Ari Techner
Eugene, Oregon USA
President/CEO of Scratch Golf Co. (
www.scratchgolf.com)
3 handicap
28 years old
Hole in One: Pacific Dunes 14th hole, 5 iron into 30 mph wind
Best Score w/ Modern Clubs: 5 under Par 65
Best Round: 73 at Pacific Dunes with Hickory and alot of wind
Home club: Eugene Country Club
Grew up playing Franklin Hills Country Club in MI
Growing up I was always interested in GCA and what made one course better than another in my eyes. Fortunetly growing up in Michigan there is alot of great old golf courses and alot of Donald Ross and I was lucky enough to play most of them in my time there. Early on in my golfing life I realized that 9.5 times out of 10 a course built in 1925 would be much better than a course built in 1985 and I wondered why that was. I would however say that I really dove into GCA head first after moving to Oregon and playing Bandon and especially Pacific Dunes. I fell in love with the hard and fast links feel of the courses and all the shot making options that they presented. This is when I truely realized there can be much more to golf than the hit it between the trees and hazards target golf that most courses in the USA are. I am now looking forward to discovering the great true links of Europe in the next few years. I will be traveling to Ireland for the first time this summer for a friends wedding that will turn into a golf trip and I hope to get to play Royal Cinque Ports next week when I am in London.
I generally do not get along with more modern golf clubs, "woods" especially, so I play most of my rounds with Persimmon woods or a full set of Hickory. I find that I enjoy the game more with wood. I can work the ball left, right, high and low instead of just swinging hard and hoping I find the fairway. I feel like I shoot my best scores with my Scratch Blades, Wedges and custom Putter and my Joe Powell custom Deep Face Persimmon driver, Wood Bros Persimmon 3 wood and Cleveland Classic Persimmon 4 wood.
I have spent many hours reading threads on this site and looking at pictures. I have learned a ton from everyone on here and I want to thank everyone for their insight and help.
Anyone who is going to be in Eugene or driving through Eugene on their way to Bandon, I would be happy to host you at Eugene Country Club, just send me a PM.