David Higgins Mount Juliet
On The Road Again
I thought long and hard over a few beers in Waterville during the August bank holiday weekend and I made my mind up to continue on the bag. I couldn't give up now - the Race to Mount Juliet was hotting up and the first stage of tour school was only a month away. Off we headed to the Ulster Championship on Tuesday August 3rd. We shot a two round total of +3 to claim a share of 13th place. I suppose you could put that result down to a hangover from the disappointment of the Irish Open.
The Balbriggan Pro-am was on route home from the Ulster Championship the following day. On reflection, we should have kept on the road as a round of 73 (+1) put us well down the field in 12th place. Not playing a practise round was a major disadvantage to both player and caddy. With my full support, David had thought about stripping down to his underwear and playing a shot from the pond on the 9th hole in Balbriggan but that never materialised (unfortunately). Three days later the Cork Pro-am was a real up and down round with birdies, bogies, an eagle and a double bogie thrown in for good measure, eventually resulting in a round of 73 (+1). Cork Golf Club is one of my favourite courses and having had two previous wins there caddying for David, a share of 10th was not the desired outcome. Mervyn Owens won that Pro-am with a great round of 67. Mervyn actually gave me a spin to Cork for the Pro-am and I reckon I must have said something to inspire him that morning.
I refused the invitation to travel to the Kilkea Castle Pro-am on August 13th as I decided it better to caddy in the annual Father and Son tournament in Waterville. David pulled his own bag that day and he shot 75 (+5) to finish 30th - his worst finish on the Irish Region for the whole 2010 season. In all fairness, he always has somebody with him carrying the bag, but that day I think he really learned the importance of having a caddy. I was present again for The Greenore Challenge four days later. The two day pro-only event offered 6,500 points to the winner so it was important with respect to the Order of Merit.
Greenore
In that first round at Greenore, I remember a funny incident on the twelfth green. We were one under for the round as David hit a lovely 8 iron for his second shot. The green was soft because it had been raining. The ball pitched about two feet right of the flag, took a massive kick right against the lie of the land and rolled into an impossible position in the greenside bunker. David did well to splash out to about fifteen feet - I could see he was fuming. I handed him back his ball after cleaning it and said: “Yes that was unlucky, but come on now and roll this in and we'll be grand”. He totally lost the plot with me. In all the years I have been caddying for him, I never witnessed him losing it in this way. I left well alone and of course he missed the putt to go back to even par. Walking to the next tee I couldn't stop laughing. We had a chat which ended up in us both having a good chuckle at the situation. Relaxed once more, three birdies in the last six would follow and we were happy with a round of 68 (-3).
Looking at the scoreboard that evening, we learned that David’s cousin, Ted had shot 66 which meant that we would be playing with him in the final round which was going to be exciting. The excitement soon dissipated as David was five over after six holes. The only par in the first six came on the 5th where he holed a forty foot putt across the green - not the desired start! David would go on to shoot 77 (+6) for a 7th place finish. Likewise, Ted did not get off to the best of starts but he played great golf in the back 9 where he made three birdies and would finish in 3rd position. The run of mediocre results for us had not yet come to an end.
The Southern Championship
A welcome break of 10 days followed Greenore and David put in some hard practise on the range in Waterville. The Southern Championship was played over two courses at Powerscourt Golf Club in Co. Wicklow beginning on August 30th. This was again an important event as it was heavily weighted with Order of Merit points. We both got to see the East Course as the Pro-am event was played there prior to the two day Pro-only event. Driving around in a cart, not playing any few holes on the West course definitely cost us a few shots as we could only manage an even par round (72) in round one. Eamonn Darcy held local knowledge and shot six under to lead the tournament.
I thought long and hard over a few beers in Waterville during the August bank holiday weekend and I made my mind up to continue on the bag. I couldn't give up now - the Race to Mount Juliet was hotting up and the first stage of tour school was only a month away. Off we headed to the Ulster Championship on Tuesday August 3rd. We shot a two round total of +3 to claim a share of 13th place. I suppose you could put that result down to a hangover from the disappointment of the Irish Open.
The Balbriggan Pro-am was on route home from the Ulster Championship the following day. On reflection, we should have kept on the road as a round of 73 (+1) put us well down the field in 12th place. Not playing a practise round was a major disadvantage to both player and caddy. With my full support, David had thought about stripping down to his underwear and playing a shot from the pond on the 9th hole in Balbriggan but that never materialised (unfortunately). Three days later the Cork Pro-am was a real up and down round with birdies, bogies, an eagle and a double bogie thrown in for good measure, eventually resulting in a round of 73 (+1). Cork Golf Club is one of my favourite courses and having had two previous wins there caddying for David, a share of 10th was not the desired outcome. Mervyn Owens won that Pro-am with a great round of 67. Mervyn actually gave me a spin to Cork for the Pro-am and I reckon I must have said something to inspire him that morning.
I refused the invitation to travel to the Kilkea Castle Pro-am on August 13th as I decided it better to caddy in the annual Father and Son tournament in Waterville. David pulled his own bag that day and he shot 75 (+5) to finish 30th - his worst finish on the Irish Region for the whole 2010 season. In all fairness, he always has somebody with him carrying the bag, but that day I think he really learned the importance of having a caddy. I was present again for The Greenore Challenge four days later. The two day pro-only event offered 6,500 points to the winner so it was important with respect to the Order of Merit.
Greenore
In that first round at Greenore, I remember a funny incident on the twelfth green. We were one under for the round as David hit a lovely 8 iron for his second shot. The green was soft because it had been raining. The ball pitched about two feet right of the flag, took a massive kick right against the lie of the land and rolled into an impossible position in the greenside bunker. David did well to splash out to about fifteen feet - I could see he was fuming. I handed him back his ball after cleaning it and said: “Yes that was unlucky, but come on now and roll this in and we'll be grand”. He totally lost the plot with me. In all the years I have been caddying for him, I never witnessed him losing it in this way. I left well alone and of course he missed the putt to go back to even par. Walking to the next tee I couldn't stop laughing. We had a chat which ended up in us both having a good chuckle at the situation. Relaxed once more, three birdies in the last six would follow and we were happy with a round of 68 (-3).
Looking at the scoreboard that evening, we learned that David’s cousin, Ted had shot 66 which meant that we would be playing with him in the final round which was going to be exciting. The excitement soon dissipated as David was five over after six holes. The only par in the first six came on the 5th where he holed a forty foot putt across the green - not the desired start! David would go on to shoot 77 (+6) for a 7th place finish. Likewise, Ted did not get off to the best of starts but he played great golf in the back 9 where he made three birdies and would finish in 3rd position. The run of mediocre results for us had not yet come to an end.
The Southern Championship
A welcome break of 10 days followed Greenore and David put in some hard practise on the range in Waterville. The Southern Championship was played over two courses at Powerscourt Golf Club in Co. Wicklow beginning on August 30th. This was again an important event as it was heavily weighted with Order of Merit points. We both got to see the East Course as the Pro-am event was played there prior to the two day Pro-only event. Driving around in a cart, not playing any few holes on the West course definitely cost us a few shots as we could only manage an even par round (72) in round one. Eamonn Darcy held local knowledge and shot six under to lead the tournament.
On day two, David shot two under for the front nine, added birdies at 10, 12, 14 & 15 and was unlucky with birdie tries on each the last three holes. The birdie at the fifteenth was especially nice for me because I put the correct club in David’s hand and he stuck it to two feet – that is always satisfying for a caddy. Six under (66) was a good return but Darcy had been given too much of a head start. Having been well ahead in the quest for the Race to Mount Juliet title from early in the season, a little inconsistency on David's part had given others a chance to attack. A well earned second place at Powerscourt, with the added bonus of collecting 6,500 Order of Merit points, was a relief to the system.
