Building an App – How a Saipan Golf Trip Started It All (#1)
⛳ 108 Holes in Saipan + The Illusion That I’d Play Well
It was mid-April—my birthday week.
I had planned three days of 36-hole golf in Saipan. No caddie, just me keeping score by hand.
Memories of all those rounds where I failed to jot down every score came rushing back.
And because I’m a driver addict, I also wanted an app that could log my ball flight, and work perfectly without internet or GPS.
I mean, what if I played out of my mind? I couldn’t risk losing the scores from 6 full rounds. (Classic overconfidence from a high-handicapper.)
๐ฌ My First “Dangerous” Conversation with ChatGPT
Around that time, AI-generated images were trending in Korea. I was spending hours playing (or fighting) with ChatGPT—asking it to change a shirt color, and it would somehow change my skin tone instead.
So I asked, on a whim:
“Hey, do you know how to make an app?”
“Yes.”
Apparently, it was “totally doable.” And since I had two whole days before departure (which I now realize was no time at all), I thought: why not?
All I wanted was simple:
- A calendar-style app
- Ability to log both rounds and practice sessions
- Completely offline
For context, I had zero knowledge of how apps were built. Full-on humanities major, full-on tech babo (which is the Korean word for idiot).
๐ป The Terminal and the QR Code Shock
ChatGPT told me to open “Terminal.” (I had to Google what that even was.)
And suddenly, a blank screen appeared with:
“Start building your app.”
Again, I had no clue what I was doing.
So I asked GPT to add a calendar, and a golf score logging feature. After much back-and-forth (half the time because I didn’t understand, the other half because GPT didn’t), something started to appear.
Sure, the design was hideous, but the buttons worked. Pressing them did something. That was magic to me.
๐ด The Saipan Letdown
I happily took my “app” to Saipan.
What I didn’t know was that this was only a preview. I thought, “If it works when I tap it in Expo, it’ll work anywhere.”
Wrong. It didn’t work at all—because I hadn’t actually installed it on my phone.
See, Expo Go is just a preview app. It lets you test what you’ve built—while connected to your computer via Wi-Fi—but it’s not your actual app.
When GPT told me it was failing simply because I hadn’t installed it, I felt personally betrayed.
With slow island internet and my patience gone after endless arguments with GPT, Attempt #1 ended in disappointment.
๐♀️ 88 Strokes & My Second Attempt
Fast forward four months to August.
Somehow, this perennial 100-shooter carded an 88. My first time in the 80s. (A miracle.)
I made a little souvenir to celebrate and partied like it was a major win. But then I remembered my app idea.
Now that I had finally broken 90, I imagined myself carefully tracking scores, analyzing patterns, and improving steadily. I wanted to make my own lifelong golf logbook.
Why? Because… well, 88 felt special. (Don’t laugh. I scored 102 on my last round)
๐ฏ This Time, the Goals Were Clear
I wanted my app to:
- Record both ball flight and putts
- Work entirely offline (no internet, no GPS)
- Be my personal, permanent golf journal
And so began my second reckless challenge.
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