First time I broke 80 was at Pajaro Valley in Watsonville, CA. I stepped in a hole five steps off the first tee and walked 18 holes with a sprained ankle swollen to the size of a tennis ball. I remember crawling out of the swale in the middle of the 16th fairway but somehow my 12-handicap game was relatively unaffected by the injury. I’m not trying to suggest I was Tiger at Torrey, but sometimes the goal supersedes everything else.
The only time I broke 70 was 40 minutes away at Laguna Seca. A very snappy 39-30. The outward 39 against the par of 36 was the result of a triple bogey on nine. A 5-under back included a double at 11, but chip-in eagles at both par fives helped quite a bit. That round took place during the ‘82 Open at Pebble where I spent that morning in a grandstand behind the 18th and saw only one player hit the green in two (and very few even try). What was amazing was that the player who accomplished the feat was the GLB, Corey Pavin. The only player he ever outdrove on tour was Mike Reid!