	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

U.S. WOMEN'S MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 11, 2008

Joan Higgins

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

PETE KOWALSKI: Congratulations. You are now a national champion. How about a little emotional reaction to that?
JOAN HIGGINS: I'm still in shock. I really am. I just can't believe it. Last night in bed I was tossing and turning all night, like you could be a national champion, don't think about it, don't think about it because it's probably not going to happen. She's probably going to go out and clean your clock.
It was a great match. We both could have played better, but there was a lot of pars and we both had a couple holes we wish we could redo. But to be a national champion, it's unbelievable. I'm thrilled.
PETE KOWALSKI: And how unusual to play with someone that you met for the first time during the stroke-play portion and became friends, and now you're playing her for the title?
JOAN HIGGINS: Yeah, it was pretty amazing. We're both the same -- I think we hit it off because we were both fast players, we both kind of -- hey, we weren't putting very well the first day, and then I got hot the second day.
We just had a good time. You know, we talked out there, and then when we saw each other the other day, it was, hey, see you in the finals. We both were kidding. And then yesterday when we were playing our semifinal matches, it was, see you tomorrow. And it happened. She was thrilled for me as I would be for her. She's disappointed as I would have been disappointed, but she's a great lady.

Q. How big was it to go up right away on the first hole?
JOAN HIGGINS: That helped a lot, because then I have a hole to give back, which I did. I had a screw-up hole. I'm like, hey, you're back to even. But to be able to make a nice up-and-down on the first hole was settling for me, even though I was still super-nervous the whole day.

Q. Are you surprised you didn't make a birdie?
JOAN HIGGINS: Yeah, I mean, we were really close. I don't think we read the greens as well today as we did the last couple days. I mean, a couple times we didn't play it high enough or we played it too high, and then it wouldn't break. Good speed, but it just seemed it was always around the hole there, always little lag putts, but it was never really -- it sniffed the hole a couple times, but yeah, there were no birdies today. But I always think in a final that probably happens a lot more than -- I know in some of the California finals I've been in, because you're so nervous.

Q. You can blame Ken Harkin for all of it, can't you?
JOAN HIGGINS: He was a great caddie. He was calming, and even though he hadn't played golf in a whole year he said because of working so hard for Michigan golf, but what a great caddie. He kept me in it, and if I had a bad hole, I have a tendency to beat myself up, hey, let it go, let it go. So I'm probably the hardest on myself.

Q. How long was Ken with you?
JOAN HIGGINS: I had someone from the club on the qualifying rounds and then Ken -- I asked the caddie master, he said, "Do you need a caddie?" I said, "Yeah, could you give me someone who can read greens?" I can carry the bag myself but I need help reading these greens because they're tough greens to read.

Q. So luck of the draw you got him?
JOAN HIGGINS: Right.

Q. Did you know he caddied on the Nike Tour before?
JOAN HIGGINS: No, pretty amazing, though. I'm sure those players hit a lot longer irons into greens than I do.

Q. In addition to winning the national championship, you also set a record. I don't know if you knew that. You are the oldest Women's Mid-Amateur champion.
JOAN HIGGINS: Wow. I'd rather be the youngest, to be honest with you.

Q. But honestly, she had a pretty big distance advantage of you off the tee.
JOAN HIGGINS: I feel that in every tournament I play, and then when we had all that rain, what was that, Monday night, I was like, oh, it's just going to be brutal out there, and it was. But I was starting to hit my -- I hit so many woods out there, I was getting pretty good at them. And my husband keeps telling me, quit worrying about getting extra distance. Who's the short guy on Tour that wins all the time? He would have quit a long time ago.

Q. You played tennis at Wisconsin?
JOAN HIGGINS: Yeah, I was on the women's tennis team from '72 to '78. I actually was on scholarship for the last two years.

Q. Did you come down here for matches? Do you remember much about Ann Arbor?
JOAN HIGGINS: Yeah, I can remember walking across the football stadium to take a shower once. When we were playing, Wisconsin was the only one with an indoor tennis stadium, so they always held the Big Ten at Wisconsin. Now they move it around. When I was in school, always the Big Ten was at Wisconsin because they had 12 indoor tennis courts.

Q. Have you been back to Ann Arbor since your college days?
JOAN HIGGINS: No, I worked in Detroit. I used to sell laundry equipment. I worked in Detroit for about eight months, and that was -- my kids are 18, so that was probably about 23 years ago.

Q. Why eight months?
JOAN HIGGINS: I was a sales rep and they needed me to help out a distributor.

Q. Have you put in a call yet to California?
JOAN HIGGINS: No, but my friend that I came with and played in the tournament that we're staying at the Bensons' house, who are members here, she was text messaging yesterday during the match to about 17 people. She says her fingers are sore.

Q. You were very, very consistent on the back nine. I think I charted you for missing only one green, hitting every fairway. That's pretty solid play when the stakes are really high. How do you react to that?
JOAN HIGGINS: We made sure that we hit enough club. I had just taken a 5-iron out of the bag and put in a 5 rescue club because I just wasn't hitting my 5-iron very well, and I mean, I think that saved me this week. I hit a lot of 5 rescue clubs into the greens here. Especially when it's wet, you know, you just let the bottom of the club do the work. You don't have to hit down on it as much. And for me when it's so wet, if you compress -- if you hit down and hit it fat, you're in trouble. We were just trying to pick a spot and commit to it.

Q. The bunker at 6, did that bother you at all? Did you just kind of snap back --
JOAN HIGGINS: You know, I pulled the tee shot, and I didn't think I could get there, but I'm like, hey, it's one hole. If you lay it up, she probably only had a short iron in, and then after you hit it, you say, well, maybe I should have hit out sideways and tried to force her to make 4. It's one of those, oh, you'd like to have that swing back.

Q. Is it kind of a give and take, you chipped in yesterday and you hit that kind of a shot here; is that definitely golf?
JOAN HIGGINS: Yeah, that's the way it goes. Everybody plays golf. You don't remember about your great shots that you got lucky, but you always remember the ones you just missed.
PETE KOWALSKI: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297