My first job at Boeing was as a hole driller on the B-17 bomber in 1940.

I had to drill the holes in the skin of the plane so a guy with a rivet gun could stand on a platform and put rivets in the holes. Then he took a compressed air rivet gun and another guy with a heavy steel bar of steel standing inside the airplane held it up against the tail of the rivet and the gun went rat-a-tat-tat.

I was down below the rivet bucker one day when he dropped the heavy bar and it smacked me in the head. This was before the days of hard hats and it ripped a deep gash in my scalp. They took me and my bleeding head to the infirmary. I was reminded of that gory moment this week when I wentto see Chet McLean at his houseacross from Rainier golf course. Chet is father of Jim McLean who was visiting his dad.

I was looking for old pictures of Jim as a youngster. I asked Chet what he did before he retired and he said he came from Minnesota before the big war right out of high school and went to work as a rivet bucker.

That really rang my bell. Could he have been the guy who . . . ? Nah.

He did not stay long on that job. After attending many classes provided by Boeing he worked his way up to director of manufacturing. Without a college degree. Did he teach his son Jim to play golf? Yep. He was once a three handicap and he still advises his famous son on his swing. And Jim loves it. Chet and his wife Agnes (she died last February) were members at Rainier, were avid golfers and Chet, a past president, still plays often. Agnes was also a first-flight player for many years.

Jim, now 55, is director of golf at Doral in Miami. He lives in Fort Lauderdale and conducts eight instruction schools across the United States. He is one of the top three golf teachers in the nation rated by Golf Digest magazine.

He has two sons, John and Matt. John, 19, is a rising star in amateur golf and, at a national tourney at Sahalee this month, came in third among the nation's best amateurs.

I first met Jim when he saw me in the locker room at Rainier. He was a student at Glacier High (now closed) and asked me to critique something he had written. He was pretty good and subsequently wrote a number of sports articles for us.

He started with us but since has blossomed into an internationally known author of golf instruction books and has also been a feature writer for national golf publications.

After graduating from Glacier High, he went to Houston University in Texas on a golf scholarship.

Jim won a host of tournaments including the Washington State Junior Championship and Pacific Northwest Golf Association honors.

He has taught many famous people including actors Michael Douglas, Sly Stallone, and James Woods but is most proud of a man named Roger Smith, a member of the Westchester Club who came to him for help. A big success in business, Smith's golf swing seemed hopeless. To him, not to Jim. He slowly rebuilt the man's swing from a chopper to a 10 handicap and a subsequent winner of a club championship.

Here is what he says about golf:

The most important part of a golf swing is the change of direction. The back swing has been overrated. The wedge is the best club for duffers to practice. It can do more to lower your scores. Next is the putter.

His favorite swing thought he teaches is to hit past the ball. Visualize four balls in a row. Most important technical change is in today's golf ball. And course improvement. (I was interested in this as my grandfather invented the machine that was used to wind a continuous rubber core. He was not a very good businessman and allowed somebody else to steal the patent. At least that is the story my mom told me when I was 12.).

Golf teachers he holds in high esteem are Bob Toski, Jackie Burke, Johnny Revolta and Ken Venturi.

Asked who he played with at Rainier he said, Steve Dragos, Rory Rice, and Craig Matson

He recommends 20 minutes exercise daily if you wish to stay in shape.

His teachers were his dad, Al Mengert, and Paul Runyan when he was at Sahalee

His favorite golf story? He was driving a '98 Olds on a mini-tour across the states when the speed limit was 55. In those days the State Patrol just issued speeding tickets. He collected 10 of them in that one trip.

Jerry Robinson, between cooking and cleaning chores, watches golf on television and longs for the course. He can be reached at wseditor@robinsonnews.com