The staff of The Sand Trap .com come from all over the globe and have the games to match. Let's have a look, shall we?

Erik J. Barzeski Editor-in-Chief, Owner

Email: erik [at] thesandtrap.com
Location: Erie, PA (USA)
Handicap: <3.0
Personal Story: Erik began playing golf after his freshman year in high school. He joined a high school team that won three straight Erie County League championships (and two after he left), winning EDGA stroke-play honors the summer before his senior year. After taking most of six years off for college, Erik created The Sand Trap in late 2004 and has reaffirmed his love for the game ever since.

Alan Olson Podcast Host

Email: alan [at] thesandtrap.com
Location: Zimmerman, MN (USA)
Handicap: 17
Personal Story: Alan's entry into the golf world was following his dad around the course when he was just a youngster. His first set of clubs was a junior set of Northwesterns and the obsession to golf was started. Twenty-plus years later that love for this great game continues. With a child on the way this fall, he is making plans to play as much golf as possible as well as trying to get Jack, Arnold or Bobby on the official "names list."

Ben Alberstadt Thrash Talk

Email: ben [at] thesandtrap.com
Location: Erie, PA (USA)
Handicap: 9
Personal Story: Between college and working (at a golf course, coincidentally), Ben hasn't been playing as much golf as he'd like to during the past few years. Hopefully, as a graduate student in English this year he'll be able to find more time. Ben enjoys all facets of the game, particularly swing theory and the history of golf.

George Promenschenkel Trap Five/ProFiles

Email: george [at] thesandtrap.com
Location: Powell, OH (USA)
Handicap: 8
Personal Story: As an eight-year-old, George started playing "golf" in a side yard of his parents' house. Having no golf equipment, he used a baseball bat to knock tennis balls into coffee cans he had buried in the yard. George's first set of clubs consisted of only the odd numbered irons and a set of persimmons with frayed windings that his Uncle gave him. Over the next 20 years, he played off and on, but never very seriously. In 1998, George joined a group of friends on a golf trip to Myrtle Beach and that helped spark a new love for the game (his wife would call it an obsession).

John Duval Bag Drop

Email: john [at] thesandtrap.com
Location: Daytona Beach, FL (USA)
Handicap: +1.3
Personal Story: Growing up in Canada, John's ridiculous obsession with golf began in High School when the golf coach persuaded him to quit tennis to play on his golf team as the number one player. After three years as a disaffected college student he moved to Daytona Beach, Florida to pursue a career in golf. After three more years working for peanuts, doing everything from golf retail sales to course maintenance, he decided to cash in on his IT degree and get a real job to fund his habit for spending way too much money playing golf. He is somehow able to maintain a handicap in the +1 range and plays regularly in FSGA events and other tournaments throughout the state.

Danny Ottmann Hittin' the Links

Email: danny [at] thesandtrap.com
Location: Albuquerque, NM (USA)
Handicap: 0
Personal Story: Danny had to find something to pass the time after finishing his college baseball career. His father suggested golf and he's been hooked ever since. In fact he's so hooked he had to get a part-time job at a golf course to support his habit. After winning the club championship and finally attaining the goal of scratch late in 2007 he looked for even more golf and ended up at The Sand Trap. His wife loves him and hopes to pencil in a little together time sometime in late 2008.

T.M. O'Connell Swing Check

Email: tmo [at] thesandtrap.com
Location: Washington, DC (USA)
Handicap: +3
Personal Story: O'Connell started playing golf at two years old but didn't really fall in love with the game until his freshman year of high school. Within two years he went from barely shooting 100 to competing in professional events. Unfortunately, a freak back injury rudely interrupted his promising career. Now, after being away from the game for several years O'Connell's desire to share his science based approach to the swing has rekindled his love for the game.

Dave Koster Contributor

Email: dave [at] thesandtrap.com
Location: Clemmons, NC (USA)
Handicap: Scratch
Personal Story: Dave started playing the game early on, learning from his father. He played competitively through high school and into college where he was named the scholar athlete of the year in 1997. After finally getting his handicap to a scratch in 2005, he won the club championship at Tanglewood - the site of the 1974 PGA Championship. His first child has taken some edge off his game, but "male bonding" will soon become Dave's latest excuse to hit the links.

Donald MacKenzie Weapons Inspector

Email: don [at] thesandtrap.com
Location: The Practice Range
Handicap: 12
Personal Story: After being exposed to the game as a youngster, Donald took up the game seriously during his college years. He has been part of the golf industry for more than 15 years, mainly as a golf writer for newspapers, magazines and websites, and he has also worked for various golf companies in a creative capacity. He has firsthand knowledge of what goes into creating golf equipment, and has a keen eye for critiquing the latest and greatest gear on the market. And, sometimes, he even plays golf for fun.

JP Bouffard Contributor

Email: jp [at] thesandtrap.com
Location: Green Brook, NJ (USA)
Handicap: 11
Personal Story: JP started golfing at age 23 when in school and was hooked immediately. He spent 14 years in the Air Force and learned the game on military golf courses all over the US. Some of his more memorable experiences in golf include spending a couple of hours talking about golf with Harvey Penick in his home in Austin, TX, and being treated to a personal, guided tour of the Ping factory by Karsten Solheim in 1994. When not busy working or hanging out with his family, he enjoys friendly matches and practicing. JP is a voracious golf reader and enjoys writing and philosophizing about the game.

Jack Waddell Contributor

Email: jack [at] thesandtrap.com
Location: Berkeley Heights, NJ (USA)
Handicap: 6
Personal Story: Jack is the senior member of The Sand Trap staff. He started the game seriously as a teen in the early 60s playing a nine-hole course cut through Illinois cornfields and pastures. His father was a young caddie at a course that became part of Butler National outside Chicago and was an excellent player. Moving to New Jersey during college, Jack also caddied at a private club for a couple of years. Professionally, he's dabbled in golf, writing, and directing a Rules of Golf video for the USGA in the 80s, and for the past 15 years, a cable highlight show for the Met Golf Association and Met PGA. He still tries to play competitively (against his senior peers, naturally). But most of all, he just loves golf.

Jeff Smith Contributor

Email: jeff [at] thesandtrap.com
Location: Olympia, WA (USA)
Handicap: 18
Personal Story: Jeff's Grandpa Skidmore introduced him to golf as a young boy one summer before his teen years. He played sporadically as a teen and young adult but completely fell for the game after moving from Alaska in the summer of 2004. He's been pursuing a better game ever since. If he's got some spare time he's probably trying to experience the magic of a well-struck shot one more time.