It’s always around 5:25pm on a Friday when the text comes across the mobile. “U and Jen available Monday for a shoot in Jax?” One thing we love is pulling off the impossible. We would soon learn that the subject would be Jim Furyk, whom the writer claimed was willing to wear a clown costume for a cover portrait. Now, it’s hard to get a professional golfer of Jim’s caliber to let you take his picture without a sponsor’s shirt or hat on, so after we asked our editor if we had heard him correctly, we got busy.

We got to work researching clowns and professional costume shops in Orlando, that are open on Mother’s Day weekend. Our options were limited. We also learned quickly that professional clowns have their clothing custom made and aren’t willing to rent it out. After hitting the party stores and being reminded that everything in the world is made of ugly plastic or cheap material these days, we stopped by Orlando Vintage Clothing.

We found a pinstripe brown vintage suit and a frilly tux shirt that would fit Furyk. Then the lone employee working that day helped us find two key pieces, a silk polka-dot bowtie and a beautiful Brooks Brothers bowler hat. The most amazing item we found was the vintage suitcase, which we had to promise to be careful with because it’s not technically for sale or for rent. Our only plastic purchases were the shoes and the red nose, which we had to source from a party store.

Once we had our props and wardrobe, we had to figure out the when, where, and how. The writer, John Hawkins, got in touch and said he was hanging with Furyk Monday and we would likely meet and shoot at the Furyk household. Now, as shoots with PGA players generally go, this is par for the course. Toss a clown costume and lights into the picture at high noon in Florida, and things could go either way. We called on our good friend and colleague Cy Cyr to come along and help us make sure we operated as efficiently as possible. Cy was hesitant to make the trek with us, until we told him what we were doing. “Jim Furyk in a clown outfit? I’m in!”

On Monday, we met Hawkins and Furyk at the house. Furyk was very welcoming and in good spirits coming off a 5th place finish the day before at The Players Championship. While I directed the lighting setup, Jen executed the wardrobe choices, including tying the bow-tie on Furyk. It helped that subject’s backyard has a putting green built on the edge of the ocean.

We shot a variety of images with Furyk in the mostly-wool costume in the blistering heat. He never complained. His only comment about it was when he returned the shoes and noted that they were soaking wet inside. We wrapped the shoot and drove straight to our favorite Ponte Vedra BBQ joint, Down South, to celebrate and rehydrate.

Hawkins’ story chronicles Furyk’s quest to win another US Open and details how he is a hard-working down-to-earth guy with a sense of humor that most people don’t know about. Hawkins, perhaps surprised himself that Furyk put the outfit on, wrote about it in the piece, “When you crack the face on your favorite club and can’t crack the top 10 after spending forever and a month inside it, you’re not likely to crack a smile. So why is Jim Furyk dressed like a clown? Come on. You can’t be serious.”

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