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College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

post #1 of 36
7/20/10 at 5:35am
Thread Starter 
I'm going to start at Boston College this fall (go eagles) and as a result will not be hauling my nice clubs all the way from oregon to play the very few times that I will be able to between my studies. My parents are against the idea of golfing there and my game isn't close to being golf team worthy.

To anyone who has had a break in their season or their game for a period of time such as all fall through spring and decided to play again, how long does it take to get back to shooting what you're used to? I'm afraid of going into college with an 11 handicap and leaving with a 20 because my swing isn't there anymore.

As a side note: I will be playing most of next summer in tournaments at the club and taking lessons fairly frequently (2-4 times a month) so I shouldn't lose much right?
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post #2 of 36
7/20/10 at 5:36am

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

You'll survive. But I think you should bring the clubs. I don't see the harm in getting out every once in a while when you're at school.
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post #3 of 36
7/20/10 at 5:38am
Thread Starter 

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

Originally Posted by CG031 View Post
You'll survive. But I think you should bring the clubs. I don't see the harm in getting out every once in a while when you're at school.
We'll see if I can sneak my club case on the plane without my parents noticing haha... My only concern would be dorm room security of the clubs at that point
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post #4 of 36
7/20/10 at 6:22am

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

I gave up the game for quite a few years. My index is not what it was when I gave it up, but mentally I play a much better game and I think in the end I will be better off for it. When I played multiple sports I would often go 6 months without touching a golf club. I think given a year off and playing next summer when you're out of school, it will take a bit of time to get back into it, but not as much as you think. I would say a month, tops.
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post #5 of 36
7/20/10 at 6:26am

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

I think you'll be ok. I took a whole year off for my freshman year and came back this summer shooting better than I was before. Had a couple bad rounds at the beginning but i am consistently scoring better now than i was before. I was a 20 cap over a year ago, and am now around 15.

Also, I disagree about taking your clubs with you. I don't know if there's anything near BC but if there's not I think you'll have little spare time to drive anywhere to play. Also I'm assuming you won't have a car in Boston, so that just makes the logistics of everything that much more complex and, to me, not really worth the effort. I know I can count on one hand the number of times I felt like getting away from campus to play golf. Of course, your situation is different so if definitely feel like you're going to play a lot, then who am I to stop you. Also if you're in the dorms you'll have a limited space to keep your clubs anyway.
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post #6 of 36
7/20/10 at 7:47am
Thread Starter 

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

More likely than not if I ever get away from campus to golf which is unlikely for frosh year, I can probably rent clubs to make it easy even though I won't be very competitive with them.
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post #7 of 36
7/20/10 at 8:47am

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

I just graduated from Mizzou, and I had my clubs with me all 4 years... lived in the dorms 2 years... never had a problem with club security. I played on the university course a few times, and other area courses. Not sure if BC has a university course, but that made it easy.
John
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post #8 of 36
7/20/10 at 10:53am

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

I wonder if you are the first child in your family to go to college. There are much worse things at college that will attempt to make you stray from your studies.
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post #9 of 36
7/20/10 at 11:58am

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

Depending on your game, you won't lose much. The short game feel will take a while to come back, that is always the hardest. If you don't play, when you come back, take it easy the first few times. Just hit 3/4 shots with smooth, controlled swings. Don't try and do too much. I rarely play from October - March so coming back takes a little time to get back in the 'swing' of things.

Originally Posted by Game View Post
More likely than not if I ever get away from campus to golf which is unlikely for frosh year, I can probably rent clubs to make it easy even though I won't be very competitive with them.
You make it sound like you are going to jail. It will be okay if you leave campus, you are not confined to your dorm room. There will be plenty of weekday afternoons or a few hours on the weekend where you don't have anything to do. College is supposed to be fun, you can't spend all your time studing. If you do, you will be burned out after a few semesters.

I agree with you on the renting. At least you will be out playing a bit. It might be easier than trying to manage clubs without your own place or a car. I always had my clubs with me at college, but I was also able to keep them in my car.
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post #10 of 36
7/20/10 at 12:57pm

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

I just finished my freshman year this spring. I didn't take my clubs early on, but when I was home for a holiday I picked up my putter and took it back with me to keep that aspect sharp. Not sure how BC is, but some friends at Ohio State told me they have golf simulators in their Student Activities Center.
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post #11 of 36
7/20/10 at 12:59pm

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

Originally Posted by NormH3 View Post
I wonder if you are the first child in your family to go to college. There are much worse things at college that will attempt to make you stray from your studies.
I concur with this. My grades would have been much better in college had I golfed more and did other activities less. College is about doing things away from class & library as much as it is about hitting the books. Bring the clubs, you'll need a break from time to time away from studying.
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post #12 of 36
7/20/10 at 12:59pm

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

I played golf in high school and usually shot between 43/45 on 9 holes on the golf team. I just graduated from college and started playing again last spring after a 3 year break and after like a month was already back to where I was 3 years ago...now if you are like a low single digit you might lose a little off your HC, but as an 11.2 right now I don't think you'd lose a whole lot. You would just have to take some time to get back in the groove of things since you already have your fundamentals pretty well down.
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post #13 of 36
7/20/10 at 1:04pm

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

Depends. I hardly played golf during my 5 years at college, i get out, my handicap probably jumped about 4-5 strokes for 18 holes, not to bad. It took me about a year to drop it.
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post #14 of 36
7/20/10 at 1:08pm

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

dude... i played so much golf in college it's ridiculous. in fact, that's when i was playing my best. for some reason, parents like to act like you're going to be incredibly busy studying all the time and doing homework at college. that's like 10% true. if you go to every class and study on sundays you'll be more than ready to take on your exams. a few prof's give you busy work, but it'll rarely take you more than an hour or so. my university, like a lot of others, have a campus course and you can just tack on your membership to student fees. bring your clubs, dude. tell your mom i said it was ok.
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post #15 of 36
7/20/10 at 1:13pm

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

Originally Posted by NormH3 View Post
I wonder if you are the first child in your family to go to college. There are much worse things at college that will attempt to make you stray from your studies.
But this is a golf forum. If he wanted other advice he would have asked it somewhere else.

Originally Posted by goblue107501 View Post
You make it sound like you are going to jail. It will be okay if you leave campus, you are not confined to your dorm room. There will be plenty of weekday afternoons or a few hours on the weekend where you don't have anything to do. College is supposed to be fun, you can't spend all your time studing. If you do, you will be burned out after a few semesters.
I think he is saying he won't leave campus much because he won't have a car.

I'm in a similar situation (going to University of Delaware this year as a freshman) but I am bringing my car and I am keeping my clubs in there too.
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post #16 of 36
7/20/10 at 1:20pm

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

I've lived in/around Boston my whole life. 4 years in college in the middle of the city. If you're going to BC chances are no car, none of your freshman friends will have a car, and the T (local public transportation) isn't the easiest thing to navigate with clubs, not that there are a ton of T accessable golf courses anyway. Your only chance would be to make some friends with some guys that commute to class, they might have a car and their golf routines already set up so you can just join them. It's a big school and there are lots of people so you'll no doubt find some others that will want to go and play, it's just the matter of finding someone with a car at your age.
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post #17 of 36
7/20/10 at 1:42pm

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

Mine actually got better after a long hiatus. I moved away when I got married and played probably 3 or 4 times a year for 3-4 years and then we ended up moving back closer to my golf buddies. My index probably dropped 5-6 strokes from my pre-move index once I got back into golfing fairly regulary. I think it was just maturity since I'me a much better thinker around the course - I'm far more apt to do things like giving myself a 20 footer for par if I'm short sided rather than trying to hit the perfect flop and maybe ending up in the rough and still being short sided.
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post #18 of 36
7/20/10 at 1:42pm

Re: College - Will no golf for a school year kill my game?

Newton Commonwealth Golf Course is less than a mile away from the BC Campus... Donal Ross designed public course.
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