Even after 20 years, Bill Bergin won’t soon forget the first time he played in the British Open. The experience changed his life forever.

The year was 1984, and Bergin, then a touring golfer toiling on the old TPS Tour—the forerunner to the Nationwide Tour—was flush with a little success. A second-place finish in a TPS event had left him feeling good about his game, so good, in fact, he decided to do something a little risky. The British Open that year was to be played at historic St. Andrews, the home of golf. Bergin decided to travel to Scotland to try and qualify.

Bergin’s good fortune would continue that week. After qualifying at Lundin Links, he shot 75-73 in the first two rounds of the Open and made the cut on the number. Bergin knew he had struck the ball well those first two days, but couldn’t get his putter going. On Saturday, his putter would make up for lost time.  Bergin shot a 6-under-par 66 that day, which tied for the low round of the tournament. Tom Watson, five-time British Open champion, also shot a third-round 66. Future Open winner Ian Baker-Finch shot 66 earlier in the tournament. Bergin was in some fast company.  At the time, the course record at St. Andrews was 65. Going into the historic Road Hole on Saturday, Bergin was at 6-under par. He bogeyed 17—as he would every round of the tournament—but regrouped with a birdie at 18 for his 66. He was ready for Sunday.

Nerves didn’t get the better of Bergin in the final round—paired with the great Nick Faldo, he shot an opening-nine 33, his third straight 33 over a two-day period.  “In 27 holes, I went from making the cut on the nose to tied for fifth place,” Bergin recalls. “Then it all kind of caught up with me.”  Bergin shot 38 on the back nine, but still finished 14th in a memorable year for the Open. Watson was bidding for his sixth championship, but lost out to Seve Ballesteros after Watson bogeyed the Road Hole and Ballesteros birdied the 18th. Bergin had a bird’s-eye view of the tournament’s dramatic finish.  “Seve had an incredible moment on the 18th,” Bergin said. “He made about a 12-footer for birdie to win the tournament, and he did that fist pump everyone’s seen replayed over and over again through the years. I had finished a little bit before that, signed my scorecard and was waiting around watching. I was standing on the clubhouse steps right off the 18th green. When Seve made that putt, it was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever seen. The emotion that went through him, the pure joy, was incredible to watch.”

Bergin won about $10,000 for his efforts, but more importantly, the money he earned qualified him to continue playing on the European Tour. He stayed in Europe and played the Dutch Open and the Irish Open, and for the rest of the year he shuttled back and forth between the TPS Tour and the European Tour.

His experiences would help shape his vision for his future profession as a course designer.  The European Tour influenced me more than anything else,” Bergin said. “Because of turf conditions and wind conditions over there, you play the game on the ground. I’d always been interested in golf course architecture, and while playing in Europe, I began to think about the golf course and how it lays on the ground.  “Later, when I spent three years as a teaching pro, it occurred to me that most women, most seniors and most average golfers play the game on the ground. How does a golf course fit that style of play and how do you design it to allow that to happen? The better player plays golf in the air. What affects the typical golfer is different than what affects Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus or even me.  “As a designer, everything I do starts on the ground, from drainage to slopes to breaks. How does the ball move, how does the water move, how do the greens receive shots. It’s all about the ground.”

In his playing career, Bergin competed in five major championships. He played another British Open in 1985, and also played in three U.S. Opens, the first as an amateur in 1980 at famed Baltusrol. Two years later, as a pro, he qualified for the Open at Pebble Beach, which inspired him even though he didn’t make the cut.  “Under those conditions, I enjoyed playing Pebble more than any golf course I’ve ever played,” Bergin recalls.  Bergin played in one more U.S. Open as his playing days were winding down, in 1987. He shot 65-67 at Atlanta’s famed East Lake to win local qualifying. The Open venue that year was another historic course, Olympic Club in San Francisco. Bergin didn’t make the cut, but he would later leave touring golf with a lifetime of memories playing against some of the world’s best players on the world’s greatest courses. His experiences inform his design work to this day.

“What I like about those designs, those classic courses where major championships are played, is that the average player can play those courses and play better than their handicap,” Bergin said. “St. Andrews is that way. Augusta National and Pinehurst are like that. The average player can play better than his handicap; but a professional player is supremely challenged. I think that makes a great design.  “Augusta’s demands become more evident in a tournament than they do in everyday play. If you put the flags in the middle of the greens at St. Andrews and the wind isn’t blowing that hard, people will think, ‘This is one of the easier courses I’ve played.’ Then tuck the pins, let the wind blow and ring the bell for the tournament. That’s another story.  “I really admire courses designed that way. My experiences playing them, sometimes in major championships, influenced me greatly.”