I was born in the Soviet Union and at that time golf was a distant activity for the entire country. We only saw golf in Hollywood movies or in video games if you were lucky to get your hands on any. I remember one time my friends and I invented our own version of mini golf by playing on the street between our apartment buildings. We used a dried out dirt patch where we played soccer and carved out a hole about the same size as the actual golf hole. None of us knew any dimensions and it was a pure guess - this is before you could Google stuff. For the ball, we used a solid metal ball bearing about the same size as a ping pong ball.  And for the putters, we just used thin wooden planks from a pallet. I remember you had to hit that metal ball very hard to get it rolling towards the hole - that was fun.

When I came to the states, I grabbed my first golf club in 1999 at a driving range in Madison CT. I was launching those drives and had lots of fun. This is how I got into golf and developed a dream to be good one day and be able to compete. At that time Tiger was upcoming which made the enthusiasm even stronger although I did not pick it up until later in 2005. I played almost every day from 2005-2007 and was breaking 80s but then stopped when I moved to NYC for my first office job. The dream was placed on hold until recently, 2016 when I picked it back up thanks to my supporting wife, my buddy and the summer Olympics in Rio that inspired me to get back into it.

Fast forward to today, I am struggling to break the 80s consistently but on the right track. The equipment, the technology, and information on the internet make it possible today to get better faster so I am hoping I can be in low 70s very soon. Cheers