DAY’S HIGHLIGHT: Playing pool in the basement, until late. Dad, Leigh, Jacob, Ewan and I…going late. I can still hold my own on the felt. One time, a cowboy in Bend, Oregon, while leaning on his stick, leaned over and told me in a lazy, boozy drawl, “Stroke it, don’t poke it.”

I was hitting the balls too hard, and learned a lesson that night. Used that one to my advantage all weekend here on the beach.