Ask Bob Hughes to recall the highlight of his career in golf, and the 11-time city men's champion doesn't have to dig very deep into his memories.

It happened just a couple of weeks ago, when his 13-year-old son, Nicholas, expressed gratitude for his father's efforts at teaching him the game. Nicholas, Hughes said, used just two words.

"Thanks Dad."

Enough said.

"It felt pretty good," Hughes said. "That's it. A pretty good highlight."

Hughes, a 1979 graduate of Watertown High School, played his first city tournament in 1977. His first win came in '81, with others following in '86, '92, '93, '94, '95, '96, '98, 2000, '01 and '02. His 11 titles are the most in the history of the men's event.

He also holds the record for most medalist honors in the history of the Northern New York Golf Association 6-Man Tournament (10). Hughes is a four-time runner-up in the New York State Amateur and a two-time competitor in the U.S. Amateur.

In the 1992 U.S. Amateur at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, Hughes advanced to the round of 16, where he lost 4 and 3 to eventual champion Justin Leonard, now a veteran of the PGA Tour.

"That was very satisfying," Hughes told the Times in 1994. "Competing on an equal basis with the best players in the country and proving that I could play at that level."

Hughes, a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina, helped the Gamecocks finish 11th in the NCAA championships during his senior year. He also spent time as a professional player in the late '80s before reclaiming his amateur status in 1991.

Hughes holds the record for lowest round at three area courses: 61s at Ives Hill Country Club and Watertown Golf Club, and a 62 at The Rustic Golf Course on Pillar Point.

He and his wife, Mary, also have a daughter, Taylor, 15.

Bob Hughes, 47, is employed by White's Lumber in Clayton.

To read about previous selections to the Times' list of The North Country's Greatest 100 Athletes of All Time, log on to www.watertowndailytimes.com