By Fred Altvater
The life of a tour professional is not all glitter and big checks. James Nicholas a young golf professional trying to make his way on the Korn Ferry Tour. He did not make it into the field for the AdventHealth Championship in Kansas City, Missouri, via the Monday qualifier. He was the ninth alternate, with very little chance of getting into the field and decided to fly back home to New York the following day. Arriving home his status had improved to the seventh alternate position by Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM EDT. A couple hours later at 9:30 PM EDT, he found out he was now the first alternate.
He decided to return to Kansas City in the hope that a spot may open up. While sitting at LaGuardia Airport, for his return flight on Thursday morning, he learned that Eric Cole dropped out and he was officially in the field, if he could get there on time. His flight was slated to arrive in the Kansas City airport at 10:47 CDT, so there was ample time to make a 12:05 CDT tee time.
Easier said than done.
His flight leaving New York was delayed by over an hour. When the flight finally arrived in Kansas City, a stewardess asked other passengers to wait to disembark to allow James to jump off first. Everyone was clapping and cheering for him to make it to the course as he deplaned and did his best O.J. impression, racing through the airport.
He knew he didn’t have adequate time to retrieve his clubs and left them spinning on the baggage carrousel. Eric Cole’s caddie was waiting outside the terminal to rush him to Blue Hills Golf Club, site of the AdventHealth Championship.
Without, clubs, balls, shoes, or glove, he lined up replacement equipment from the Blue Hills Head Golf Professional.
With borrowed equipment and running from the car to the first tee, he striped a drive down the first fairway to begin his round. Unfortunately, the first two rounds didn’t go his way and he missed the 36-hole cut.
When asked if he would do it all again, he answered,
“Yeah! In this game, all you need is a chance. There are so many kids back home wishing they had a chance. The next chance I get, I’m going to take, and hopefully that one turns out right.”
Here is a video link to James Nicholas’ post round interview from the Korn Ferry Tour: https://fb.watch/da4UDjOzYZ/
