AS a teenager, Joost Steenkamer caused consternation among residents of a high-rise block on the Peak.
On the patio of his parents' apartment, the resourceful Dutch-born Steenkamer erected his own net, into which he would strike golf balls for hours on end.
'I'd spend ages there just beating golf balls. It used to drive my three sisters and some of our neighbours crazy,' said Steenkamer, referring to the period between 1980 and 1985 when he attended the German-Swiss International School.
Now aged 29, Steenkamer is enjoying a nostalgic return to the country where he learned to play the game and is proving that his unusual patio practice habits were not part of a mis-spent youth.
At the half-way stage of the US$300,000 Hong Kong Open, Steenkamer lay in joint 13th place on 140 - eight shots off the blistering pace being set by Mexican Rafael Alarcon.
Among those behind him are Dominique Boulet and Alec Pettigrew, contemporaries of his. 'We used to play together as juniors at Fanling and Shek O and it was Dominique who always used to win the money.' This week Steenkamer is aiming to get his pay-back.