We're on the par-3 15th tee at Kingston Heath and Harry Higgs' nine-iron is a beautiful thing. It’s high, long, with a slight draw.

And it is, as they say, at it.

Higgs likes the look of it, too.

"Oh," he jokes to his practice round partners, Englishmen Marco Penge and Jamie Rutherford, and 19-year-old amateur Billy Dowling from Surfers Paradise, "let’s get naked.”

The ball ends 20-feet above the hole and everyone remains clothed. Walking the 18th fairway, we ask Higgs: would he consider getting his gear off should he ace 15, given the iconic nature of the hole and the electric BMW on offer?

The man known as "The Big Rig" smiles with the barest hint of chagrin. Flashing his belly to the crowd at Scottsdale has followed him like Harrison Crowe creating his own “road hole” at St Andrews. Even if it was playing partner Joel Dahmen who went the half-monty.

But he still thinks it’s funny.

“Well, technically, I never took my shirt off [at Scottsdale],” he smiles. “And I did it for a 10-footer for par.

“And I'm not planning on ever doing that again.”

The smile curls again and there's a glint in his eye.

“But a hole-in-one could present … I don't know what I'd do if I made an ace.

"But then, if I made an ace there, it would be an accident. I've either pushed or pulled it towards the flag.

“That hole, I'm going to try my best to keep it in the middle of the green.

“And then, yeah, keep my clothes on.”

Jokes aside, Higgs rates 15 as “one of the coolest holes I’ve ever seen”.

“I think it's awesome that the area that you're supposed to hit – and it’s pretty much to every hole location on the green – is shown to you.

“But your eyes can get distracted. Maybe I go for the left flag and try to get it over the left bunker. Or, you know, fade it back into a right pin, with the deep right bunkers.

“I thought it's just so cool that nothing is hidden. It's straight in front of you. And it still makes you think.”

Higgs played Kingston Heath in the week before heading for Brisbane for the Australian PGA.

“And that day," he says, "I hit a freaking six-iron. So conditions can make it play really brutally difficult.

“But the strategy doesn't change: don't get aggressive at 15. It’s a par hole.”

Higgs played this year’s U.S Open at Pinehurst No.2 and said Kingston Heath has similarities.

“But, really, this is the only place, probably on this planet, that you can truly, truly create this. When you try to create this in the States, it's usually bigger and bolder. There's more slope. Here, there’s little intricacies, little runoffs that are hidden.

“You can kind of see everything in the States and there's more slope you can use. You can almost hit a poor shot and use a slope to get it close to a hole.

"Whereas here, almost all the time, it's going to repel it further away. You've got to be a little bit more exact.” Higgs says.

The 32-year-old from Kansas finished 4-under at Royal Queensland, 10 shots behind champion Elvis Smylie, but said his form tee-to-green was solid, lamenting some “sloppy” shots around the green.


While he’s been in Australia Higgs has seen koalas in a sanctuary and been impressed by the muscles on large kangaroos. He's also enjoyed being called “Higgsy”.

“I’ve been called a lot worse!” he quips.

“But no, this has been an awesome trip. I'm really glad that I did it.

“And, hopefully, this time next year, if I'm not fighting for my job in the States, I can come back.”