Hey guys, as you can probably tell, I'm a newbie to the site. I came across it earlier today, and was thrilled to see a bunch of people as enthusiastic about golf as I am.
I guess there's a reason that I decided to look for a place like this. Today, I played my first real round of golf. I'm 23. Sure, I played a few rounds when I was a little kid, and was just hacking away at the thing while my dad and his friends were playing for real, but I'm not counting that.
I started really getting into the game around two years ago. I bought my first set of clubs (nothing fancy, just a generic set for beginners with hybrids replacing some of the lower irons), and starting swinging away after that. I bought some instructional books and got some tips from friends who were better than me, and started hitting the driving range to work on my game. Last year, I started playing on a local par-3 course, and have been playing that quite a bit up until today. I was basically just trying to hone my skills before taking it to a full round of golf, because I wasn't sure how my game would stack up.
Long story short, I shot a 92 today, and have been giddy all evening. No, the course I was playing on wasn't Augusta National or anything like that (just a local public course), but I didn't care. For it to be my first actual full round, and to play semi-well, it's like I discovered a whole new game. Playing nine was one thing, but I never imagined the type of energy and confidence a person could gain from simply playing 18 holes of golf. There's just nothing like it.
I hit good shots and I hit bad shots, but it honestly didn't matter all that much. I was just excited to be out there playing. And I think maybe that's why I had some pretty good success in my first official round (I know 92 isn't considered a success to some, but for me, I was thrilled with it), because I wasn't thinking about every single little thing involving my shot or what could happen if I hit there or there. Again, I'm no great golfer by any means, but I think my game has benefited the most from staying away from information overload early on. I'll pick up a new skill here or there, but I don't try to put it all in at once.
And I guess if there's something else that I learned today, it was that you don't have to be a long hitter to be successful. I don't hit the ball far.....AT ALL. Distance is something that I'm still working on, and I know it is something that will improve as I get stronger and better in tune with my full swing. So I try to focus on accuracy now, and I can't explain how important that is to a novice player. You don't have to hammer the ball and try to get on the green in one every time. If you can chip and putt, you don't have to force the hand by trying to kill the ball off the tee.
And you don't have to be Phil Mickelson hitting out of difficult situations. I can't tell you how many times I use to try to make some amazing shot from behind trees and out of the sand when playing the par-3 course. Then I realized that if I could hit the ball semi-accurately, I didn't have to try to hit it through tree limbs. I simply punched out into the fairway today, and left myself a much easier next shot. My score benefited greatly from this approach.
I'm probably rambling now, but I can't help it. I'm officially addicted to this game, and just wanted to share this with fellow golf fans. Can't wait to talk golf with everyone!