Condoleezza Rice hits the green, joins 2 golf clubs in Alabama

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is an avid 
golfer and huge fan of the sport. Photo: Nick Wass / AP

In her first days as Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice pioneered policy on Transformational Diplomacy and democracy in the Middle East.

She's a Stanford grad and a Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution. Little did you know she was a golfer, too.

A lifetime athlete, Rice took up golf over three years ago and has taken to the sport, following pros and keeping an eye on the game. Making golf a part of her life was something that fit into her love for fitness and passion to keep America from being obese.

At 54-years-old, Rice has joined two exclusive golf clubs in her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. While she doesn't own a home in the town, Rice says having two golf memberships will keep her committed to coming back to visit family and her native home turf - Even if that turf is the golf green.

Chief of Staff Colby Cooper says the former Secretary of State picked up memberships at Greystone Golf & Country Club and Shoal Creek golf club. In addition to keep her coming back to Birmingham, sources says Rice also hopes the memberships will provide additional opportunities to reach out to citizens.

In addition, Rice will contribute to the growing diversity of one club, Shoal Creek, which came under fire for having no black members in 1990 as it prepared to host a major tournament.

This is Rice's second visit to the Brimingham area in the past four months and has enjoyed coming back home to research family history and visit with Shoal Creek club president Bobby Luckie.

As for her personal game card score? That's kept confidential - For now. But while Rice may keep her links score on the downlow, her love for the game is quite the contrary. Rice has publicly claimed to be a "sports fanatic" and has told the press she would love to own or manage a team.

Rice has long been committed to physical fitness and the green and was featured last year in the April issue of Fitness Magazine (Shown above, left). The political firehouse was captured breaking a sweat and working her way through an early-riser fitness routine.

The former Secretary of State rings a 4:30 a.m. alarm and pulls her weight in resistance training. According to the article, Conodoleezza deadlifts 85 lbs. and squats 65 lbs., then follows up her weight workout with cardio - Watching the news and SportsCenter for highlights and clips.

"I like the fact that I can run up the stairs and not huff and puff, and that I'm still able to do that even though I've crossed the big 5-0," Rice told the magazine.