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

[Buckeyebowman]

I suppose I was 12 or 13, although I'd been knocking a ball around the back yard for a few years before that. My Dad started the game late, talked into it by my golfing Uncles. As usual some old clubs and balls started gathering dust in the basement, so I rescued them. I cut a hole in the middle of the back yard and started chipping to it.

Then one day, I wondered what would happen if I took a full swing. What happened was I rifled a 2 iron through the window of our neighbor's garage! He golfed occasionally with my Dad and told him, "It seems like the boy wants to play". So they started taking me out.

That's how it started 50+ years ago.

[p1n9183]

I have a video when i was 3, hitting a ball with a plastic club. 
At really started at 7 with metal clubs. At 11 I get handicap. And at 13 i started compiting in national tournaments. 

I guess i was around 1 to 4 handicap when i was 15 years old. Never get to 0 handicap while been at college and train a lot. Now with 33 years old i´m at 0. 

 

[RandallT]

On 2/11/2017 at 9:11 PM, Buckeyebowman said:

I suppose I was 12 or 13, although I'd been knocking a ball around the back yard for a few years before that. My Dad started the game late, talked into it by my golfing Uncles. As usual some old clubs and balls started gathering dust in the basement, so I rescued them. I cut a hole in the middle of the back yard and started chipping to it.

Then one day, I wondered what would happen if I took a full swing. What happened was I rifled a 2 iron through the window of our neighbor's garage! He golfed occasionally with my Dad and told him, "It seems like the boy wants to play". So they started taking me out.

That's how it started 50+ years ago.

Too funny. I hear hints of the apocryphal George Washington cherry tree fable in there 

"Yes sir, I cannot tell a lie- it was me. I rifled that low , penetrating 2-iron through through the fierce winds and your garage window."

[mcanadiens]

For a long time I had sort of a vague interest in trying it, but I literally knew nobody that played. After moving back into this area, a friend of my brothers was talking about golf and suggested I go out to a par-3 course with him. At 35 years old give-or-take and a total newbie, I sucked eggs. None the less, he kept taking me out and I kept going. That was maybe six years ago now (I have a hard timing remembering precisely). 

 

[OrangeHog]

I picked up a club for the first time when I was a sophomore in High School.  Up to that point I was playing every sport offered in school (baseball, football, basketball and track) and started in all of them.  Sadly the coaches for each were pretty terrible and I'd gotten really burnt out from dealing with them so I decided to finish up the basketball season and either find a job or a new hobby.  A few buddies in the same boat invited me to play golf one day after school so I agreed.  How hard could it be, right?  Man, that was a massive sh*t show if ever there was one...but I was hooked!  Borrowed a junky set of old Dunlop irons from a friend and a year later invested in my first ever set of irons - Cobra II with graphite shafts.

After High School I really only played a couple times a year and never once took lessons.  As I got a little older (into my early 30's) I stopped playing basketball, flag football and softball through work and Church leagues and decided to focus on a single hobby.  Decided that golf was that hobby so I decided to take some lessons and really work on getting better.  Found an awesome coach through GolfTec in Minneapolis and we worked together for 6 months.  I was able to drop my handicap from a 20 down to around a 14 over the course of a year.

Since then I've been able to drop my handicap down a couple more notches to a 12 and I'm trending down this year (working on getting into single digits).

In hindsight I wish I had picked up a club earlier in my life.  I've now got two young kids and both love to go play golf with dad.  Hopefully that lasts for a long time.

[sirsteveo55]

I picked up golf at 23 (I am only 24 now) and thats because I married a women who's whole family played golf and I didn't. They gave me my whole first set of hammydown clubs which I still use to this day. They got me addicted to golf really. I play every time I visit with them its a good thing I do to bond with them. I grew up very poor and my dad always told me golf was a rich mans sport and we could never afford golf. I sometimes would watch it when I was young but never had any money to play. I am just thankful for my in laws for giving me clubs and getting me into the game. I will definitely give my kids the ability to play golf if its something they will want to try(I really hope they want to play).

[Mikecoulson]

I am thirty year old and I have started to play golf in last month. At start I was afraid if I can play that or not, but now I found it very interesting. Hope to play it for long term. Any tips from you?

[GolfLug]

Been 'playing' for 12-13 years now. I think I was 29 or 30 when my neighbor who had picked up a set from Cash Convertors for $40 talked me into going to the range. Hitting a white ball that can travel over 150 yards when hit is a surreal experience for anyone who has played cricket, baseball, racquetball or tennis.

I approached golf for the first 9-10 years as not much more than a science experiment with very little formal instruction until last 2 years. Have learnt and developed more in this time than in the first 10 years.

 

[RandallT]

I horsed around in high school with my father's clubs. Bought my first set when I was in the Navy, and we played quite a bit while in up in Connecticut. Looking back- what a hack I was!  

As family life set in, golf took a back seat for a long while- other than sporadic outings with family reunions or a couple work friends. I'd say I really only have begun with golf in the last 5 years or so. Even then, I wasn't serious about lessons until only the last couple years. In that way, I feel like golf is brand new!

[tristanhilton85]

I started playing when I was a sophomore in high school. My best friend had been playing most of his life and was on the golf team. My junior and senior years in high school I played on the varsity team (we sucked). Early on in college I didn't play a ton, maybe 3 or 4 times a year, but eventually got hooked on it again. A couple years back I was playing 3x per week. Now it's more like 2x per month mainly due to the job and family.