I grew up on Deal GC in New jersey. With my da being a PGA guy, I was able to play a lot of unreal golf courses, including Hollywood, right next door. I was young and I guess spoiled, in that I loved these courses, but it was "normal" for me to be playing good to great golf courses.
When I was 17, I played the Plainfield Junior tournament. I remember realizing on about the 3rd hole there was something different there. Not knowing the course, I left myself in some unreal difficult spots, that looked reasonable from the approach distances. The place beat me to death, but I realized as a player how much more I needed to know the course and greens complexes.
The second was when I moved to California and qualified for the State Am at Pebble and CPC. As a New JErsey guy, this was just another world. CPC immediately was my favorite course as I played my first round there. Walking from 14 to 15 and then to 16, still gets me excited, and I just felt i was in a special place
The last time I felt it was my first practice round at The Old Course prior to the '95 Open.
I was literally the ONLY player on the course that day, and there were no flagsticks. I played with the guidance of my local caddy, and it was just a spiritual day