N.J. Golf Fanatic Builds Quality Golf Museum

Ever since his father, John, brought David Finn of Ramsey to his first golf tournament 11 years ago, his wheelchair-bound son has had the time of his life.

It wasn’t so unusual that John, an assistant golf coach at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, would take his son to a golf event, but getting around was a little bit difficult. These days, David pretty much flies around the courses having been befriended by the likes of Phil Mickelson, Hunter Mahan, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose and Padraig Harrington.

Really, how many golf fans do you know who have had their pictures taken with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, George W. Bush, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and all of the aforementioned players?

David, who is 22 and takes classes at Bergen Community College, doesn’t speak but can carry on conversations by messaging on a board on his wheelchair. Dad John can pretty much interpret what his son is thinking.

It all started with Mickelson and his caddie, Bones Mackay, who took a liking to David when they first met him at the 2005 PGA Championship at Baltusrol.

GOLF CHANNEL SPECIAL ON DAVID FINN

They were there on Tuesday before the tournament when Mickelson spotted them. He walked over to David, said, "Hey, buddy, thanks for coming out," and handed him a signed glove.

When Mickelson won the tournament, he spotted David in the crowd at the 18th hole, and made sure that David got a photo with the trophy. David suffers from a form of multiple sclerosis but Team Mickelson has gone out of their way to accommodate the Finns.

So every year since, Mickelson, Bones and the Finns will get together somewhere in the metropolitan area. But in 2014, things were different. On the final Sunday of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, the Finns escorted Mickelson inside the ropes as his guest over all 18 holes of the scrub, sand and pine course. And they received a roar from the crowd when they reached the final green.

"David, he's a great kid," Mickelson said after the Sunday round at the 2014 Open. "He's been with us for a long time. He's been out at a number of tournaments for almost a decade now. His dad, John, is a great man."

Last August, the Finns renewed ties with Phil and Bones at The Barclays at nearby Ridgewood Country Club. The plan is to meet up with the duo again this August at The Barclays at the Plainfield Country Club.

David was somewhat of a good luck charm for Hunter Mahan, who won last year’s Barclays at Ridgewood.

While posing with the The Barclays trophy alongside, Mahan gripped the crystal chalice only to discover he had broken it in two, watching as its bowl became separated from its base.

The incident sparked a round of laughter from David, whom Mahan was posing with. David is in a wheelchair with a disorder affecting his limbs.

"David did it," Mahan promptly joked, according to The Newark Star-Ledger.

The relationship between the Finns and Mahan go back to 2008.

Mahan first encountered Finn at the 2008 Travelers Championship in Hartford, Conn., where he was the defending champion. Joining him for the final couple holes, Mahan started dropping birdies in Finn’s presence, and called him his good luck charm.

“Every time he came up to Hartford, we started making birdies,” said Mahan’s caddie, John Wood. “Every time.”

According to the New York Post: “At the 2012 Travelers, with Mahan on the verge of shooting a final-round 61, Wood took off his bib and put it on Finn as he wheeled him up the 18th fairway to a raucous applause. The winning bib from this week was signed by Mahan, above which he wrote in big block letters, “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

The bib went into David’s bedroom, known as “The Golf Museum,” a place that Wood went and visited.

“It’s hard to [have perspective] because you’re trying to win a tournament,” Mahan said, “but I think [Finn] just gives you some joy.”

As a minor celebrity himself, David has been featured in nearly every important golf magazine. In June, Jimmy Roberts of The Golf Channel paid a visit to the Finns home in Ramsey to shoot an upcoming special that will air on the network shortly.

And, yes, David’s bedroom is a shrine to golf, with such items as autographs balls, bibs, gloves, scorecards, photos, etc. This isn’t room for much more memorabilia.

“David says his greatest single experience was meeting Phil Mickelson the first time in 2005 and when Phil brought over the trophy. He really pulled the kid out of the crowd,” John said. “Meeting Michael Jordan was totally unexpected. It happened on a Saturday of the Ryder Cup at Medinah.

David was disappointed the U.S. lost the Ryder Cup and said he would trade all of his memorabilia for a U.S. victory next time.

Meeting President Bush was totally unexpected, too. President Bush asked him if he could shake his hand and take a picture with him.

John said the meeting with Jack Nicklaus was brief, but the meeting with Arnold Palmer was something special.

“We wrote to Arnold and said we’d like to meet him and Arnie wrote back and said he’ d love to meet David. We said we’ve met a president (Bush) and now we get to meet The King,” John said.

The Finns have been at The Masters in a trip arranged by Mickelson.

Traveling is not easy for the family, which can include mom Vanessa.

“The toughest part is the transportation from the hotel to the course. Getting a wheelchair accessible bus would be great, but it doesn’t happen all of the time,” John said. “Once we get it figured out, we’re okay. We stayed too late at Pebble Beach and missed the bus and they had to put us in a regular van.

“The thing we love the most is clubhouse parking. That makes things go much easier for us. On the road, everything takes a little longer. We started off shaky, but things have gone tremendously well for us. Most of the guys on the Ryder Cup team now know David.”

David’s other passion is football where he is a dedicated New York Giants fan.

“David’s bedroom is the second-best golf museum in New Jersey next to the one at Far Hills,” said John,