How James Freeman’s superb form culminated in shooting 59 and achieving ‘the holy grail’

12/08/2025

The PGA Fellow Head Coach at Rotherham Golf Club had scored a 60 before in his professional career and once recorded 9-under-par in a Pro-Am event in Portugal.

To shoot 59 is to join an exclusive club of golfers, and he did exactly that in the first round of the Midland Open at Whittington Heath at the end of July.

Freeman made 12 birdies by the time he reached the 18^th tee box. At this point, his nerves might have been jangling, but this was not the case, and far from it.

“I realised that I was 8-under through 10 holes, and then I birdied 12, and then I birdied 13 as well. I was thinking to myself then, what's par? I need two more. I then birdied 16, and then 17,” he said.

“To be honest, I just thought, ‘Right, make a par up the last and you've done it’. I had very good realisation of what I was doing. But this time, I just didn't put the handbrake on.

“Sometimes you do, don't you? You put your handbrake on and just think 8-under is a good score, but I didn't this time. I just kept going for it.

“I was staying aggressive. I hit a drive down there about 350 yards and I had 119 yards left. I just went for it, I didn’t hang back!

“I hit it slightly short of where I wanted. I was in between clubs. I went for the 54-degree wedge. I was a bit pumped up because I was thinking I’ve got to try and just finish the job. I two-putted from about 28 feet, just under the hole.”

Freeman’s 59 was the product of superb form in the build-up to the Midland Open. He won the Burstwick Pro-Am in May, he took first prize in the professional event at the Andrew Murray Charity Pro-Am at Bramhall and he shared the spoils with Ryan O’Neill at the Brough Classic.

He also won the North of England Championship Pro-Am at Oakdale, and this was after coming tied for second at the Northern Open at Royal Dornoch. It was on his way to Dornoch when something was triggered in his mind and his run of good form began.

I'm not spiritual at all, but from then on, I just seemed to play really well. If you look at my results from Dornoch onwards, I've been right there.

- James Freeman

“I went to visit an old golf club that my grandparents were members of, which is on the way to Scotland, on the way to Royal Dornoch (Kingussie Golf Club),” he said.

“I'm not spiritual at all, but from then on, I just seemed to play really well. If you look at my results from Dornoch onwards, I've been right there.

“I know it sounds like a cliché, but I've been trending. I'd shot bogey-free 6-under at Bramhall in the Andrew Murray Pro-Am, and I also shot a bogey-free 6-under at Bowood, so I've been showing signs of very good scores.”

22 of the 59 shots that Freeman took in round one were putts and his short game is something he strongly focuses on with his coach Graham Walker, who he has worked with for over 20 years.

There was a time when competitive golf might have been off the table for Freeman. He had back surgery in 2011, after which a consultant told him that playing golf to a top standard might not be possible anymore. He has also had an anterior cruciate ligament replacement in his knee.

After four years of recovering from injuries, plus working as a coach at Rotherham and Retford Golf Club, he has gradually brought himself back to playing golf of the highest quality. He has 79 wins in PGA events in Great Britain and Ireland and now, a 59 on his record.

“You can't quite realise what you've accomplished until maybe down the line. It’s the holy grail, isn't it?

“59 is unbelievable when you say out loud, not many pros to get to do it, and not many players at all do it. It's crazy."

Freeman went on to shoot a 69 in round two to finish on 14-under-par which was enough to finish second behind Niall Kearney, who shot a 60 of his own to win on 17-under-par.