I was fortunate to have been introduced to golf at Essex G&CC (Donald Ross, 1929), which instigated my fascination with golf courses and their architecture at a young age.
However, like Tom Doak, Harbour Town really pushed me over the edge. My dad used to bring my brother and I down there, to Hilton Head, when we were youngsters and I couldn't 'hit it out of my shadow', either.
My younger brother, on the other hand, became a very good player at a very young age. So, my dad and my brother used to play Harbour Town, and I'd simply follow them around with a yardage book and a scorecard in-hand, to look at the golf course.
[Although I haven't seen the course since the recent renovation, I'm still fascinated with Harbour Town and its wonderful, low-profile nature.]
About the same time, I guess I was about 13 or 14 years old, my dad bought me The World Atlas of Golf, for Christmas. If I had studied science and math as much as I studied that World Atlas throughout high school, I'd probably be working for NASA these days!
Instead, I'm riding around on bulldozers and backhoes