Back in the very early days of this site, I was a very frequent poster and active contributor. One of the Iconic threads from that time was "The Pizza Guy." Years later, I have my own Pizza guy story.
I was out on the west coast in San Francisco on business and had absolutely no plans to golf, as it was an in and out trip. My meeting ended early and I asked if there was a course nearby and was told Presidio was. I went out there in a suit, bought clothes to golf in, bought a glove and balls, rented clubs, borrowed the pro's golf shoes and went out to play.
I was paired with a frequent couple you see in California, a short, quiet and weird guy with an extremely pretty and vivacious women. They were riding together and I was social but really playing my own game and soaking in the course. At the nine, the guy had to leave and the women asked if she could join me (No - this is not going to turn into a penthouse forum letter). We got to talking and it turns out the guy was not a husband/boyfriend but just someone she had randomly been paired with.
As we talked about golf and travel, she mentioned her passion for Scotland and Royal Dornock. Her and her husband were frequent visitors and she was just getting passionate about golf. Her husband was a golf nut and participated in this site called GCA. His name is Dave Tepper.
What a crazy coincidence. I have lurked and read a number of David's posts and he is another old timer and actually knew my name. A random pairing turned into a delightful evening of Beer, Scotch and BBQ. The reach of GCA never should surprise me but it really does. David and Lauren - Thank you so much for the kind hospitality. I could not have enjoyed myself more. It was a wonderful evening.
PS - if there is still a vigilance against non architecture threads. I will say that Presidio was a true thinking mans course. The lines of charm went both ways off the tee and required any number of different shapes. It is not a long course, but there is so much bend that you cannot overpower it with a long straight ball. Especially interesting was the number of uphill approaches, that really require some creative art to club correctly and hold greens. #13 I did not love, as I felt that the tree took away from how cool the false front was but I really enjoyed the rest of it. I would play it again for sure.