Brian McElhinney’s ticket to Augusta National was punched almost 12 months earlier when he won the 2005 Amateur Championship at Royal Birkdale. The quiet people of Burnfoot usually try to steer clear of the limelight, but on one early April weekend, one of their own was mixing it with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and just about every other big-name in the game.
The rugged terrain of Donegal was swapped for life among the azaleas and dogwoods of Augusta National, a utopian oasis in the southeastern corner of the United States.
Then 23 years old, McElhinney filled his boots with pre-Masters traditions, including a night in the Crow’s Nest – the top-floor attic of the Augusta National clubhouse that is the traditional home of the amateurs competing at the Masters – and playing in the Par-3 Contest.
“It’s hard to believe it’s 20 years ago now. It doesn’t feel that long ago but it just shows how fast time flies by,” acknowledged McElhinney, who is now the head professional at North West Golf Club.
“It was an experience of a lifetime to stay in the Crow’s Nest for a night. It was great to drive up Magnolia Lane. Obviously, I was very fortunate to get that opportunity.”
McElhinney made sure to get stuck in with some of golf’s biggest stars. He shared practice rounds with Luke Donald, Thomas Bjørn, Pádraig Harrington, Paul McGinley, and Colin Montgomerie, while nine-time major champion and three-time Masters winner Gary Player, approached him for a welcome handshake.
“I was fortunate enough to meet Paul McGinley at an awards ceremony a year before,” McElhinney recalled. “He gave me his number and told me to make contact. He said that we would have a practice round that week. I played with him, Harrington and Colin Montgomerie.
“It all adds to it to get to play with different players and get an insight into how they play the game and things like that.”
Of the Irish amateurs who have walked Amen Corner – seven, in total – McElhinney arguably had the best company when he played the first two rounds alongside two-time winner Tom Watson, and the reigning U.S. Open champion, New Zealand’s Michael Campbell.
“It was a really good draw, and they were both really nice to play with,” McElhinney remembers. “You felt at ease playing with them, not intimidated or anything like that. They were both really nice people and loved to talk about playing golf in Ireland, so that was a great draw.”
Playing some of the iconic holes made the Donegal native appreciate how difficult they are, and among his fondest memories of the week was standing on the 12th tee. It’s a shot that sends shivers down the spines of even green jacket winners – just ask Jordan Spieth – but McElhinney not only stood up to the test, he passed it with flying colours.
“There were certain things that happened that made you think,” he recalls. “From watching on TV, it doesn’t do it justice. When we were playing 11, the guys were hitting off the 12th tee and the last two guys to hit ended up in the water short.
“Campbell was up first and his ball hit the bank and came back into the water. I don’t know how many times Tom Watson had played in the Masters before that, but no matter how much experience you have playing a course, it can still catch you out.
“With all his experience, I thought he wouldn’t make the same mistake, but his ball hit the bank and came back into the water too, so he was caught out!
“That made me realise what Augusta was all about with the swirling winds and shelter on that tee and the angle of the green.
“That really made me feel I was at Augusta. I actually hit the green, the back corner, so I was happy enough – a wee punchy 5-iron. The day before I hit a 9-iron, but the wind and pin had changed! Players were hitting 7-irons and coming up short.
“When I played 13 and 15 – some of the top pros make them look so easy. 13 is such a tight line to take over the trees on the left; anything left is gone. On 15, on the second shot, to hit that green with a long iron or a wood takes a top class shot – it’s such a small area to land on.
“When you play them, it makes you appreciate it more.”
McElhinney was no stranger to the big occasion during his superb amateur career. In fact, he relished the pressure moments. He had played in the Open Championship a year earlier courtesy of his European Amateur Championship victory. But as he battled his way through the matchplay stages of the 2005 Amateur Championship, he was aware that there was more than just the trophy on the line.
“You’re aware of the consequences, definitely,” he reflects. “The thing about it is that there are no easy matches. Winning each match on its own was an achievement, so obviously the closer you got to the final, the more you became aware of it. You could never get too far ahead of yourself though, there are a lot of tough matches, so you had to try to stay in the moment.”
Stay in the moment he did, but it was hard not to get ahead of himself when his invitation to Augusta National arrived in the post just before Christmas.
McElhinney used his privileged access to eight tickets to invite family, friends and some club members along to support him. What he hadn’t accounted for was teeing it up in front of galleries that were five deep for the week.
On the eve of the tournament comes the Par-3 Contest. Those were the pre-social media days, and McElhinney wasn’t aware that most players had family members or as has become common in recent years, multiple family members including toddlers, don the traditional white caddie jumpsuits and accompany them for the Par-3 Contest.
“I played with Stephen Ames and Zach Johnson (a future Masters winner). I wasn’t even aware of the tradition of asking family to caddie in the Par-3. My dad, my mum and my brother had flown over but my normal caddy, Stephen O’Donnell, did the job.
“I think I was three-under after five, but I had a bad finish.”
Since no player has won the Par-3 Contest and then gone on to earn a green jacket the same year, most of the big guns opt to self-destruct or get themselves disqualified if they’re in danger of winning the Contest, but it was an experience the Burnfoot man will never forget and the main event was yet to come.
Eventually, it was his time. “Fore please, Brian McElhinney now driving.”
“It was pretty nerve-wracking but, saying that, I was fortunate to play the Open Championship the year before and a lot of big amateur tournaments. Still, you’re hitting your first tee shot in the Masters, but you try to tell yourself that it’s only another tee shot as a way to cope with it. I was fortunate to hit a really good tee shot, which was nice,” says the now 43-year-old, but he got to experience first hand why they say Augusta National is a course that you have to learn to play.
“I was nine over after 12 holes of that opening round and I wasn’t doing an awful lot wrong. I was hitting the ball well enough. I just seemed to miss the greens on the wrong side and struggled to get up and down,” he recalled of his opening 80 before making a significant improvement on day two and shooting 75 on a day when just three players managed to card rounds in the 60s.
“It’s not that I hit the ball any better on the second day. It was that my course management was much better and I was probably a wee bit better around the greens as well. I hung around and spectated for the next two days after missing the cut. That was The Masters that Phil Mickelson won so I soaked up the atmosphere, it was nice to experience it from outside the ropes.”
That would be McElhinney’s final event as an amateur, and though he’s had his successes as a professional – he won twice on the EuroPro Tour – the big breakthrough never came, but he has since established himself as one of Ireland’s top PGA Professionals, competing regularly on the Irish PGA region, with some silverware coming his way on occasion.
“I played a bit of Challenge Tour and some main tour events that year, but I didn’t do as well as I would have liked,” he said. “I was on the EuroPro Tour for four or five years and got two wins which was nice. I did my PGA training from there and played on the region. I’ve always been there or thereabouts and had a few nice finishes, and now I’m fortunate enough to be the head pro at my home club. I have a nice balance of running the pro shop, coaching and playing on the region. I can’t complain because I am fortunate enough to do something that I really enjoy.”
McElhinney is a quiet fella, keeps himself to himself and certainly doesn’t go parading the fact that he played at the Masters Tournament at Augusta National. That doesn’t mean his Pro-Am partners can’t find out…
“I would never go out of my way to tell them! Some of them have done some research on you so they find out and ask some questions. There are others who don’t ask any. It’s nice for them to maybe have an opportunity to get an insight from someone who has been there.”
Two decades may have passed in the blink of an eye, but the memories of Augusta will last a lifetime.
This article originated in Irish Golfer Magazine – Masters Edition 2026 – on sale nationwide right now.
Leave a comment