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

[GangGreen]

45 now and was introduced to the game by a good friend during my junior year in college (so I must have been 20 or so). A bunch of us used to to head over to a local driving range right off campus regularly just for fun. Their was a course not too far from the range (Cobbs Creek for those familiar with the Philadelphia area) and soon the driving range outings became regular rounds at that course. My buddy had played regular before and was pretty good so he taught us the fundamentals, rules, etiquette, etc. as we went. We all lived relatively close to each other so we always found an excuse to get together and play during summer breaks and, for a time, after we graduated. I also remember playing a lot at this terrible (but cheap) little course that was within walking distance of my parents house in Bucks county. I spent the first year after school living at home and I used to head there at least 3 times a week after work to play for something like $10. After about 2 or 3 years of playing fairly regularly, life kind of took over at some point and the number of times I get out dropped off to maybe a handful of work related outings a year until I was around 30 when I stopped playing all together. Fast forward 15 years to now and I've re-caught the golf bug. I still don't live too far from Cobbs Creek and keep telling myself I need to get back out there one of these days.

[NuclearMike]

I started by going to the range with my dad when I was six years old.  He let me walk with him but didn't let me play until I was 8, when I played my first nine with him.  That was in 1966.  He taught me the swing (or his version of it, anyway), proper golf etiquette, the history of the game, and how to comport myself on the course.  I shot 64 from the front tees that day, with a par on a par 3 hole.  That began my love affair with the game.  My dad died in 1998, and his last job was as a Marshal at his local club, which he held until two months to his death.  Although he did very well for himself in life he said that being a Marshal was the best job that he ever had.  I should be so lucky.  Actually, we all should.  I miss him a lot and will be forever grateful for his help and guidance.

[Dave2512]

Cool old thread. We moved to the burbs in 1974 and our house backed to a park and golf course. It was a close community and our neighbor was an avid golfer. When the parks and rec established junior team she volunteered to lead it and recruited me and my neighborhood friends. We were little kids so in the beginning it was just a few lessons from the head pro and league play between the pee-wee team on a very short par 3 which is still there. A summer pass was less than $100 and you could play golf or use the range for .25 with a pass and we were there nearly every day. Eventually those that stuck with it earned a spot on the traveling junior team and we played 9 hole tournaments against other local districts and courses that had teams in the summer. I did that through jr high before playing on the high school team. Hot Rods, girls and marijuana put an end to my interest in golf until after college. I played a little during the mid 90's but not much. Took it up again at 43 spring 2012 and have been hitting it hard ever since.

[skywaterbanjo]

I started 10 years ago at age 50 when I retired.  We joined a golf club for the social activities and my friend bought me a used set of clubs off of ebay for my 50th birthday, said that I should try golf now that I was retired.  I thought my passion at the time would have been fly fishing, since I live in the middle of gold medal streams.  Needless to say, since trying golf, my fishing equipment is still sitting on the shelf.

I had played 'social' golf once a year because so many of my clients played.  I would usually swing their club on one or two holes but never had the time to try it on my own until I retired.  Now, I can't get enough!

[The Recreational Golfer]

My dad had some golf clubs in the basement in a Sunday bag. They were wooden-shafted irons and I forget what else -- that was well over fifty years ago. But they fascinated me, so he showed me how to hit a golf ball and I chipped it all around the back yard starting at about age eight. When I was ten, he signed me up for group lessons at a local driving range. I actually listened to the pro and tried to do what he said. When I was twelve, Dad got me my own set of golf clubs, and it took off from there.

[inthehole]

48 now, never had any interest in golf - was a serious tournament fisherman - always heard can't do both.     My boss invited me to play in golf outings for years - always found a way to get out of going ...  finally twisted my arm to go to one.   That's all it took - had so much fun.    Been playing exactly 3 years now.      Have well over 300 rounds under my belt - totally OCD'd out on it.      Read everything I could & with the internet & video, it's so easy to learn the fundamentals - S&T; swing works for me.      Can't get enough of it.     Went from >100 to mid 80's in 3 years - can't get under 80 due to blindingly obvious lack of putting aptitude, not ballstriking,  but that's ok - I'm content where my game's at.      My poor boats have weeds growing up through the wheels ...

[inthehole]

I started 10 years ago at age 50 when I retired.  We joined a golf club for the social activities and my friend bought me a used set of clubs off of ebay for my 50th birthday, said that I should try golf now that I was retired.  I thought my passion at the time would have been fly fishing, since I live in the middle of gold medal streams.  Needless to say, since trying golf, my fishing equipment is still sitting on the shelf.

I had played 'social' golf once a year because so many of my clients played.  I would usually swing their club on one or two holes but never had the time to try it on my own until I retired.  Now, I can't get enough!

sideline question ... how does a person retire at 50 ?     I am 48 and have at least 15 years to go until I retire.      The awesomeness of retiring at 50 is off the chart.   The rest of us are just squirrels trying to get a nut by comparison.     Congrats on your early retirement

[LSXG8GT]

I was 4 years old when I started. My grandfather introduced me to the game and I was a Junior Golfer until I was about 14-15 years old. Then came my first job, cars, girls, then college, etc, and I was out of the game for a while. I'm 27 now and getting back into the game. Just got fitted for my new irons last weekend.

[Nutter]

Dad and I both started when I was 13 (he was 38).  He didn't grow up around it and being in the business world he realized it was important to at least be able to keep it going in the right direction so we started for my and his sake.  10 years later, were both still hopelessly addicted.

[CCC]

Last year, my Club Pro asked me how old I was when I started playing golf. This was after he watched me hit a few shots on my first lesson with him.

Well, I was in my 30's when I started playing golf.

I've had a more than a few lessons, before this one. This was the first time my instructor ever asked me - how old I was, when I first began to hit the golf ball.

So, to my TST friends, how old/young were you - when you started playing golf?

 

 

 

 

[Hardspoon]

I was about the same age as you...I think my first round ever was in my late 20's, but I didn't start playing regularly until I was 30 or so.

I really wish I started earlier, but I'm trying to make up for lost time.

[CCC]

14 minutes ago, Hardspoon said:

I was about the same age as you...I think my first round ever was in my late 20's, but I didn't start playing regularly until I was 30 or so.

I really wish I started earlier, but I'm trying to make up for lost time.

Me too, Hardspoon. Me too.

[Denny Bang Bang]

I would hit the driving range here and there through high school (a friend worked there and she would give me a free bucket when I'd come visit her).  First round of golf was when I was 19.  A couple of my teammates in college golfed, and the 9 hole course at our school was free during semesters for student athletes.  They asked me to join them one day, I did, and I shot a 70 something for 9 holes haha.  Was hooked, went straight to Dick's to pick up a set of clubs, and headed back to the course for another 9 holes

Edited February 11, 2017 by Denny Bang Bang

[WUTiger]

I guess it was in fall of 5th grade (circa 1963?). We went to a family picnic at a park with a golf course, and a couple in our group brought along golf clubs and played nine before the picnic began. (I can't remember their names).

I asked the woman how to play golf, and she showed me how to play on a short hole along the picnic area. She told me to stay loose, and "aim over there" (pointing to the right) before I hit. I hit some waist-high line drives slightly to the right, and one of them somehow rolled onto the green. I hit some putts and sank one, and I was a golfer! Can't remember what I got on the hole.

The following year, my brother traded our last tricycle to the trash man for a mixed bag of golf clubs someone had thrown out. We had our own clubs then.

[The Slapper]

I was 14 years of age, and I'm almost 51 now. 

My father started me out in a league.  The best part was I was just 14 and I was playing every Sunday with grown men.  Put it this way, it was excellent exposure at age 14!

[DaveP043]

I started around age 13 or 14, and I'm 61 now.  My Dad played, so he gave me my first pointers about the grip and set-up.  A few years later, a friend in college gave some more tips, and helped me change from a wild slicer into a slight hooker.  I played a lot in college, the local golf course was owned by the university, and I paid $60 for a season pass.  I kept my clubs in a locker, and hitch-hiked to the course every chance I got.  I had my first (and only) lesson when I was around 40.

[boogielicious]

48 is when I really started. I only played once every 5 years before that.

[David in FL]

Started swinging a club in the backyard when I was somewhere around 7.  Joined my dad on the local 9-hole muni a few times by 8 or 9.  Was headed there on my own by the time I was 10 or 11...