As a young kid, I spent my summer days at the local 9 hole public course, Nature Trails, from 6:30am until dark. My father dropped me off and my mother picked me up each day. It was local, not a long distance phone call from the clubhouse. I spent 90% of my time at Nature Trails, on or around the practice green, from the day school was out until the bell rang in September. Of course, that all changed when I was old enough to bale hay or lay drain pipe on the farm. I played golf, however, every chance I got and my love for the game never wavered.

My first set of clubs was a half set of Northwestern’s in 1964. My parents purchased them from the Montgomery Ward catalog. I was 8 years old and hooked on golf. Golf has been the one consistent force in my life for the last 60 years. Other activities like fishing, skiing and basketball have come and gone, but golf was my first love and has been my passion the whole of my life.

That was when I learned a valuable lesson about invention and the process. You’ve heard the expression, “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

I immediately saw the complexity in what we had created and with complexity comes many moving parts and elevated cost of production. (Where was A.I. when I needed it?) The project goals shifted from seeking completion to offering concept and I.P. for the taking. But that experience brought about an awareness in the process that there is a premium in the simplicity of invention.