CHICORA — Gary and Mary Ann Banner had a winning ticket. Neither could remember where it came from.

And they weren't crazy about the prize.

“It was a bucket of golf balls to hit at Mount Chestnut,” Mary Ann said, laughing. “We won the last prize from some drawing somewhere.

“Neither one of us had ever golfed. But I told Gary that we won the prize, so we might as well use it.”

That was 26 years ago — or 24 years after they were married.

The Chicora couple has been golfing ever since ... and golfing, and golfing, and golfing ...

The Banners flew to Juneau, Alaska, Thursday to play a round of golf there. That completed a journey of playing at least one round of golf in all 50 states.

They were in their 40s when they made the trip to Mount Chestnut to hit their bucket of golf balls. Gary Jr., their son, accompanied them and took them out on the course afterward.

“I guess we were really terrible,” Gary, 71, recalled. “After watching us swing the club and hit, he told us to just forget all about this game, that it wasn't for us.

“Instead, we fell in love with it.”

Golf has become synonymous with their marriage. Gary and Mary Ann play a round — or more — together two or three times a week.

Even if it took them a while to figure the game out.

“We had no idea what club to use, at first,” Mary Ann admitted. “But we gradually got better at it.”

The two were members at Hiland Golf Course for a while. They've never played in any leagues.

“Once we both retired, we'd go out and play as many as 54 holes in a day,” Gary said. “We average between 43 and 50 for nine holes, but we're not members at any one course anymore.

“Now we like to travel.”

Big-time.

The Banners never took the time to structure an itinerary or any kind of schedule to make sure they eventually golfed in all 50 states.

“We're pretty sporadic,” Gary said. “When we want to travel, we just jump in the camper and take off for a few days, maybe more.”

They've done multi-week golf trips to states around the Great Lakes, New England and out west. They hit the southern states here and there.

Mary Ann, 68, said she particularly enjoyed golfing in the New England states.

“It was funny golfing down in the southwest,” she said. “In one state, the golf course was filled with gopher-like holes from prairie dogs.

“You'd go on the green and there would be two holes — the one with the flag and the one made by the animal. I had to make sure I was aiming for the right hole.”

The Banners' original plan was to golf in all 48 of the continental states.

“Three years ago, we flew to Hawaii and played golf while we were there,” Gary said. “That's when we knew we had to get to Alaska eventually.”

Banner has collected a logo ball and/or shot glass from a golf course in every state along the way. The couple has saved all of the scorecards as well.

They used to walk golf courses together. For the past 15 years, they've been riding a cart.

“We've even managed to beat our son at the game a couple of times,” Mary Ann said with a chuckle. “Of course, he insists his back was hurting him at the time.

“Every once in a while along the way, I've defeated Gary, too.”

That didn't bother her husband at all.

“All that meant was we had to get right back out there and play again,” he said.