Higginbottom was one of four players picked in the Australian junior team and was also bestowed with the honour of captaining the NSW junior side despite being the youngest member.

Another phone call, among the many he received this week after becoming the first player since legendary Jim Ferrier in 1931 to win the title as a 16-year-old, was to tell him he had been picked in the state senior squad.

"Getting in the Australian junior team was one of the goals I had set myself this year," Higginbottom said. "Making the senior state squad was also pretty good."

Higginbottom said winning the NSW amateur title was easily his biggest achievement. He put his name alongside past champions Jack Newton, Brett Ogle, Peter O'Malley and Bruce Devlin.

Last year he finished equal second at the Aaron Baddeley International Junior Championships in China.

A prolific winner on the Jack Newton Junior Golf Foundation circuit for five years, Higginbottom won the NSW Junior Championship in Parkes last year.

"This is definitely the biggest thing I've won," said Higginbottom, who started year 11 at St Francis Xavier College last week.

"I don't really know what's next because I haven't had time to think about it."

One thing is certain, Higginbottom will not be getting ahead of himself.

Charlestown professional Mark Rainey is his coach and said one of the main reasons for his young charge's success was his humility.

"I'm very impressed with how he's handled himself, not just on the course, but off the course as well," Rainey said.

"My main job now is to keep him grounded, but he's well grounded anyway because he's been well brought up by [parents] Bruce and Julie.

"I think he's improved so much because we've kept him grounded."

Rainey still remembers the day he first saw Higginbottom swing a club, and the first person he went to was his stepfather, Neville Bell, who was the head professional at Charlestown.

"I remember I was coaching and I said to Nev, 'Come and have a look at this kid,' because he stood out," Rainey said. "There's no doubt he's got a big future ahead of him."