Younger golfers at the Masters are learning from the experienced ones
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Joe Highsmith is a name many may not know in the field.
He’s found himself with a golden ticket in the 89th Masters Tournament.
“To be inside the ropes this time is pretty special,” said the first-time Masters participant.
It’s an experience his family always hoped for.
“I dreamed of this moment,” said his mother, Anne Highsmith. “I’m just so grateful.”
And experience means everything at Augusta National.
“I thought, ‘What are the chances that sometime Joe will get to play at Augusta with Fred?’” she said.
On Wednesday, Joe walked step for step with past Masters champion Fred Couples.
That’s a guy he knows well. After Joe won the Cognizant Classic, Couples shot him a text.
“And said, ‘See you at Augusta,’” she said.
To walk the course on the third practice round could make the difference.
The veterans on the course are sharing their experience with the new age of golfers.
“If you have experience out here and you know what the greens do and what the wind does you have a huge advantage over the young guys playing. Young guys might have a little bit more stamina, but the older guys out here, that course knowledge is huge,” she said.
Only three first-timers have won the Masters.
The last was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
“I love to see him chatting with the guys because he loves talking to the older players and learning from them and asking questions,” Anne Highsmith said.
Highsmith isn’t alone in taking tips.
The Højgaard brothers had an early tee time with 2013 masters champ Adam Scott.
And Nicolas Echavarria paired with José María Olazábal.
“I haven’t really seen it in tournament condition or relatively close to that, but the course is a monster,” Joe Highsmith said. “If the wind lays down but if you get some winds through here every shot can be tough.”
But with that experience comes a dream of one day being able to slip on a green jacket. “I think he’s just dreamed of this moment of being able to play,” Anne Highsmith said.
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