New To Golf; Loving it

[Swarley]

(After typing this out I noticed it was ridiculously long and threw a long story short at the bottom) As the title says I'm new to golf and (again as the title says) loving every second of it.  In mid May my folks flew me from my cozy college apartment to help them move.  After finishing with the move I found myself lounging around the house every day doing practically nothing, bored out of my mind.  I apparently didn't do a good job of hiding how bored I was from my parents, and they decided to find me something to do until college resumes because with my activity level I was basically just a new piece of furniture in their house.  There was a golf tournament on TV and my dad thought hell why not, and went out and bought me a set of clubs about three weeks ago.  He decided on a Wilson prostaff set that is +1 inch to go along with my height (6'3.5) that was comprised of a driver, 2 hybrids, and 4-PW.  He then went to a golf shop and purchased a SW, gap wedge, putter, and bag.  He came home, surprised me with the set and immediately took me out to the range to hit.  In high school I played baseball with a batting average over .500, when I play basketball I shoot 3's at over 35%, in Hockey I have a nasty slapshot, and have been told by coaches that I have phenomenal hand eye coordination. I mention these things for the sole purpose of prefacing my next statement.  On the range I was TERRIBLE.  A couple balls I hit seemed to almost go backwards, and being a sucker for difficult things knew almost immediately I was hooked.  When I got home I got on the google machine and searched for a place that I would find some tips and tricks, and stumbled upon thesandtrap.  I scoured the entire site looking at peoples swing videos, devouring information on what to do with my arms, hips, head, legs, etc.  When I went into information overload on the technical aspects of the swing I cooled down my brain by looking at threads about dress codes and etiquette.  I went to the range two more times and even though I obviously wasn't ready to go out on a real course I couldn't wait to go out and try the real thing, hitting the ball of the range was like crack to me and I needed that fix.  Last Wednesday I found a local course and reserved a tee time.  I wanted to go balls to the way with my addiction and chose to shoot a full 18.  I ended up slapping the ball around the course the way a gay man slaps jazz hands and the phrase "oh my god" into casual conversation, shooting a 123 on a par 72 course. Based on what limited knowledge I have of golf I know that's a terrible score, but it only drives me to get better.  My front 9 was a 71 including a 14 shot par 4, while my back 9 was a considerably better 52 including a par on a par 3 (my only par).  It's only been 3 weeks but I knew from the first shot off that driving range mat that golf and I were going to have a long love affair which my girlfriend will probably be both surprised and a little pissed off about when I get back to Michigan. Noticing how everyone advocates lessons as a necessity I decided to nip any bad swing flaws in the bud and sign up for a beginners golf class that is offered by my college.  If anyone managed to read this entire diatribe thanks for sticking through, and I hope I see you around the forums as I quest to polish my game!

Long story short -  Bored at home, received gift of clubs, put gift to use, gave myself a golf boner, can't stop playing with said golf boner.

[brain1010]

Golf is the greates sport there is. You got sucked in at the right time. Also from michigan great courses

[Lee Drinkwater]

It’s refreshing to read that you have so much enthusiasm. I have been trying to get my wife into golf for 2 years and one of the reasons I told her I love the game is the enjoyment of improving and the occasional par or birdie that makes all the practice worthwhile.

I am not a terribly good golfer but I love the process of improvement and while my scores do not reflect it I know I am hitting the ball very well compared to 12 months ago when I took up the game seriously. My only advice to you would be that if you are serious about learning the game then find a good professional and take some lessons and learn the game properly. If you decide that you want the Bubba Watson approach (to teach yourself) then at the very least take some putting and short game lessons (pitching, chipping and bunkers) as these will be the biggest areas you will add or shave shots of your score as you improve.

I also encourage you to read up on the stableford scoring system for when you play your practice rounds. For an amateur it’s a great format of the game that allows you to ignore the 14 shots on a par 4 but to relish the 3 on a par 3 and enjoy the game more. I have played with many golfers who when playing stroke-play will have a couple of bad holes and then consider their round is ruined. With stableford you can enjoy each and every hole and if you hit a few bad shots you can just forget it and look forward to trying the next hole instead of focusing on the total shots played.

Good luck with your journey!

[TJBam]

"Golf boner" I'm loving it.  You can anchor your putter from said golf boner until 2016.

[Swarley]

Originally Posted by TJBam

"Golf boner" I'm loving it.  You can anchor your putter from said golf boner until 2016.

Ha, might not actually be a bad idea, putting was the weakest part of my game.

[Swarley]

Originally Posted by Lee Drinkwater

I am not a terribly good golfer but I love the process of improvement and while my scores do not reflect it I know I am hitting the ball very well compared to 12 months ago when I took up the game seriously. My only advice to you would be that if you are serious about learning the game then find a good professional and take some lessons and learn the game properly.

I appreciate the advice, the instructor teaching the beginners golf course at the college is one of the local course pro's.  For the first time ever I'm looking forward to classes resuming just so I can learn how to swing like a beast.

[SCfanatic35]

Welcome