One of my very first player shoots was back in July 2007.

I was asked by Shaun McGuckian the sub editor of GolfPunk to go with him to Northern Ireland and do an interview with a young lad who according to those in the know was going to be the next big thing in Golf.

Little did I know that at that time that I would be recording a little piece of golfing history.

After a missed flight (my passport fell out of my bag in the carpark transfer bus) we turned up the next day at Royal County Down to meet up with the young Irish prodigy Rory Mcilroy. On arrival Rory was already in the pro shop practicing his putting and so after introductions we met up with the secretary and checked what time we could tee off.

Apparently the secretary didn’t know the full story, he was aware of us using the course to shoot but didn’t know we were going to play, he explained that as it was a Saturday it was members only and that there was no way we would be able to tee it up.

However a few words from Shaun relating to the importance of this young man to the future of golf in Ireland, plus the fact that he would be playing here in the Walker Cup in a few months time resulted in us being able to play a 4 ball on the back 9.

At that time I was playing off 6 but shooting and playing is like patting your head and circling your hand over your belly at the same time, those that have tried it know it’s not easy!

I teamed up with Shaun and we took on Rory and his playing partner who happened to be a family friend and also Shauns Uncle. As I remember I didn’t play badly but my main focus was getting some great shots of this extraordinary young man.

We lost on the last hole and looking back shaking hands with the young Rory Mcilroy on the 18th at Royal County Down has to be one of the best memories of my career to date. I’m also very pleased with the pictures. For me they act as a recording of part this young mans remarkable journey. I worked with Rory several times since and I’m really looking forward to our next shoot hopefully in 2015.