Like some of the other old-timers, I originally participated on the Bravenet architectural site and then moved on to Dan King's Traditional Golf site.
One day in 1999 or 2000 I was chatting with The Emperor and he mentioned that he had recently made a similar point on GolfClubAtlas. Intrigued, I asked what it was.
He pointed me to the URL and at first I was a bit intimidated seeing names like Tom Doak, David Eger, Brad Klein, et.al. participating in very enlightened, erudite discussions on topics and courses I could mostly only dream about at that time.
I had grown up playing public tracks and although I'd played about 500 courses by that time, they were hardly the hallowed grounds mostly discussed in these circles.
One day I was inspired to dip my toe in the water and wrote about the first course I ever played just before my 13th birthday...a ramshackle 9 hole farmland course where a membership cost all of $35 for the year.
I was encouraged by a number of favorable responses, including Tom Paul who noted that I did not make a single tyop in my lengthy post and it was off to the races.
This site has been a godsend to me over the past 20 years and I can't begin to describe how many wonderful folks I've met and friends I've made here.
Thanks, Ran!