G'day from the Sandbelt, Melbourne, Australia

[MichaelBourkeITW]

G'day all.  Stumbled on this site when I was looking for some stoked gained info and thought would hop in.

TLDR.  50 years old.  Getting back into game after 10 years away.   Taking it pretty seriously and hoping I can relive or surpass old glories.

unabridged version.

I'm a 50yo father of three boys living in Melbourne Australia.  I'm situated in Melbourne's sand belt and for now I'm a member of a virtual driving range and a local public course Edithvale.  Given the cost of the range I'm holding out on joining a private club for now, but depending on what handicap index I get I should be able to get entry into some tournaments on some decent tracks in the meantime.  I started playing very young with a cut down 7 iron on the AFL oval that backed onto our house. Now golf is banned anywhere like that, but then I was a curiosity for anyone that passed.  My dad played socially and I was desperate to get out and play for real.  I got some sticks for xmas when I was 13 and promptly read in order The rules of golf (weird) and Golf my Way.  I went out and hit the first green in regulation using the Nicklaus interlocking grip and proceeded to 5 putt (I'd never putted before).  I shot 54 which I believe from Golf my Way may have been Jack's first score for 9.  Comparisons to Jack ceased pretty quickly from there.

About a year or two after Greg Norman emerged on the scene and golf exploded in Australia.  My dad would get me up at 5am to watch those US majors that Greg would break our hearts in, but did get to watch him win the 2 Opens.  I played at a public course and won a c-grade championship (no junior trophies as I was the sole junior at the club) and then managed to win 3 club championships between 18-22.  I was only off about 7 so it wasn't as tough as the standard at private clubs, but I was/am still proud of them.  I moved to a private club to try and take next step.  I quickly went from 7 to 3 just because of the way the courses set up.  I went from a  par 68 with no par 5s that rated 64 to a 72 with 4 reachable par 5s that rated 71.  I played pennant and couple state level tournaments, but kind of felt like I'd gone as far as I could go and started to go a lot harder at career instead.  I moved around a bit with work and so I'd pick the game up for a year here or there but way more for fun.

Now with lockdown because I'm working from home a bunch and dont have the 3 hour a day commute I had the time and on reflection still the desire to actually work on the game.  A local virtual golf range opened up and I loved the idea of trackman as an improvement tool so I joined and started to really work on my swing.  I've just joined a course that is just a means to get a handicap again but also it has a great range that is all but unused and I can use my own balls rather than range balls so I can trust the flight.  My last card goes in this week.  I've cracked 70 in the Combine so I think my long game is still decent and I reckon I'll be able to start on something like 12-14 and probably get it to single figures with a bit of polish on the short game.

I suspect that equipment and the way world golf handicap system works that I may find a way to grind down to 3 or below.  I have a still unfulfilled dream to play off scratch.  That seems like a stretch TBH, but I'm looking forward to having a massive crack at it.

[boogielicious]

Welcome to The Sand Trap!

[dennyjones]

What a great introduction.   Thanks for sharing and welcome to TST!