Cascade Golfer Short Game Extra

ACE HIGH

Lakewood’s Highsmith parlays hole-in-one into first Tour check

It was not his first hole-in-one. Joe Highsmith believes he’s had 16 aces over the course of his lifetime. However, the timing for this one was nice.

The setting for the new PGA Tour pro from Lakewood, Wash., looked like this: Second round of January’s American Express tournament, 190-yard par-3 13th hole, Stadium Course at PGA West, La Quinta, Calif.

Highsmith’s smooth left-handed swing launched the ball on a middle-ish trajectory and came to earth at the front of the green, rolled straight at the hole, hit the pin … and dropped.

It already felt like a home game (his mom and dad now live in La Quinta), and he was able to do a round of high-fives with them and other family members after his money shot.

His first ace of the season on the PGA Tour put him in good position to make the cut, and it led to another first — his first payday on the Tour, $45,780 for his 34th place finish. He cashed in the next week, too, earning $50,175 with a 33rd place finish at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

He doesn’t discount the role of luck in all this. For instance, he suspects 16 holes-in-one at 23 is more than most players his age. He also feels lucky to be where he is, the envy of thousands of aspiring young players.

“At this age, I’m just grateful to be on Tour already,” he says. “I definitely didn’t think I’d get there so fast.”

In Lakewood, Highsmith golfed and rubbed shoulders with guys like Andrew and Michael Putnam, Andres Gonzales, and a raft of other good players around Tacoma Country & Golf Club, where the Highsmith family were members.

Highsmith is playing on the PGA Tour because of a run of achievement which began back in junior golf. It’s a pretty long list, so we’ll stick to the highlights: In 2017, as a Bellarmine Prep HS junior, he won the Class 4A state championship with twin 67s at Liberty Lake Golf Course near Spokane. He reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur, and won the 2017 Washington State Amateur, becoming the youngest to do so. He was twice named the Washington State Golf Association Junior Boys Player of the Year. At Pepperdine University — where he played alongside his former Bellarmine teammate, R.J. Manke — he was a two-time All-American, and won three intercollegiate invitationals. He worked his way through Q-school to gain status on the Korn Ferry Tour for 2023, where he made cuts in 17 of 21 events and cashed $373,028 to get inside the top 30 and earn status on the big tour.

Going forward, he doesn’t profess any particular results goals.

“I’d be plenty happy if I kept my card out here my rookie year,” he says, “but I’m obviously hoping for a little bit more than that. I kind of try to set goals day to day, doing all the right things to give myself the best chance to play well.”

And a little luck? It never hurts.

FILE & FACTS HOMEGROWN HERO JOE HIGHSMITH

• His home course in Lakewood — Tacoma Country & Golf Club — was where the Putnam brothers (Andrew and Michael) honed their games growing up in Tacoma, before they reached the PGA Tour.

• Frequently had chipping contests at Tacoma Country & Golf Club with R.J. Manke, a future teammate at Pepperdine University and fellow Korn Ferry Tour member; they frequently spent all day at the golf club with their older brothers as kids, and today if they are all together, they will play a round and follow it with a pickleball match.

• Played piano for 12 years.

• Once claimed he was better at pickleball than golf.

• Favorite athletes include professional tennis players Gael Monfils, Nick Kyrgios, and Dustin Brown.

Courtesy of PGA Tour Media