How did you get started in golf and how old were you?

[BillyG]

I had been wanting to play for a few years, but finally got a set of garage sell clubs and a lesson this year at 39 years old.

[HartridgeKing]

I was kind of thinking the same thing. I sure hope mom didn't find out about that because that would have been an interesting conversation to listen to.

Haha yeah, it was a last minute resort kinda thing. He knew all the people that worked at the clubhouse and they frequently checked up on me.

And no, mom was not to be told of this.

[Wisconsin Golfer]

I started in a "trial by fire" kind of way, which I don't recommend. I was working at first really good job and when 21, and the place had a golf league. So after some convincing from coworkers, me and a friend {neither of us had ever really played golf} joined and started with only 2 practice rounds. We stunk, I can remember hitting in the 70's and 80's for only 9 holes. HAHA, how embarrassed we were. However we stuck it out for 2 seasons. I quit playing after that except for a round here and there. When I turned 39 I started playing alot and am alot better with practice and a few lessons. I am now 41 and am obsessed with golf. Now It takes me 18 holes to reach the 80's. HAHA. I love the game now.

[907golfer12]

May '07

My mom found out about a golf camp at the course just down the road (my home course) and asked if I wanted to go. I said "sure, why not." We signed me up for 2 weeks, and I had so much fun that I just kept going back, and now I'm where I am at right now.

[heyscuba]

I am 33 and I also started this year. My brother has been playing for the last 15 years or so, and for the last 3 years I had been telling him I wanted to try it, but with our schedules we never could find the time. About 2 months ago he called me and asked if I still wanted to try golf. He said he needed a 4th for a scramble. It was already paid for so I went. I had a blast. I have since bought my own clubs and have been hitting the driving range at least once a week. I will be playing my own ball for the first time next friday. I love it!

Good luck,... post your score,....

We could actually watch you develop as a golfer right here in "The Sand Trap,..." Looking forward to hearing your story's,... Me,... I started at 15 or so,... that's about 35 years ago,... I still consider myself a hack though,... never got real serious, but playing a lot these ldays, low 80's is good for me,.. I sneak into the high 70's once in a while and do back flips I'm so happy,... it;s the journey into the low 90's that kills me,... I have 2 hole in one's,... those were fun,... GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN,... report back,... scuba

[whip_it_out]

around 8, my dad always went saturday mornings and I wanted to go, so he took me to the range. He never asked me to go, just waited for me to tell him that I wanted to.

[Fat Slice]

I got started three years ago (at 43) when my friend asked me to play. He's 1.3 index player and has been really gracious about just playing his game and leaving me to play mine. He never gets frustrated at my game, never gives unsolicited advice, and treated me with the same golf courtesies he gave to everyone else. I learned a lot about how to be a good member of a foursome from watching him. If I do ask him for advice, he's quick to be helpful. I wish I started earlier, but I am happy to be playing NOW!

[Fraser]

Quite new myself. My company has an outing every year, so I thought "what the heck". I borrowed some clubs and had a great time. I just ordered my own clubs and look forward to my new vice.

That was how I ended up playing, well indirectly. My mother was invited to play at a corporate event and my brother and I went down to the range with her (she hadn't played in about 25yrs!). At 13 and 11yrs old we saw it as a healthy challenge for us both. We got the cheapo half sets, then when my father saw we were keen we went the whole hog and got decent clubs and a membership. The only decent club I've replaced to date is my putter (twice!). I'm the anti-equipment *****!

[windmarkbob]

I started last fall on a lark at the age of 40. A few friends asked if I wanted to go out with them one weekend. I was bored and said, "sure". WOW! If I had known golf was this addictive I'd have warned the wife. I wish I had started 30 years ago. The family is slowly learning to cope and golf is heading up my most recent attempt at quitting smoking. Gotta quit one or the other, I can really only afford one of these vices.

Bob

[phxgolfer]

My neighbors brought me golfing once in elementary school (about 12 years old) and been playing since then. I took two years off through high school and now playing again now that I'm in college. I still really regret taking those two years off though.....

[Todd]

I got hooked on the game after I came back from Kuwait in January of 2006 and living right behind Augusta National. Up until the start of the Masters I thought, 'It's just a golf tournament." Boy was I wrong! The experiences that week are ones that will last a lifetime if you are lucky enough to get in the gate. I made it to the 2007 practice rounds and met Tiger. He is a big supporter of the military by the way. I have only been playing since July of 2006 and then had ankle surgery in January of 2007, so had to wait about a month before I could get out and play again. The day after my cast came off, I played 18 holes when I was supposed to wear one of those "robo" boots for another month. Oh well, my surgeon was amazed to say the least. Unfortuantely, I deployed to Iraq in July of 2007, so my game probably will suffer some when I start playing again upon my return in about two weeks. I don't mind in the least bit, at least I will be on the courses again!

[toogood]

I was introduced to the game when I couldn't even walk. We have family pictures of me in diapers sitting on the floor swinging a club before I could even stand up.

I played golf and baseball until I was 12, then gave up golf to play baseball more competitively. That lasted until I was 17-18 when I decided to go back to golf, and played my senior year in high school. From there I got serious about it and got down to about a 2 handicap. I played until I was 21 or so and then took about 3 years off while doing some different things. I picked it back up again about 1.5-2 years ago and have since been back taking it seriously.

I just wish that in my 40+ hours spent at the golf course a week, I had more time to spend practicing/playing.

[G10_Jamie]

I am 37, soon to be 38 and I started when I was 12 or so, my Dad got me into as he believes in the concept of Networking and you never know who you will meet at a Course.
The course was a long way (at least to a 12 year old) from home and my friends and I would go whenever we could find a ride. We played wiffle golf in our yards when we could not get to the course.
Never took a lesson and was never really all that good.
In high school discovered girls and the amount of golf decreased until we got a golf team started. I was a sophmore and my buddies were a freshman and sophmore. I golfed #3 all three years and Matt golfed #1 all 4 years. He played in college. I stopped playing for awhile and then started again on a wed night mens league where it was about the beer, bets and we had 4 and 5 man team scrambles!
Went to the service (Navy)and played 2-3 times a week while in Orlando. Moved to SC and played 2 times a week, bought new clubs (1994) and moved to CT and stopped playing.
Move to Southeast GA and played 6-10 times a year as none of my friends liked golf.
When I got out of the service I played in the occasional tourneys with buddies but didn't play much more. I am lucky enough that I can normally hold my own and I don't embarrass myself or others so I scramble well.
I got a new job this year, more money and more time off, and I bought some new clubs (Ping G10) and have been at the range 2-3 times a week and play 1-2 times a week.
I got my soon to be wife a starter set and some lessons and I am hoping to squeeze a couple rounds in before the end of the year with her.

I have spent more money on golf this year than all my golf in the past.
I am now stuck on putters and have bought 6 (I to game, the rest to display) this summer.

Jamie

[OldDog66]

OK, I might hold the record for the latest start at least so far. I played my first round 4 years ago at age 53. A buddy who is also my barber took me out after I worked on the range a few weeks. Hit the first one in the water and had a 9. I now play at least twice a week.

[microcrayfish]

I had played the odd 9 holes with my mates before but I really got started about a year and a half ago at age 19 when me and another friend of mine started to play a bit. Been trying to get out on the course at least once a week but don't go to the range that often (which I'm blaming on fuel prices and being a token poor uni student ). About to join my first club so I'm hoping to get out a lot more over the upcoming southern hemisphere summer.

[dfreuter415]

I am now 63, but I still fondly remember my initial attempts at playing golf....

I envy those golfers who were shown the game by their father.  I had a wonderful father, but his passion was baseball, having played fastpitch softball into his 50's.  He would also come home from work after 6:00 and play catch with me and my two brothers every night until it got dark in the summer.  But, he never played anything but miniature golf.

When we moved to the suburbs at age 7, we had a wonderful back yard where my brothers, neighbors and myself would play baseball for hours at a time.  My passion became batting, but if no one wants to go outside, you can only hit so many rocks into the woods.  I was about 8 or 9 when I was at Zayre's with my mom, and bought a Matt Andrews 7 iron, Gary Player Shakespeare putter, and bag of plastic golf balls.  I went home and got 3 empty soup cans from my mom, dug three holes in the back yard, and voila - I had my first golf course.  Now, instead of hitting rocks into the woods, I could actually play a little golf.

Back yard golf evolved into par 3 golf, then short 9 holes courses.  We had several near our house, so my mom would drive my brothers and myself to one of the courses to get us out of her hair.  Finally. I regularly began playing the big 18 hole courses when I could drive at age 16.

Post Script 1 - My brothers and I did try to take my dad golfing. I had upgraded from my hodgepodge Matt Andrews irons and gave those to my dad to use.  My dad really was a wonderful baseball player, but he insisted that there was some "trick" to this game when you were supposed to hit a ball that wasn't in motion.  Two rounds was all he ever played, with frustration getting the better of him.  My dad very rarely would use profanity.  But, on the golf course, I heard him say a number of words that made me blush.

Post Script 2 - I have two daughters.  I knew from an early age that the older one would not be interested in playing the game.  But, my younger daughter was very open to the idea of golfing at the age of 11.  So, I worked with her on developing a swing, got her some lessons, and tried to instill in her the love of the game that I possess.  Some of my happiest days on the course were the six years that we caddied together, and the four years that she lettered on the girls varsity hs golf team, and the times that we still play in the summer when she comes home on vacation from her job in New York City.

[Strandly]

My grandpa had a half set he used to take with him on trips south during the winter.  He died while I was in highschool and somehow my dad got a hold of the clubs and said my brother, sister, or I could use them.  One of my highschool buddies was a military kid and lived on the local base which had a course.  The green fees were dirt cheap ($3 unlimited play after 6 PM) so we drove out there and hacked around until it got dark a few times.  I left for college after highschool and was dirt poor for at least the next 6 years so I didn't play at all.  In 2004 I got a job with UPS and finally had money to play but my vision was a little bit blurry so I went to see an optometrist.  He set me up with some glasses and I immediately hit the course.  I hadn't adjusted to the glasses yet and I was constantly looking over or under them as I tilted my head up and down.  I couldn't hit the ball for crap and thought I would never be able to golf again (or at least without contact lenses covering my entire eyeball) so I put the clubs away and forgot about them until this spring.  Back in May I was trying to think of something to get me outside on my days off and I remembered the clubs.  I took them to a nearby range and found my glasses don't interfere with my ability to hit the ball at all anymore and realized I put on a lot more muscle from my highschool days and can hit the ball much further than I remember.  Being able to clearly see the ball to hit it AND hit it the distances the game is meant to be played made it instantly fun and I've been playing multiple times a week ever since.

[rkim291968]

4 years ago at age 47, I couldn't play soccer (or other physical sports) anymore.  By then, I suffered too many injuries (broken bones, sprains, dislocations, concussions) and my various body parts have broken down.  It was either golf or bowling.  My wife and I decided on golf (get more exercise by walking courses) and took 8 hours of golf clinic from a local course pro.  That's how we got started.  We never looked back and have been playing 2 - 3 times a week.