[Steve Lang]

   TD if i were you, I'd move that marriage thing up to the top...

[Kevin Pallier]

Personal level:
Meeting my wife to be in the USA
Marrying her in Australia
Renewing vows in England
Having 2 kids
Making new friends via golf

Golf wise:
Becomming a member of GCA
Living in England and doing various golf trips throughout GB&I
Travelling throughout Australia revisting great golf courses and discovering new one's
Being involved with various golfing publications rankings / ratings
Travelling to the USA in 2009 and playing / seeing all the great courses I've ever only dreamed of visiting

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

Personal:

1. Getting married
2. Having three beautiful girls in just over two years (the two youngest are fraternal twins)
3. Seeing one of my greatest friends come back from 3 tours of duty (2 Iraq, 1 Afghanistan)
4. Buying a house in a wonderful neighborhood
5. Surviving two mergers and two market crashes in my career at JP Morgan

Golf:

1. Playing Fishers Island for the first time and shooting my career low round (76) with a 34 on the back.  I knocked it to a foot on 16 and made the putt.  The single best memory and the most fun I have ever had on a golf course.
2. Running the driving range as the committee chair for the practice areas at the 2009 US Open at Bethpage with another great friend.  We still are not sure how we were selected to get the job as rookies, but we poured our heart and soul to making sure that the week went well for the players and volunteers.  The weather tested all of us but we never gave up.  The day all of our volunteers showed up for afternoon shifts when they had already halted play still impresses me and shows me why golf is special.
3.  Going to the Fairmount Park Commission archives with Mike Cirba and Joe Bausch and finding the original routing for Cobb's Creek.  We all felt like Indiana Jones that day.
4. Playing Grindstone Neck, a 9 holer in Winter Harbor, Maine.  Just our threesome on the course, and I think we said 5 words between us for the last few holes in a slight fog.  Golf as it was meant to be and it cost less than $25.
5.  Joining a private club and seeing my name on the locker.  I checked off an important box on my golf to do list.

[David Amarnek]

1. Getting married (again)
2. Adopting a wonderful newborn boy and playing golf with him for the first time at the end of this year... he's 5 already!
3. Taking a golf trip to England with my brother and eldest nephew (Huntercombe, Rye, Deal, RSG, Sunningdale and Swinley Forest)
4. Par on the Road Hole
5. Birdie on 9th @ RCD
6. Winning member-guest @ friend's club in St. Louis (Glen Echo)
7. Playing in member-guest @ Merion
8. Participating in my club's first ever interclub match win vs. SLCC, Bellerive and Old Warson.
9. Qualifying for championship flight final round
10. Meeting RCP mates and playing matches in Chicago (thanks Mark!!!!)
11. Finding the perfect set of irons (Epon AF Tour)... now if I can get the swing to match......

[Scott Szabo]

I don't know if I can get to 10, but here goes, in no particular order:

Having my second child in 2003
Sand Hills in 2005
Sand Hills - return trip in 2009
Almost getting it into the 60s at Sand Hills, only to be derailed by a summer storm
Augusta in 2007
Numerous trips around Ballyneal in the past 3+ years
Working a few years at the International as a scoring observer
Getting to meet a few here on GCA that I'm humbled to call friends
Coaching the high school golf team for two years
Making my first and second holes in one

[Bill_McBride]

Adding one - Patrick Mucci's recounting of the matches at Sand Hills in 2005.  I almost peed my pants.

Ran does play very well with those hickories.   

[Dan Herrmann]

In no particular order:
Playing Pacific Dunes/Bandon Trails in 2001 with Laura - a month or so after PD opened.  A great Oregon trip!
Attending Pat Mucci's GCA get-togethers at Baltrusol and Hidden Creek
Playing Merion East and West on the same day with Wayne and Sean Arble
Attending two practice rounds at Augusta.
Attending the Philly Open at Pine Valley and meeting Mr. Ott. 
That fantastic GCA dinner at Merion
The Walker Cup
Playing the course I played in college with Laura and three senior citizens.  The three seniors were a bit humbled because Laura kept outdriving (and out-scoring them).  
Playing Lancaster CC with Rory
Proudly playing with my GCA.com golf bag
Shooting the breeze with Tim at French Creek (Tim - the course conditioning is 10000x better now!)
Having GCA folks visit French Creek.  Watching Joe Bausch throw up an eagle 2!
Meeting Willie Dow
Being hosted by Tom Paul at the Barn and at Gulph Mills
Playing Monroe in Rochester
Playing the redesigned DuPont
The Dixie Cup in Myrtle Beach - Bulls Bay was fantastic!
The GCA outing at Pete Dye Golf Club
Playing Highlands Links
Getting serious about beating Laura and not losing a match for 2 months this year - after she said "boy, you haven't had any birdies lately!".    I then birdied the next 2 holes and haven't lost since
Meeting Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner, and Bill Kittleman
Our GCA outing at Lederach
Playing Rolling Green with Mayday and Kelly Blake Moran.    It was hilarious (and a lot of fun) hearing Mayday asking Kelly to confirm everything he wanted to do with the course for 18 holes.

(I know I missed some good ones!)

[Ian Andrew]

Chronologically…

1. Archipalozza – I met a series of like-minded architects who were willing to share their ideas. They made a completely unknown young architect very welcome. The trip had a profound impact on what I thought about architecture and set in motion the desire to go out on my own.

2. Restoring Stanley Thompson’s St. George’s. This was by far the most important work I had been asked to do. I felt a great deal of pressure to get this right. My research was extensive the result was a very accurate restoration. It’s the job that I’m still the most proud of to this date.

3. Joining the ASGCA. At the time, this was a big deal for me. The friendships that the association has given me will last a lifetime – from Art to Scot, to Gil, to Dan to Bill - these have all become very good friends.

4. Talking my father to Ireland to play golf. We had been set to make the last of our father and son trips 10 years before when Dad ended with a mild form of cancer for the first time. Through the hardship of treatment he quit the game for three years which broke my heart. Years later he decided to play again and I immediately arranged a trip to Ireland where I could finally treat him to a great trip. The golf was very secondary to just being there with him!

5. Starting my own business. I’m pleased that I had the courage to risk everything for something better. I’m even more pleased that it worked out for my family.

6. Writing the blog. An odd choice I realize but this has everything to do with self discovery and confidence. Through the blog I was able to really explore and develop my design philosophy. It was also a way to learn to write. I was horrible when I began but improved over time. Eventually I was hired to write for a series of magazines.

7. Collaborating with Gil Hanse. It was pure fun, we simply shared ideas and selected the best solution to each problem. It was the perfect way to spend a series of days and I would like to try that with a few others.

8. Being hired to restore Cape Breton Highlands Links in Nova Scotia. This is my dream job on the restoration end of things.

9. Attending the Renaissance Cup at Rock Creek. I roomed with the Renaissance Boys and enjoyed many conversations often about the most obscure and underappreciated parts of architecture. The sharing of ideas was deeply appreciated and in particular the grassing lessons from Bruce Hepner.

10. Teaming up with Mike Weir. We share the same view on how golf courses should be played and built. We even have the same view on running a business. It’s a solid match.

[Philippe Binette]

I'll do it as Ian, chronogically, although not as impressive

1) Doing golf course design consulting as a sophomore in University 2001:
working at Le Sorcier was innocent fun, walking around a golf course, putting some ideas forward, routing some holes etc.

2) Going to the interview the Renaissance Golf Design Internship and seeing Crystal Downs 2003:
I had never seen a great golf course before that, even though it was in March

3) Christmas every day (Renaissance Golf Internship) 2003:
seeing all those great courses in Long Island, spending time at Stonewall, seeing Palmer, Watson at Aronimink

4) Taking a plane... and going to Australia 2003:
Working at Barnbougle Dunes... man that was great

5) Going to Italy for the first time 2003:
Great people, great food, great architecture, great wine...

6) Graduating with Honors in University 2005:
fun all the way, great friends, can't do it justice

7) Living in St.Andrews and playing the Old Course 2006:
Renovating the Dukes and three rounds on TOC.

Sagebrush 2007-2008:
Soooo many stories there, once again, great friends and good times, bunker work, I know what's flat etc.

9) Accidently meeting Ben Crenshaw and visiting Nebraska:
Working with Tom Lehman at the Prairie Club, playing Wild Horse and seeing Sand Hills

10) There's still 4 days left in the decade to do something great !!!!

[Doug Wright]

It seems like this decade has gone by in a flash. Here are a few highlights:

1. Thanks to this website, discovering Bandon, with several follow-up trips.
2. Road trips with GCAer Brad Swanson to Wild Horse/Sand Hills and to New Mexico for Black Mesa/Paa-Ko Ridge, where we met some other great GCAers.
3. Meeting several people who actually do this for a living, including Tom Doak, Jim Urbina, Eric Iverson, Jim Engh, Jack Nicklaus, Ron Prichard and Art Schaupeter, gentlemen all.
4. My last round with my Dad, with whom I’d played for 40 years, and my first round after his death when I used his clubs.
5. My second hole in one (2008), 25 years after the first one.;
6. Getting to meet and know several more GCAers through this site, including but not limited to Wyatt Halliday, Tim Pitner, Jim Colton, Kirk Gill, and the Minnesota boys Dan Kelly and Rick Shefchik, who graciously put up with my annual invasion.
7. My youngest daughter expressing interest in playing golf.
8. Scotland 2006
9. Ireland 2008, especially a magical, out of body round at Portrush with 15 consecutive pars.
10. Augusta and Pine Valley in consecutive months in 2009, with PV preceded by a tour of Merion with Wayne Morrison and TE Paul—what a way to end the decade!

Happy New Year/decade all! And thanks.
 

[Cory Lewis]

Well of all the top 100 courses I've played 90% of them were played this decade, so it was a pretty good decade in that regard.  The highlight was at the very beginning of the decade going to Ireland with my dad in 2000.  Playing Royal County Down was one of the two best experiences I have had in golf.  The west coast trip I took with my dad in 2005 was a close second for the decade.

I became a PGA Professional early in the decade and have worked at some wonderful clubs.  I'm proud to say I'm still a golf pro after being in the business for 12 years.

I joined GCA in 2003.  The people I've met and experiences I've had because of it have been amazing.

I got married and divorced in this decade. But I would consider both highlights as the period leading up to the marriage and the majority of the marriage were very good.  The divorce was a highlight because it relieved the problems encountered at the end of the marriage.

[Bruce Katona]

1. Introducing the game of golf to our daughter at age 7.
2. Playing with her when she made her 1st par at 8.
3. Watching her pitch her 1st softball no-hitter at age 10.
4. Having my wife and her follow me in the gallery as spectators at a Pro-Am and getting to introduce them both to the terrific professional with whom I was partnered that morning.

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