David Higgins wins Lexus Race to Mount Juliet
Mount Juliet
Our host for the few days at Mount Juliet was Pro-am partner Brian Phelan. The Pro-am preceded the Pro-only event and provided a nice warm up. I think Brian and the team were a little worried as David did not play particularly well in the Pro-am. I remained optimistic as I knew the non-counting Pro-am wouldn't get David's adrenalin flowing and I was confident of the on going swing work that Uncle Ted was doing with him. David had to tie with or outscore Mooney and had to outscore Mortimer in the one round event to claim top spot on the Order of Merit. At least by playing with them we could see how they were doing.
Standing on the 7th tee Mortimer was +1, Mooney was level par, and we were +1 - very tense stuff indeed. David had missed four makeable putts all inside 12 to 15 feet range – that was a little worrying but at times like that you just have to stick in there and continue to trust your stroke. David pulled his drive into the rough up the 7th hole, but a beautiful lie and even better yardage for a 7 iron would result in our first birdie of the round. Another would follow at the next after hitting a lob wedge to four feet, with a regulation par coming on the 9th. Both Mooney and Mortimer laid up on the par five 10th. David hit a good drive down the centre of the fairway which allowed him to attack the green in two. After doing so, David's ball ended up in the greenside bunker - he hit out to about 12 feet. He was first to putt for birdie and got it. In my opinion, that putt was key as both playing partners missed their birdie attempts afterwards. Mooney was now level par, Mortimer +1, and David was -2. David would go on to make birdies at the following two holes after that boost on 10. Walking from the 12th green, David said to me: “We need to keep attacking” and I was in complete agreement as I tried to drive him to make more birdies.
David lipped out for yet another birdie from about 8 feet on the 13th. I told him on the long par three 14th to: “Forget the pin here now, play for the centre of the green”. Of course he went at the pin, pulled it a fraction and the ball rolled into a bunker. It left a tricky shot because he missed the green on the short side but David played a class bunker shot resulting in a marvellous birdie when the ball trickled into the hole. He rolled in another birdie on the 15th after hitting a wedge to about twelve feet. We decided to take the danger out of the long par four 16th by reducing it to a 3 wood and a 5 iron and a par resulted. Walking to the 17th tee David was -6, Mooney -2 and Mortimer +6.
David kept the drive well right on 17 and laid up with his second. Walking up the fairway, I remember David saying: “Do you think we have done enough (to win the one day event)?” I told him: “I'd say you might need one more...” He duly obliged by hitting a little 9 iron to ten feet past the flag and rolling in the putt. Mount Juliet is a difficult course at the best of times and a par at the last added up to a brilliant round of 65 - scoring 8 birdies in the last 12 holes. It was good to get the job done in style and become the Race to Mount Juliet Champion.
The PGA Play-Offs
David earned invites to both the Irish Open and PGA Championship. Three more tour starts were up for grabs at the PGA Play-Offs in Little Ashton Golf Club near Birmingham, England. I like that course as it is real old-style and it examines all facets of a players game. We needed a top two finish and after finishing only two shots off the mark in 2009 I was looking forward to going back again. David shot rounds of 71 (-1) and 72 (Lvl). On day two, bogie at the par three 9th and a double at the par four 10th ended our chances as -6 would go on to win with -4 coming second. David’s ball striking was excellent but surprisingly enough his pitching was not up to scratch over those two rounds – normally David is a good pitcher of the golf ball. My caddying duties came to an end on the 18th green at Little Ashton – there was even a tear in David’s eye as he rolled in a birdie putt for old time sake. I'm only joking – he only made par on that final hole!! The ironic thing was that he would shoot 67 (-5) in the Pro-am which followed the day after the Pro-only event. The Pro-am was not seen as my last official caddying round because I took a trolley!
Reflection
Yes, there were lows of missing the cut at the Irish Open and not progressing from first stage of tour school but there were many highlights to look back on as well. Winning at Slieve Russell under my coaching was memorable and of course winning the Race to Mount Juliet was fantastic. Ireland is full of enthusiastic amateur golfers, many of whom are not aware of the PGA Pro-am circuit and the service it has to offer. There lies the opportunity in my view and I hope the Irish PGA continues in their efforts to reach the circuit’s full potential. I had the pleasure of meeting some wonderful people throughout the year and got to see some of Ireland's best golf courses - a year to remember. For David's own sake I hope he continues to work on his game with his uncle Ted. I believe they were onto something good; the only shame was that it happened at the end of the season and not the beginning. The game of golf is far too difficult to be trying to master it on your own and having a good team surrounding you makes all the difference. In 2011, I have no doubt David will be in contention for his fifth PGA Order of Merit title in as many attempts and that he will do well around Killeen in the Irish Open. I only hope that whoever is caddying for him will be able to write a good story...
