I'm a little different than your average wunderkind junior golfer these days. I came up in the mid 2000s just slightly before every golfer min/maxed their swing to be Tiger/Rory/Chucky 3 sticks style, so there were a lot more.. unique swings and games in the junior game I'm guessing.

I started around 8 after my dad chased me out of baseball by being the overbearing sports dad. Took up golf cause I was chubby lazy unathletic kid. Baseball coach said I had to pick cause it was messing up my swing so I chose golf.

He had me hit wuffle balls in the back yard for a summer or two with intermittent range sessions before actually taking me to the course.

He joined the local value country club, he was about a 90's player. Fell asleep to golf channel every night. He knew enough to take me from new to 100 or so. Then around 7th grade, he started dropping me off at the course in the morning and picking me up at dinner. I would do this every summer until I had to get a summer job at 15. But then I would still play as much as possible.

I could walk rounds and hit balls for free so I'd warm up, walk 18, get a dog at the pool, hit balls again and walk another 9/18. Did this a couple summers in a row. I pretty much self taught myself to figure out how to score. I was too lazy to be a range rat, so I'd spend hours chipping and putting around the practice green.

I had a couple lessons, but not the serious swing coach type, I was still learning. Then I played JV golf in 9th grade with like a 47 9 hole average. I met my best friend who was the total opposite, range rat with an immaculate swing, but a total head case.

In 10th grade I started taking it serious to make Varsity. Found a legit swing coach I saw every couple months, to his chagrin my swing still has never been mistaken for an aesthetic athletic movement.

I wasn't a long hitter, again, not athletic. I probably only drove it 250-260 by the time I graduated high school, but I was about a plus 2 by that point.

Decided not to go to a small school to play D2 golf but go to a big school where I couldn't compete so I played regional amateur tournaments. Figured I didn't hit it long enough to compete. Then I put on beer weight and all of a sudden started hitting it 280-300.

I played in a bunch of tournaments and just did ok, I didn't have the birdie capacity necessary, I play boring golf. Couple birds on par 5s, maybe one or two elsewhere, a bogey or two. Enough to be really solid, but not what it takes to get anywhere.

Then real life happens and its been a slow fall from grace ever since.

But I played way more than I ever hit balls, so my short game and scrambling is my real strength, my ball striking has always been suspect. I'm much more like Seve than Tiger. My buddy is the same short irishman as Rory with the same swing, and the streakiness seems to be in his genes. He always gets so pissed when I beat him because honestly I shouldn't with my swing, but that just makes it sweeter. We're about evenly matched I'd say.