PGA Tour pro Heath Slocum looks on as Vicksburg High’s Elliott Flaggs attempts a putt during a round of golf at Clear Creek Golf Course on Wednesday. Slocum will play in the Southern Farm Bureau Classic starting today in Madison, Mississippi’s only PGA Tour event. (The Vicksburg Post/C. Todd Sherman)

[10/31/02]As he prepared to play in the Southern Farm Bureau Classic today, Heath Slocum took some time off to visit one of his old home courses.

Slocum, who is 76th on the PGA Tour money list this year, played a practice round with a group of old friends at Clear Creek Golf Course on Wednesday. Slocum lived in Vicksburg for about five years in the 1980s when his father, Jack, was the course pro at Clear Creek.

“It’s fun to come back to where I started playing golf. I hit balls when I was little, but this is where I really started playing,” Slocum said.

He shot a 2-under par on Wednesday, but the day was about more than golf, he said. After his midday round, Slocum spent some time joking with friends, signing a few autographs and relaxing over fried catfish.

“I like being around home, where you have friends and family around,” Slocum said. “We were here for a while, and whenever you get to know people … They’re still a part of your life. I’m glad they’re still here and I get to come back and have fun.”

Bob Walsh, a longtime friend of the Slocum family, seemed like a proud parent when talking about Heath after they finished their round of golf.

“I played with him when he was a kid. He had it back then … When he was 10 years old, he had the swing and he had the determination,” said Walsh, a 62-year-old Vicksburg resident. “I’m proud of him. What can you say? He’s done great.”

As he nears the end of his first full season on the PGA Tour, Slocum is hoping to do even better. He earned a “battlefield promotion” from the Buy.com Tour after winning three events on the lower circuit in 2001, but has managed only two top-10 and five top-25 finishes this year. His best showing was a second-place effort at the Worldcom Classic in April.

He hopes to break the drought at Annandale Golf Club in Madison, site of the SFBC.

“I’ve had some chances, but my putting hasn’t been real good, honestly, but it’s close. I’m making good putts and it’s just a matter of making a few early,” Slocum said. “I think (Annandale) is definitely a course I can win on.”

Despite the ups and downs of this season, it has been a rousing success for Slocum. He’s earned $846,781, is fourth on the Tour in driving accuracy percentage, and played in two majors, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship.

He missed the cut at the Open, but finished 22nd at the PGA Championship.

“I played horrible at the Open, but I was tired. We played a lot of events right around then,” Slocum said. “The PGA was a lot of fun. I played well on a really good golf course, and with my dad being a member of the PGA for a long time, it was special.”

A win this week, in front of what may amount to a hometown crowd, would also be special, Slocum said.

“Hopefully, I’ll just be in the last group,” Slocum said. “Obviously, if I had won earlier in the year, it’d still mean a little more to win closer to home.”