I've heard several times........

[ohiolefty]

General statements always fall short.


...


That being said, I think if you take the game seriously you realize what you have the POTENTIAL to be rather quickly. I started playing again last summer after not playing the game for 10 years. I stopped once I started college because, at first, I was a broke college kid without money for golf. Later, I snubbed golf because it didn't meet the standards of my bohemian sensibilities. Started again shortly after I got married (this is no coincidence) and felt like an idiot for having stopped.

To cut much out of the story, when I played a lot as a teenager, I'd estimate that I was about a 12 HCP. Now, I'm a 2 with the potential to be scratch or better. Why? When I got back into the game seriously, with an adult mindset, it was important to feel good about what I was doing. I still have a ball on the course just like I did in high school; albeit my sense of fun has obviously changed. I was always good enough to hang with my buddies from baseball (most of whom played on the golf team, I didn't because I played football and in my upperclass years fall baseball) and not embarass myself.

I realized when I played again what I always knew, which is that I have the potential to play really good golf. The difference is that as an adult, I realized if I was going to devote the bulk of my limited leisure time to something, I wanted to be freakin' good at it.

[sean_miller]

I think I agree with the guys listing their plateaus. I shot my best scores 3-5 years after starting. I've got back to that type of scoring every few years as my schedule allowed it. Experience and consistency are my strengths now. My overall scoring average is the lowest it's ever been for one season, but I never shot any really low 18 hole rounds and only one side (9 holes) all summer that was really satisfying scorewise.

[tristanhilton85]

I don't think that this is the case at all... at least I really hope not, because if it is than I'm screwed!

[WUTiger]

Not true in my case. Started playing as a small 12-year-old with adult clubs. Didn't break 100 until early high school.

Went into military, put on 35 lbs. and went from regular to stiff shafts and took lessons - actually broke 80 twice in my early 20s.

I turn 60 next week, went back to regular shafts last year, and expect to shoot in 80s next year if I can play regularly.

What I do know is this... your initial swing pattern sets in during year one - if you self-teach bad habits, or get bad lessons, you'll have a hard time undoing it without serious effort.