Little and often?

[MiniBlueDragon]

I'm currently in the fortunate position where I work from home and have a 2.5hr lunch break (I start an hour earlier and finish half hour later). I'm also quite near a few different courses.

As I'm currently not a member of a club I've been toying with the idea of joining one and using my lunch breaks to play golf every day. By my estimation it would take me 20 minutes to load up the car, drive to the course, get my shoes on and start playing which would leave me with 1hr 40mins of actual golf time allowing 10 mins extra for traffic.

Clearly that's not enough to play a full round of golf but I reckon I could squeeze 9 holes into that and play front/back on each alternating day.

The main thing I would like opinions on is whether rushing around on a lunchtime for just under 2 hours each day is likely to make my golf worse than playing a nice leisurely round or two each week? Does anyone else squeeze practice into small timeslots and have it work well for them?

Thanks folks!

[Double Bogey]

Well I have been a member of a club for about 3 weeks now and in a word can say YES.

In a bit more than a word, I can say that I have already played more rounds then I have played over the last few years (although having a kid really got in the way).  I can get nine in, in about 1.5 hours at my club during the week.  If I had the freedom to do it every day or every other day I would do it for sure.  If the club you are looking at has a good driving range and practice area (which mine does), it would be a no brainer.  Play every chance that the club is not overly busy (and you know 1.5 hours is doable) and work at the range the other days.  My ball striking has improved leaps and bounds and I am sure it from actually playing more.  Not to mention playing is much better mentally then working on the range.

Hope this helps

[Huffy2k]

I'm pretty much in the same situation as Double Bogey above.  I joined a club last fall that is about 10 minutes from my office.  A few weeks ago, before winter returned to my area, I was heading over every day and either playing 9 (in about 1.5 hours) or simply practicing my short game in the short game practice area (the driving range is not open for the season yet).  In my opinion, any time spent practicing/playing is time well spent!

[NEOHMark]

If you join a club that includes greens fees, then that takes all the 'pressure' off of any notion that you have to get a full 9-holes to make it worth your time and money.  I have a season pass to a nearby pubic course and think nothing of going there on lunch and playing 4 or 5 holes on my lunch break.  It'll help your game tremendously.

[meenman]

If you have practice areas at the club it is a no-brainer. You may want to see how packed the club is at lunchtime. My course is private but after the morning rush is where I see the slower golfers or husbands trying to teach wives (I would never complain because they are on the course when they should be.) The other issue with midday and afternoon play is the amount of people that live on the course and go out and play 2 or 3 holes. They are supposed to check in, but rarely do.

I strongly believe in joining a club (have been a member of one since I started playing), but am not sure that rushing through 9 everyday is the way to go.

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by MiniBlueDragon

I'm currently in the fortunate position where I work from home and have a 2.5hr lunch break (I start an hour earlier and finish half hour later). I'm also quite near a few different courses.

As I'm currently not a member of a club I've been toying with the idea of joining one and using my lunch breaks to play golf every day. By my estimation it would take me 20 minutes to load up the car, drive to the course, get my shoes on and start playing which would leave me with 1hr 40mins of actual golf time allowing 10 mins extra for traffic.

Clearly that's not enough to play a full round of golf but I reckon I could squeeze 9 holes into that and play front/back on each alternating day.

The main thing I would like opinions on is whether rushing around on a lunchtime for just under 2 hours each day is likely to make my golf worse than playing a nice leisurely round or two each week? Does anyone else squeeze practice into small timeslots and have it work well for them?

Thanks folks!

IMO, whether or not this is beneficial to your game will probably be dependent on your ability to block out work related concerns while you're at the golf course during your lunchtime.  IME (I work from home as well), I couldn't do it, so I stopped going during business hours.  I decided that I'd rather play golf when my mind was free of other concerns because I seemed to play better and even if I didn't, I seemed to enjoy my rounds more.  At the end of the day, I didn't want to substitute quantity for quality.

As a suggestion, you may see if you can work through your lunchtime instead (or cut it back to only 30 minutes) and just take off earlier.  That way, you could arrive at the course and have the rest of the day to play golf.  At this point, it would take out the stress of getting back to the office in a timely fashion and allow you the freedom to play at your own pace.

[SAGolfLuvr]

I joined a golf club with the lowest membership rate that I could find. I play/practice 5 out of 7 days a week. I don't worry about finishing 9 holes, I focus on quality holes while not being a violator of slow play. This has helped my game tremendously (along with a golf lesson package). So YES, playing "everyday", even if it is just a few holes WILL improve your game, as long as you are serious about scoring low and not just "going through the motions". The biggest improvement has been my short game savvy and scramble ability.