dru925

Great advice, folks -- thank you!

My daughter is wrapping up 6th grade and is interested in getting good enough to play golf in high school. What specifically can she do now to achieve that goal? She is a beginner and has taken a few small group lessons and played par 3 a couple of times. That's it. I just signed her up for a youth club at a local course (a challenging regulation course) where she can play $5 rounds so hopefully she can get a lot of golf under her belt in the next few years. Would folks recommend some private lessons, small group lessons, focus on playing rounds, driving range, etc?

Wondering what everyone is doing for sunglasses. Normally I don't play with anything because I've found for sports/activity I can sometimes get a little bit of pressure headache at my temples from glasses. (I'm a tennis player and can't comfortably wear them for tennis.) But I played yesterday morning and it was SO bright out there. I really was wishing I had a good pair. What is everyone else wearing? Do folks have special pair just for golf or do they just wear their regular everyday shades?

Yup. This time last year I had not even swung a club (except for mini golf.) Sometimes it's useful as a beginner to remind myself of this from time to time. I am naturally pretty athletic so I assumed (LOL!!!!!) I'd pick up golf really quickly. What a learning experience I have had! It has been humbling to say the least. But in a good way...I am having fun and realize that golf is about so much more than just hitting a ball with a stick. I love how cerebral the game is. I am developing a lot of new skills and plan to play for years to come.

Been playing 6 mos. I am working on increasing my distance and for now would like a ball that gets me farther. I'm a small (under 100#) woman, early 40s. I can go to a store e.g. Golfsmith or just regular sporting goods store. I've been playing with Precept Ladies IQ on the recommendation of a friend. They seem okay but I don't have anything for comparison.

Ditto. One of the things I love about golf is that I consider it a total cell-phone free zone.

Funny you should mention grip. I was at my weekly lesson on Tuesday and saw that my grip is all crazy. I tend to grip with my entire hands rather than just fingers. I am sure like most beginners I have the club in a death grip as I try to get more distance. I play tennis too and one of the women in my regular game has been off for 2 mos with tennis elbow and also bursitis in her shoulder. She's having a hell of a time plus what I've googled seems to be very dire about "once you have it, it'll dog you forever" so I am a little paranoid that I am developing it! I guess the good thing about being a beginner is I can head off bad form and bad habits now before they become too ingrained.

My course is the beautiful Temecula Creek Inn in Temecula, CA. 27 holes, some very challenging. I take a weekly lesson at Redhawk, which is also in Temecula.

Thanks for the input. I am new (been playing for about 6 mos) and I've stepped it up a lot recently. I think I have a little bit of the Weekend Warrior thing going on now. I saw my chiropractor this week (for an unrelated shoulder issue that is now under control) and he unofficially said he doesn't think it's tendonitis because of where it is -- pretty much right in the "meatiest/ropiest" part of the muscle. He thinks tendons would involve more toward the elbow. He said that sometimes amateur athletes can be really unbalanced on left/right side and since I'm left handed, maybe I'm doing some compensating etc on the right side. I don't want to stop playing golf though:-( I am just starting to improve. I've been icing a lot and think it might be helping...

So true. As a beginner I tend to get stressed if I feel like the people behind us are breathing down my neck, but then I have to remind myself that the people I need to be watching to maintain good pace of play are the group directly in front.

I am a lefty and my right forearm is sore. Based on Dr Google it doesn't sound quite like tennis or golf elbow based on where I am feeling it. It's sore on the outside of my forearm, about halfway between my elbow and wrist. When I flex my forearm, I feel it at the most muscular part. Is there a way to easily tell whether this is simple muscle soreness from developing muscles that I haven't used much before (I've only been playing golf for about 6 mos and have been playing a lot more lately), or a sign of something more ominous to come? All I've done so far is stretching (stand with arms straight out in front of me and flex wrists up, then down) and icing on and off.

I had a rough pregnancy and went through a time of stress and now am a little underweight. Just joined Gold's after several years off. I used to hate lifting and had to force myself to do it but funnily enough, this time around I am loving it. Realistically I get to the gym 2-3x/week but the ideal would be 3-4x/week. Don't do any gym cardio (just 10 min treadmill walking to warm up and 5 min to cool down; then do 20-30 min very focused strength training.) I have a high energy dog and get cardio from him:-) Goal is to gain 10# muscle and doing it by lifting + eating.

Your wife's story is really inspiring, Bullworker. All the best to her! I think strength training is great for her to build back up.

Lawyer -- hub & I have a small firm in Riverside/Temecula/San Diego. Mostly able to work from home now while we have little kids (youngest just finished kindergarten.)

Do what the starter asks you to do! Played yesterday and it was BUSY. There were some guys ahead of us who wanted to be a fivesome but were told no. So they went out as 2 + 3 then ignored the starter's instructions and played as five. Slowed everything down for everyone. Really, really annoying.

Loved my Passat (drove great for years & years) but had to switch last year to a minivan due to my stage of life. I am carting kids back & forth all over the place all the time and we can do carpools now. Got a Honda Odyssey and actually it was a great purchase. Decided to go with a certified used 2 yrs old with low miles (lease turn-in) so I could treat myself to all of the goodies like seat warmers, backup camera etc. Seats 8 and very, very comfortable. My hub has a Prius because he commutes 3-4x/week. Fun to watch the gauge showing it getting 100+ mpg when you're on battery power:-)

Gym for strength training (leg day) plus hit balls at the range for 45 min and putting green green 15 min. Cardio=walking the dog for a total of 1 hr spread out over 3 walks in the day.

Usually make a mix of almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, and raisins. I also might toss in a small handful of dry cereal like Puffins (today did cinnamon Puffins and it was very tasty.) On hot days grapes are great. Brought half a PBJ sandwich with me today too and that was good--easy to carry and eat. I play AM (7:30 a.m.. tee time today) and eat a light breakfast before I leave the house. On the cart I drink H20 with Emerge-C added then start in on another plain water if it's really hot out.

Here is an etiquette doozy. I was assigned in a cart with a woman I do not know and she started driving all over the place, including where carts are not allowed. She turns to me and says, "Don't worry; I have a handicapped flag." (Bad back.) Attached to her bag is this blue and white handicapped sign that looks kind of like a HC parking sign but the pic is of a golfer. As we're playing, and she's driving all over the place, people are giving us dirty looks and it's really embarrassing because we're too far away to explain. Then almost at the end, we're chatting and I ask her who she went to to get it (thinking she'd say some type of "golf authority" or her doctor or something) and she said she just created it at home with a silkscreen machine. Ugh. Definite etiquette no no.

Sounds like a great deal, Formula. Enjoy! Read all the fine print carefully. I had a Groupon type deal a couple of months ago and didn't realize until after that it came with a bucket of range balls included in the price.

Thanks for the tips & feedback. I think being more systematic when I practice is going to help.

I am new to golf (been playing for about 6 mos) and would love input/feedback into putting together a plan for myself to improve quickly. What I am currently doing: * lesson 1x/week -- small group 1 hr * driving range & putting green 1x/week * playing 1 round weekly with a women's club that I just joined plus playing extra when I can afford it and have time (works out to maybe 1-2 extra rounds in a month) I am finding that I am already showing some improvement but it's SLOW. I joined this women's club because I didn't have anyone to play with, and I love the club, but there are some great players (lot of retirees who can play on senior rate and have the time to play 3-4 rounds of golf a week.) A big part of why I want to improve quickly is so I can keep up! The advantage I have is I'm motivated and also young (by comparison lol -- I am early 40s) and very athletic and fit. But I have little kids at home and an active life juggling work/home etc and don't have unlimited time or money at my disposal. Advice or tips to leverage my time so I can keep on improving?