I've been on the board for the past few months, but I don't think I ever took the time to introduce myself...
This site has been a fixture of my life for the past several years and I'm very excited to have the opportunity to participate in the lively discourse and banter on all of my favorite topics, but mainly the game of golf. Having grown up around the world with a father in the military, I actually really got into the game while a high school sophomore living in Germany. We moved a lot at this time, always during the summer, so they were typically pretty lonely until school started and I could start to meet new people. So most of the time I made my way to the course on base and spent my days there, playing and practicing basically from dawn to dusk. My dad got into the game around the same time I did, so we basically caught the bug together.
Living in Europe, and in a family that loves to travel, I was exposed to some great courses at a very early stage--one of the first real golf trips I took was a trip to Scotland in high school during which we played The Old Course, Carnoustie and Royal Aberdeen. I've continued this throughout the rest of my life, attending college in a golf-rich area of southern Virginia, studying abroad at the University of St Andrews (where I mostly just toured the country playing), and making a point of playing and visiting the best courses in the world at every possibility.
I currently live in Battle Creek MI where I work in market research for a large cereal company. Battle Creek is also now known as the site of the upcoming new show from Vince Gilligan of Breaking Bad fame (so maybe this town has seen better days
). My home course is Battle Creek CC, a 1919 Willie Park Jr design. I'm going on two years straight of posting 100+ rounds in a region where the golf season lasts a mere 7 months and my handicap has maintained around 5 for the last several years.
I would list Royal County Down, The Old Course, Prairie Dunes, Pebble Beach and Inverness among my all-time favorites. My quest at the moment, beyond aspirations of playing the top 100, is discovering the lost and/or hidden gems around the country. In the southwest Michigan area alone, there are several gems that have been forgotten and abused which, frankly, upsets me.
But I look forward to participating on the board, discussing our collective passion for the game and hopefully getting to meet many of you.
Chris