Golf for the rank beginner

By all means, go for the group lesson.

You might also be able to find a local teaching facility where there's a deal like five lessons for $99.

Enjoy whatever it is you want to get out of the game. If all you're interested in is getting outdoors for a couple of hours once a month, enjoying the company of good friends and you're content with shooting 115, there's nothing wrong with that. (Just don't take 5 hours to do it.)

For others, shooting 102 means not being able to live with yourself until you get it into double digits. Then you think you have the ability to break 95, and when you've done that . . . it's a vicious, addictive, never-ending challenge.

Good luck, and, most of all, have a good time.

Your proper position on the golf course is right behind the group in front of you, not in front of the group behind you.

 

That's the way I like it. Nothing too serious. Don't embarrass yourself. Shoot under 100 (even with a beer every couple holes). Play quickly, but enjoy it.

Man...I really need to get out and play again.

 

That's my game, too. And I'm somewhat comfortable with it ... for now, at least. My advice for developing a decent social game:

TAKE THE LESSONS.

Keep in mind you can get good used clubs because of all the guys who trade in for the latest and greatest driver every spring. You don't have to carry every possible club. Driver, 3- wood, a utility club, 5, 7 and 9 irons, pitching and sand wedge and putter will get you through most situations.

Take pride in good golf etiquette even if you're not playing well. Also, when you hit bad shots -- and we all hit plenty of them -- smile and keep moving. Nobody wants to suffer a beginner having tantrums because he hit a fat 5-iron. So what if you only hit it six feet? The rest of your foursome probably thought you were going to hit it into the lake.

 

And buy balls you are comfortable to walk away from in the woods after 60 seconds of looking.

Nothing drives me crazier than a guy looking five minutes for a ball when he is not even keeping an accurate score anyway!!!

 

In the scenario I described Sunday, I paid an extra dollar to rent two clubs, both of which looked as though they had been used to pacify chipmunks in a previous life. After fumbling through the bin for a minute, I settled on a driver and a 6-iron, the later having been apparently designed for someone a half-foot shorter.

When I wasn't topping the ball to send it dribbling past the rope line (which was often), I was able to get, at most, 100 yards out of the driver after it was done bouncing. For the 6-iron, I maxed out at 50 yards, and that was at the very end. I have no clue what to do with my hands. For the first half, I was holding the clubs like Chris DiMarco does when putting (since that's what I've gone to in putt putt) and that seemed to not work at all.

 

Take the lesson and have fun.

Most guys go in swinging hard and thinking they don't need anyone to tell them what to do.

If you get help from the start before you've ingrained bad habits or thrown your clubs in the pond, you are way ahead.

And even if you struggle at the start, just have a good time and enjoy. And try to move it along. Don't linger looking for that ball in the weeds. Drop and go.

 

When I was about 12/13/14 my dad and I played fairly regularly. He was about a two handicap and I was OK--shot in the high 80's/low 90's. One day I miffed a shot and threw my club about twenty feet.

My dad looked at me and said, " If you ever do that again, I'll take your clubs away".

I hate club throwers. Grow up.

And the only suggestion I'd make to Cran's excellent advice--if you're a novice, leave your driver at home. Hit a 3 wood off the tees.

 

you can give me five strokes a side... We'll play 20-20-20

 

what he said. don't go out on a course if you have no clue what a golf swing is.

you don't need Hank Haney breaking it down for you, but if you know the basic what and why, it is way more enjoyable for both you and the groups behind you

Even one or two lessons will give you that

Oh, and don't swing hard as you learn - you'll be surprised at how far a ball will go if you just make proper contact

 

This is a really good point. If you hit the ball 15 yards into the rough, sure, give a quick look in the area you think it fell because it might be sitting out where you can find it. But DON'T spend 10 minutes, or even five minutes, searching through the brush for a ball. Always have an extra ball in your pocket ready to drop.

And when you drop, go ahead and drop in a place where you can actually hit it. You don't have to hit it out of four-foot high elephant grass to demonstrate to everyone that you're not cheating. You're a beginner.

Finally, and this is important: DON'T WEAR JEANS or, God forbid, cutoffs.

 

jr jr the golf course czar
he’ll wager a toonie you won’t shoot par

His mission is to enforce the rules
And punish the golfers who act like tools.

While everyone is having a drink at the bar,
He’s out in the parking lot checking your car.

It’s a beautiful day but jr is vexed
The guy in his foursome is sending a text.

Don’t talk about work, don’t eat in the cart
Go into the bushes if you have to fart.

In your honor I’m taking a leak on the green
Fore!, jr, and God save the queen

 

As long as you have some idea what you're doing, no one minds you shooting 115 as long as you do it reasonably. When you're four over par on a hole, pick up your ball and put it in your pocket; when your group makes it to the next tee, you're back in the game. When you're preparing to hit your ninth shot on a par 3 and you're still not on the green, unless you're the only group on the course, that's when people get irate.