Golf for me started on a bit of a lark. I thought the concept of a High School golf team was the most asinine thing I had conceived at that point (it was a sheltered childhood), so naturally I gave it a go. Shot 72 for my first nine holes at our local muni, the venerable and elite Warminster's Five Ponds Golf Club.
I think I behaved myself well and that's how I made the team. By my sophomore year I was on the tail end of the Varsity Squad and my Junior/Senior Years were spent as #1/2 Varsity. Seeing as my high school is in the Philadelphia area, we got to play some pretty great golf courses capped by Huntingdon Valley CC. I was exposed, very early, to some quality architecture from Flynn (Huntingdon Valley, Doylestown), Hurdzan/Fry (Jericho), Rees Jones (Lookaway), Alex Findlay (Llanerch CC) and the general golf aura that surrounds the Philadelphia District.
I played competitive golf very early on, as well, and many of my peers have played in top flight amateur events, including the US Am.
I went to Penn State for PGM in 2001 and stayed in the program through 2003, before leaving and transferring to DeVry since my father taught there and the education would be free. I remained in the professional apprentice program until 2005.
On the same day I met Tom Paul in person, I also was introduced to Scott Anderson, superintendent at Huntingdon Valley. He offered me weekend work to see if I liked the business and I did - returning the next season as a first year intern. It was rough and I had much to learn. Scott and I didn't along too well at first and I had already planned to move to Florida in the winter to work at Mountain Lake.
My two years in Florida saw significant professional and personal growth, and despite a rough ending to a committed relationship I was able to advance my career in Turf significantly to earn another chance to work for Scott at Huntingdon Valley in August of 2008. This time around I was much more prepared for the rigors of the business and have spent the past year on Scott's professional staff as Spray Technician, and learning the ropes of Scott's unique program.
Starting September 30th, I will be pursuing formal education in Turf at Rutgers University.
Golf architecture, however, is really at the heart of my motivation. I first discovered there was more to the game then hitting a ball with a stick on the 7th Hole at Huntingdon Valley in 1999 when I was faced with a shot that was not merely a distance thing. The heavy slope from right to left and the need to place the ball on the right trajectory at the right distance in order to hold the fairway and set up a viable approach appealed to most of my ideals for fun and interest in a game.
I was hooked. My senior year project in High School was about Golf Architecture, and the Road Hole specifically.
I fell in love with the White Course at PSU when I realized that the greens were unlike anything I had putted on before and that there was the obvious hand of a master underneath the years of neglect.
I'll be taking notes tomorrow over the course of my day which includes work in the morning and a round of golf at Huntingdon Valley. I'll also respond to any questions about me.
My other interests include: Civil War History (once gave tours at Gettysburg for a summer job several lifetimes ago), Music (I've played piano since Kindergarten), Penn State Football, traveling - especially linking the travel to finding Donald Ross, Tillinghast or some other "Johnny Appleseed" golf architect in some forgotten corner of the US.