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Me on the 2nd hole at Vernonia Golf Club, Oregon, playing a round with my buddy Mike in July 1999. We had a lot of fun that day, and it was just before they opened a new nine, which changed the routing of the holes. This was a favorite place of mine as a teenager, and I first played there on a summer day in 1975. Shared a number of enjoyable - and some not so good - rounds with my cousin Ron and Uncle Chet, and I still recall my Uncle Tony warming up by hitting a few balls off the first tee and into the forest across the road. I broke 80 for the first time anywhere at Vernonia when I was 17, so it has special memories for me. It played about 5,600 yards that day, and I shot 36-41 during a tournament, after shooting 95 the year before. Given my handicap at the time (a 16-18), the odds of me shooting that low were about 1 in 1,000, according to USGA handicapping charts. I was no sandbagger, just a fortunate golfer who had things go his way for a very special round. I've had enough days go the other way, so I'll take it! Ha. The days will never be as sweet as when I was a teenager, listening to Peter Frampton sing "Baby I Love Your Way," or the Four Seasons singing "Oh, What a Night" on the car radio on the ride to the course. The smell of pine in the air on those early spring days lingers still in my nostrils. Great stuff.
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