The First Round I Didn’t Want to Finish
Forty-eight years old, thirty-six of them with a club in my hand — and the game still finds new ways to humble me.
It was a Tuesday morning in October, somewhere in Virginia, and I was on the 14th fairway of a course I’d never played before. I’d hit my drive into the first cut, punched out badly, and was looking at a 190-yard approach into a green that sloped hard left. I pulled a 4-iron — the kind of shot Hogan would’ve liked — caught it thin, watched it skip across the green and stop two feet from the pin. I made the putt. I remember thinking: this is why. Not the score. Not the handicap. The feel of a blade connecting clean when you’ve earned the shot. I finished that round and immediately wanted to play it again. That’s the game I write about.
I started playing at twelve, got serious at sixteen, and spent my twenties convinced I was closer to scratch than I ever was. The grind of the fundamentals — Hogan’s lessons, Harvey Penick’s notes, hours on a practice green nobody else used — that’s what shaped my relationship with this game. I’ve played public munis and private clubs, walked Augusta National as a guest once (no, I didn’t shoot par), and spent more weekend mornings on a dew-covered fairway than I can count. Golf Rewound isn’t a site for tour news or equipment launches. It’s the game the way I’ve always known it: earned, walked, and worth thinking about.
I started this site because I was tired of reading golf content that treated the game like a tech problem to solve. Here’s the thing nobody talks about: most of what you need to play better golf was figured out between 1920 and 1970. The courses are still there. The books are still in print. The principles don’t expire. Golf Rewound exists to document that knowledge — course by course, shot by shot — without trying to sell you an app or a subscription training plan. I write about what I know, admit what I don’t, and keep the Bobby Jones references coming because he earned them.
What you’ll find here
Classic Courses
Classic golf courses reviewed on their own terms — design, history, and what it actually feels like to walk them.
The Fundamentals
Swing mechanics and course management rooted in proven technique — not the latest drill from a 22-year-old coach.
Legends & Lore
The players, the matches, and the moments that shaped golf — told the way they deserve to be told.
Gear Worth Keeping
Equipment built for longevity and feel — honest reviews with no affiliate pressure and no trade-show hype.
If you’re here, you probably care about the game the way I do. Pull up a chair. The game doesn’t owe you anything. But a good read might help.