Pam Higgins: Short Game Specialist

 Need some pointers on your short game? Then Pam Higgins is your pro.

Higgins, a Newport Beach resident, holds clinics on putting and chipping and teaches private and semi-private lessons at the Newport Beach Country Club.

Her credentials: three LPGA wins while she was on the tour from 1969 to 1982.

“It was very exciting," Higgins said of her years as a pro golfer, "a very fun time.”

Exciting, but tiring, she said.

While playing in the U.S., she drove cross-country several times within the 13 years of touring and also traveled overseas to London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Melbourne, Malaysia and Tokyo. In addition to the travel, there was always pressure to perform and become better each year, she said.

“It wore me out, “ said Higgins, who eventually became tired of the grind.

It was the 1972 Pro-Am event and her pairing with then Newport Beach Country Club General Manager Woody Smith that would lead her to Newport Beach. That day Higgins broke the course record.

Twelve years later, Higgins called Smith about a  full time job teaching golf.

Once a Rancho Mirage resident, Higgins split her time between that desert resort and Newport. She now resides in Newport.

“I love Newport Beach, I’d much rather be here than in the desert,” she said.

Higgins said she enjoys teaching at the Newport Beach Country Club five days a week and being able to set her own schedule. But her favorite thing about teaching: interacting with people and the satisfaction of seeing them “get it."