1998 I answered an ad in the Mich State paper: "Writers wanted. No Pay. Free golf." A PhD student with a baby on the way who couldn't afford golf, I replied. Began writing for MichiganGolf.com, part of a network that grew to 200+ sites around the world. Got my PhD, did postdoc in MA (Cognitive Science); kept writing & started early weekly blog. Traveled around the world for golf. Started getting paid, writing to companies for equipment, became editor of GolfInstruction.com & equipment editor. Started holiday gift guides. Sites got sold to investment group; everyone fired but me. Got tenure-track job. Kept writing. Golf Channel bought sites. Nearly everyone fired but me; kept writing, back to freelance. Kept up as equipment editor. Traveled more for golf, got tenure at "real" job. Wrote tons of content still on GC sites for pennies. Wrote for several other mags/papers, too. Finally GC decided to fire me after 20 years via an email, sort of. Still blog for them. Chair of my department now. Starting my own regional websites (10 so far). Still writing, traveling, testing equipment. Now playing with my son (second child). Hoping to keep "gigging" in golf for rest of my life, even after "real" job ends.
