By the time you’ ve stored your gear and exited, someone’ s approached you with a brand new putter. It’ s yours, he says. Someone else strolls over with a new set of wedges. Play’ em in good health, buddy.

You see Rickie Fowler on the first tee, about to play a practice round.“ Dude,” Fowler says to you,“ let’ s join up.” Under the watchful eyes of thousands of fans, you and Fowler chat like he was the best man at your wedding.

Next day, thousands more follow you as you play a second practice round behind Spieth and Phil Mickelson and in front of Fowler and an Irish guy named McIlroy.

When you’ re done, you sign autographs by the hundreds, savoring every minute of the experience.

Josh Speight doesn’ t have to close his eyes to imagine those scenarios. He lived them.

Speight, the 28-year-old assistant PGA professional at VSGA member club Indian Creek Yacht and Country Club in Kilmarnock, was one of just 20 club pros to qualify for the PGA Championship in late July. He did it courtesy of a roller-coaster performance in the PGA Professional Championship in June in New York.

He was in eighth place after two rounds, had almost no hope of qualifying after a third-round 75 then advanced 27 spots and into a final tie for fourth by firing a blistering 7-under-par 65 in which he birdied five of his first eight holes.

All of a sudden, a guy who was a Division III All-American at national champion Methodist University but had never played in so much as a Web. com or mini-tour event was driving his courtesy Cadillac SUV into the players’ parking lot at golf’ s fourth major championship.

“ An incredible experience,” he said from back home.“ I wouldn’ t say just getting there was‘ enough,’ because I don’ t want it to be my only one. It certainly makes me feel better about how I played just to know how big an accomplishment it is. It’ s an honor just to be there.”

It’ d be nice to put a Cinderella postscript on Speight’ s achievement. Sadly, no club pro has finished among the top 30 in more than 20 years. And the last club pro to finish inside the top 10— this is rich— was Sam Snead in 1973, repping The Greenbrier.

So while Speight beat reigning U. S. Open champion Dustin Johnson and 2010 Open titlist Graeme McDowell, he missed the cut by a comfortable margin.

“ I wasn’ t nervous to play, but found myself worried about hitting a bad shot, and I never do that,” he said.“ I’ m normally very confident in my ability. Once I hit a couple of bad ones, it got into my head a little bit, to where I was fearful of hitting another bad one. That’ s not a good way to play. The way the golf course was playing, if you didn’ t hit it in the fairway you were in trouble.

“ This was all a brand new experience for me. I think I’ ll handle that feeling better next time.”

Josh Speight spent his week at the PGA Championship rubbing elbows with the likes of Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler.

So many refreshing things happened to Speight during his summer sojourn. After he qualified for the PGA, about 100 members at Indian Creek put together a party to welcome him home, celebrate and do a bit of fund-raising to help him defray some of his expenses.

“ It’ s probably the most support from a job that I’ ve ever gotten,” he said.“ It meant a lot. It makes it easier to go play well when you have that kind of support.”

There was a practice round with Australian Marc Leishman, who

is a member at Bayville in Virginia Beach, where Speight used to practice when he lived in the city and worked at Hell’ s Point.

“ He was fabulous; I really enjoyed him, and he spent a lot of his practice time giving me tips,” Speight said.

One of the quirkiest experiences he faced at Baltusrol— and faces daily— is the public’ s propensity to confuse him with Spieth. Speight even went up to the Texas phenom, introduced himself and told him,“ Everybody at home thinks I’ m that guy on TV. They say that all the time.”

Spieth was magnanimous in his reply:“ Well, this week, you are.”

Speight departed Baltustrol before the final round on Sunday. His thoughts as he said goodbye to a tournament that provided him with a lifetime of memories?

“ I can’ t wait to play in another one.”

Formerly of the Virginian-Pilot, columnist Jim Ducibella is a regular contributor to Virginia Golfer.

TONY GUTIERREZ / ASSOCIATED PRESS