Learning To Golf - 1st Round

[newtogolf]

I was pretty pumped for my first round, especially since it was at my accountants private country club. I showed up, put my golf shoes on and headed to the range. First surprise of the day, no mats, it was a grass range. All my lessons and practice was off the mats, so this was going to be my first time hitting off of real grass.

I stretched a bit, grabbed my 7i just like my instructor told me to, addressed the ball, took a 3/4 backswing and hit a decent 120 yard shot. My friend seeing the ball out in the field was impressed that I hit my first ball so well and decided to watch my swing. I immediately felt the pressure, the 2nd hit sent a chunk of grass further than the ball went, and things went downhill from there. Despite my efforts to regain composure and follow the pre-swing regimen my instructor set up for me, I didn't hit another good shot on the range. I didn't see any point in trying another club since I couldn't even hit my always trusty 7i.

We get to the carts and my accountant informs us we'll have a caddie for the round who grabs our putters and heads out to the first hole. Just what I needed, more pressure. As we're riding to the first hole the accountant tells me this is a tough course, narrow fairways, lots of traps, and hazards....tells me the course is pretty crowded so we need to keep pace....more good news.

At the first hole I let everyone tee off first, they all hit decent drivers that land on or close to the fairway. I didn't even bother taking my driver, so I grabbed my 3w and walked up to the tee. All I could think about were those big divots on the range, and what the caddie was going to think after he saw me swing.

First swing...clank...big fat slice deep into the woods, 1st lost ball. They graciously allow me to tee up a 2nd ball which I hit to basically the same place. I wave off the caddie and head to the cart adding up the cost of wasted lessons, range balls and new clubs.

I'll save you all the painful details of each hole and simply say that it never got better. I had maybe two decent iron hits, and the rest were pure junk. The worst was a 4i at the 13th hole (creepy huh) that I chunked so bad it pulled a muscle in my back. Thankfully it gave me an excuse to not embarrass myself further or lose any more balls.

I drove home that day, with a sore back, almost a dozen less balls, a bruised ego and lots of questions about what I was doing.