Playing golf with my wife..

[joelwhite22]

So my wife and I are going to give it a go and try to play golf together. My question is should we play from the same tee box, or should she play from the closer tee and I play from the middle?

Also who should shoot first, and will it slow us down a lot playing from different tee's if that is the best option?

[phan52]

Originally Posted by joelwhite22

So my wife and I are going to give it a go and try to play golf together. My question is should we play from the same tee box, or should she play from the closer tee and I play from the middle?

Also who should shoot first, and will it slow us down a lot playing from different tee's if that is the best option?

You should play from the regular tees and she should play from a more forward (usually, the Ladies) tee. If you are in a cart and her tee box is well forward of yours, you should hit first.

[el shanko]

and have fun playing the game with her, trying to talk my short Italian wife to shank a couple with me, hell i think if that would happen a scrum would prevail on the course between both of us.....lol

[tuffluck]

is she any good?  from the sound of it probably not (just because you act like you've never played with her before, implying she has never played at all).

definitely play from where you want to.  if you're riding it isn't a big deal to drive up.  my gf and i play often and we get immersed in our own games, however frequently get irritated at the other one if that person wasn't watching when we shanked/lost a ball.  but at the end of the day it's a good time.

though if she's never played she will likely lose patience rapidly.  grab a couple of beers and maybe go out with the intention of only playing 9.  after this session you can judge her golfing interest threshold better for potential future outings.

[joelwhite22]

Yeah we have a short 9 hole par 3 course right by the house. http://www.oasissportspark.com/

I am going to that first. Thank you guys for the replies. She has never played, she is left handed, and a bit hot headed. Should be awesome, but I want to try it so we can have something to do together outside.

[dave s]

My wife is a 5th year player this season.  We play together nearly every Sunday.  She always plays from the forward-most tees.  Sometimes she will hit first if it makes sense to keep us on pace.  We only play on whatever it is you'd consider normal 18-hole courses.  Once in awhile we'll do an executive course.  Even now, she still runs out of gas after about 12-14 holes.

To temper your wife's expectations, make sure to reiterate that golf is very difficult to see consistently good results even with practice time.  If she's truly a beginner, spend equal amount of time at a practice facility and engage in some chipping and putting contests with her.  If she's a bit of a hot-head, (as you indicated) she's probably also very competitive as well.  My wife and I will chip two balls (practice green sessions) and you have to hole out in 3, (chip and 2 putts) or lose a ball.  When you lose both balls, it costs you a beer afterwards!  Stuff like that is always fun because I generally get to drink for free!  But it makes it fun for both of us and I have a competitive wife who enjoys golf and loves to play.

dave

[shooter]

DOOM!

I'm sure you guy's is wife's are more tame then mine, but don't expect your lady to smile all day long when your blasting your shots, and she cant even get her ball to the end of the tee box!

Goof luck

[MS256]

My wife started playing with our son and I five years ago when it became apparent to her that if she ever wanted to see us she better start playing.

She is not a long enough hitter to reach most greens in regulation (from the front tees) but she does make quite a few pars and really does have a very good short game. My son and I both play from the tips (mostly his idea) and it's no problem for her to play with us and hit from the front. If we are waiting to a group in front to get out of the way sometimes we let her go ahead and hit her tee shot while we are waiting.

My son bought her a set of ladies clubs that are all hybrid design from the sand wedge to the 3 iron, and they work very well for her skill level. The most surprising thing to me was how well she plays bunker shots with that hybrid sand wedge (it's almost like she just can't mess it up). She is also a very good putter and has been from the first day she played. At first I thought it was beginner's luck but five years later she's still rolling them in. We were once in a 9 hole man/woman scramble tournament and on the 9th hole the man in the other group said "You don't ever putt, do you?" I laughed and told him I haven't had to putt. She did miss the putt on that hole and I had to make it, but she had made 8 in a row so I couldn't complain. ;-)

On crowded golf courses with people behind us she just doesn't hit a tee shot and starts from where our tee shots end up on the holes that are much too long for her.

[cooke119]

God bless you and gooooood luck. I am just happy my wife has no interest in the game but she understands my passion for it. I get no grief when I play two time a week and spend another day at the range. Yes we are happily married, for 45 years, probably because we never played golf together.

[dave67az]

My wife expressed an interest in golf last summer, so I found a set of used clubs on Ebay and started her on the fundamentals (Jack Nicklaus' "Golf My Way", Hogan's "Five Simple Rules", for starters).  We practiced putting first (in the living room) and I told her the short game was the most important thing to learn and become good at.  Then we moved to chipping, and pitching, still at home.  Got some of those yellow soft practice balls and taught her the half-swing.

After a few weeks, and after she finished both books, we went to the range and started putting the half-swing into use so she could see how far the ball actually travels on a well-struck half-swing.  Hit the practice greens and practiced putting.

Over the next few sessions at the range, she gradually increased her swing and after maybe 6 trips to the range we hit a local executive course with wide fairways and very few hazards.

I must say, she impressed me.  She got a bogey on the second hole (a short par 4) and almost her first par on one of the 3's.

She's been hooked since.  Bought her a nice Odyssey putter, too, as a reward for her hard work.

I play from the White tees, she hits from the closest tees.  I always hit first, then we drive the cart to her tees and she hits from there.

I'll agree that one of the most frustrating things is when she's "not looking" and I didn't see where the ball went either.  But she's getting it down.  Even stopped walking on my putting line...finally.

Next step is golf lessons--for both of us.  I think it's great that you're playing together.  And if you feel like you're slowing people down by hitting from different tees, it won't kill you to hit from the same tees she's using ya know.  Depending on your game's strengths/weaknesses, you may find that it doesn't change your game as much as you'd think.

[David in FL]

One small piece of advice. Play with her, but do NOT try to teach her. Get her lessons, and stay out of the way. 2 things you never want to try to teach a woman if you want to maintain a relationship.....how to drive a car, or how to play golf! ;-)

[dave67az]

Originally Posted by David in FL

One small piece of advice. Play with her, but do NOT try to teach her. Get her lessons, and stay out of the way.

2 things you never want to try to teach a woman if you want to maintain a relationship.....how to drive a car, or how to play golf!

This is VERY true.

I made it clear that I would help her learn by being a practice partner, but I wouldn't be her instructor.

That's for the golf pros.  And they're far more suited for the job than I am!

[evan01]

My buddy says golfing with your wife is like kissing your sister don't do it!

[boogielicious]

My wife is a lefty too.  You can teach her (I have had success), but try not to give tips on the course unless she asks for them.  This will annoy her.  When you start playing regular courses, play more like a scramble with her and have her pick up and move to where you hit the ball.  It speeds up play and makes new players more comfortable.  After a while, you will be playing from her shot on occasion!

I play every weekend with my wife and another couple.  It also is great for vacation because we can plan on playing instead of me trying to sneak off and play.

[HazardMagnet]

"Golfing with your wife is like kissing your sister, don’t do it"

Let me ponder this since I got engaged over the holidays.

Once we’re married, Greens Fee’s will be cut in half, since I won’t have to pay for her any more.

Hmmm, translates into more rounds for me. Not bad!

19 ^th hole costs also go down as well by another 50%. Not bad either!

Only need to buy one brand of Golf balls and also a significant reduction in "Pink Stuff". I can deal with that.

And my favorite tournament entrance fees will be reasonable for a change.

Rounds will speed up by about 10 minutes since I won’t have to look at all the pretty flower arrangements on the course.

No more "Sweetheart, your ball is over there…" my regular guy partners will love that!

But wait! She has a Golden Ticket! A Military ID! That’s like having a membership to a private course. Except that she has a membership to all the military’s private courses! She’s taken me to several of them, and she want’s us to play at West Point this summer!

I guess I’ll grit my teeth, squint my eye’s, hold my breath... and kiss my sister.

Did I mention my sister is HOT?

[Crusher47]

My wife normally plays a round with me only once or twice a year.  She doesn't hit long at all, but does hit her shots fairly straight.  One thing that works for us is that I give her the option of playing "best ball" if she wants, so that gives her a bit of an advantage and keeps our scores fairly close.  She also loves driving the cart for some reason, so I let her do that too.

[Topper]

Originally Posted by joelwhite22

So my wife and I are going to give it a go and try to play golf together. My question is should we play from the same tee box, or should she play from the closer tee and I play from the middle?

Also who should shoot first, and will it slow us down a lot playing from different tee's if that is the best option?

My wife and I are the same.  She enjoys quiet time together away from the kids more than the game itself.  I usually play from the same tee as her since it's more of a social outing.  It's fun for me because I get a "different" look at the course I would normally play from a different tee.

[grubby98]

I love playing with my GF.  We try to play at least twice a month.  Normally if she was able to play and practice she will like to play for money(she played college golf). But if she hasn't had time to play and practice she makes me play from the woman's T so that I can work on my short game.  She makes me hit driver since my landing spots are a lot more difficult hit and practice working the ball, plus I get to work on my short game more. She knows I love playing with the guys but I always make time to play with her some.  And most of he time its during the week in the afternoon when me regular group players cant play.