved with Dedication to Community, founded by former NFL player and FBI agent Quentin Williams.

"(His) labor of love has always been working with communities, trying to build better relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve,” he said.

Triplett and his family completed organizational training in the athlete ambassador program.

“It's really just in the art of relationships, how to listen to each other and how to see each other as people instead of your side, my side,” he said. “Just trying to get people to communicate better and maybe get these situations to de-escalate.

“It feels good to be part of something like this and to talk to people that are interested. I don't think I set out to kind of do this but I've learned a great deal, especially from the law enforcement side since I approached it from the other side."

That understanding, and combining that with his family's diversity is something that is important to Triplett. 

“We've made no secret about what our family is all about – opportunity and giving people a chance,” he said. “They're thoughtful kids, and it doesn't matter which side of the aisle you're on, social justice is for everybody.”

Harris rebounds: Naples resident and Calusa Pines Golf Club member John Harris had had quite the roller-coaster ride through the first two rounds.

Harris was 1 over through 11 holes in the first round, then took a 9-over 13 on the 12th hole. He bogeyed the next four holes, then triple-bogeyed No. 17 before finishing with a par for an 89.

Saturday, Harris came back emphatically -- he even birdied No. 12 to start a three-birdie string. He birdied No. 16 to go to 5 under but then struggled on No. 17 again, making a quadruple bogey. Harris didn't let that get him down though. He eagled No. 18 to finish a 3-under 69, an improvement of 20 strokes.

Chip shots: On Sunday, all 24 First Tee participants in the Golf To Paradise-First Tee Champions Challenge at Quail Creek Country Club will be wearing socks honoring late longtime tee announcer Brendan Cunningham, who also was a big support of First Tee. Cunningham died in October at 75. The First Tee of Greater Chicago leads after two rounds at 65.0, with North Florida in second at 69.3 and Triangle at 71.1. ... Even though no tickets were sold to the general public, there were still fans connected to tournament sponsors or who were Tiburón members, but presenting sponsor SERVPRO also gave 30 tickets each tournament day to first responders and medical personnel, too. ... Bonita Springs' Peter Jacobsen, a two-time Champions Tour major winner, gave a clinic to The First Tee players on Thursday and came away impressed. "I do the Drive, Chip and Putt, and every year, it's gotten better and better and better," said Jacobsen, who also is a TV golf analyst. "The most impressive kids are the young girls, the 14-, 15-, 16-year-old girls."

Correspondent Dave Kempton contributed to this article.

Greg Hardwig is a sports reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: @NDN_Ghardwig, email him at ghardwig@naplesnews.com. Support local journalism with this special subscription offer at https://cm.naplesnews.com/specialoffer/

Chubb Classic

Sunday's final-round tee times

at Tiburón Golf Club, Black Course

No. 1 Tee

7:55 a.m. — John Harris (89-69/158), Scott McCarron (79-81/160)

8:06 a.m. — Robin Byrd (75-78/153), Frank Lickliter II (78-77/155), Scott Verplank (77-78/155)

8:17 a.m. — Olin Browne (75-76/151), Fran Quinn (72-79/151), Sandy Lyle (76-77/153)

8:28 a.m. — Scott Hoch (77-73/150), Jay Haas (76-74/150), Ian Woosnam (73-77/150)

8:39 a.m. — Peter Jacobsen (76-73/149), Mark Brooks (75-74/149), Stephen Ames (79-71/150)

8:50 a.m. — Duffy Waldorf (72-76/148), Paul Broadhurst (78-71/149), Ernie Els (76-73/149)

9:01 a.m. — Tom Gillis (73-75/148), Wes Short Jr. (73-75/148), Jose Maria Olazabal (73-75/148)

9:12 a.m. — Chris DiMarco (74-73/147), Loren Roberts (74-73/147), Cameron Beckman (77-71/148)

9:23 a.m. — Jesus Rivas (74-72/146), Tom Pernice Jr. (70-76/146), Tim Herron (75-72/147)

9:34 a.m. — Joe Durant (76-70/146), Rod Pampling (76-70/146), Steve Flesch (74-72/146)

9:45 a.m. — Ken Duke (70-75/145), David Frost (70-75/145), Jerry Kelly (70-75/145)

9:56 a.m. — Jesper Parnevik (73-72/145), Jeff Maggert (71-74/145), Stephen Leaney (70-75/145)

10:07 a.m. — Brad Faxon (76-69/145), Mark O'Meara (75-70/145), Billy Andrade (74-71/145)

10:18 a.m. — Colin Montgomerie (72-72/144), Woody Austin (70-74/144), Paul Goydos (77-68/145)

10:29 a.m. — Michael Allen (70-73/143), Darren Clarke (71-72/143), Tom Byrum (70-73/143)

10:40 a.m. — Larry Mize (73-70/143), Steve Pate (72-71/143), Tom Lehman (71-72/143)

10:51 a.m. — Ken Tanigawa (69-73/142), Fred Funk (69-73/142), Brett Quigley (73-70/143)

11:02 a.m. — Kirk Triplett (67-74/141), Mike Weir (72-70/142), Doug Barron (69-73/142)

11:13 a.m. — Jeff Sluman (70-70/140), Corey Pavin (68-72/140), Scott Dunlap (69-72/141)

11:24 a.m. — Rocco Mediate (72-68/140), Lee Janzen (71-69/140), Brandt Jobe (70-70/140)

11:35 a.m. — Kent Jones (69-70/139), Shane Bertsch (68-71/139), Craig Bowden (72-68/140)

11:46 a.m. — David Toms (68-70/138), Retief Goosen (72-67/139), John Huston (70-69/139)

11:57 a.m. — David McKenzie (69-69/138), Marco Dawson (69-69/138), Billy Mayfair (69-69/138)

12:08 p.m. — Tim Petrovic (67-70/137), Vijay Singh (70-68/138), Scott Parel (70-68/138)

12:19 p.m. — Kevin Sutherland (70-66/136), Miguel Angel Jimenez (69-67/136), Glen Day (68-69/137)

12:30 p.m. — Steve Stricker (66-67/133), Bernhard Langer (65-68/133), Gene Sauers (66-69/135)

12:41 p.m. — Robert Karlsson (66-66/132), Fred Couples (63-69/132), Alex Cejka (68-65/133)