Why did you start golfing?

With the recent 'hello' from our new member advantagegc and followup question by Neil18, I thought I'd ask!

For me, I had played sports all my life. Hockey, baseball, basketball, football (both American and, uh, the rest of the world). I had always shunned golf. How hard could it be? The ball doesn't break, doesn't move. It just sits there, waiting to get pounded. No, no, to prove my athleticism I had to take on more demanding sports, ones that required cat-like reflexes and tremendous strength to succeed in.

Then I entered the world of business. It seemed that every business function took place at a golf course. Every meeting had people talking golf. Sure, they talked about the hockey, basketball and baseball games ON TELEVISION, but never, ever talked about the league or pickup game they played in on the weekend. Then with the acquisition our my first business, the "owners retreats" started coming annually. The first couple were fine - one was a fantastic wine tour, the other was a ferry boat cruise around 'Lake Prestige' - people who had cottages worth more than 3 houses in my hometown. It was at this point, staying at a '5 star' golf course/resort, I decided that I should probably learn how to golf if I didn't want to ride ferries for the rest of my business life. That, coupled with some injuries that made competing in my favourite sports that much more difficult, my attention turned to golf - a game so easy, octogenarians can play it daily.

Hence, that winter, I bought a used bag of clubs. Some Mitsushiba something or others. Totally clueless, I ended up buying a set of ladies' clubs! Needless to say, I had real trouble hitting them, but I didn't know that at the time. I skraped myself around the course on a late Sunday evening, shooting 163. Knowing that I could do better, and having hit a few really good shots, I went out the next evening, and did do better - a 162.

To keep it in perspective, I've dropped 65 strokes in 4 years.

So, why did you start golfing?

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A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

hi
with me it was my dad that took me to see the open, my dad was a fan of Tony Jacklin and the first day we followed him round but it was another golfer that caught my eye. Lee Trevino and i managed to watch him for two holes that first day. the next two days my dad followed Tony and i followed Lee and the last day we both followed Tony and Lee together. Lee won the open just beating Tony and i was hooked, i wanted to play like him and my dad got me a half set of Christy O'Conner jr golf clubs and i spent the next few years trying to play and with help from my dad i was playing in the 120s. i found learning to golf very hard and in the first few years only hit a good drive about 170 yards, in 1978 i managed to get Lee Trevino's book, "swing my way!" and that changed my golfing so much i was playing in the 90s in no time and before it was hard to beat 120 a round on our local links course.
35 years later and I'm still using Trevino's system and finding i can play well with it, i have a handicap of 14 and hope to get that down to 12 this year and that with a bad back.
i had years of people telling me i could not copy Trevino but then they would say you should copy Nicklaus or Watson. I'm glad i my dad took me to the open and in that way got me interested in golf and it a game i have loved ever since.
cheers
bill

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Like you Lowpost, I had played other sports. Pretty much any sport my old man played he showed me, including golf. But I played golf 4 times a year until I was 22 as a treat with my Dad or Grandpa.

I was good at other sports. Tennis, Badminton, Cricket, Table Tennis and Football (the one the rest of the world plays!) but never really payed much attention to golf. I was always running after balls or playing a live opponent. I wouldn't say I'm naturally good at golf. Who is eh? But I didn't find it easy to play well, as I had done in other sports.

So one day I decided to join my local club and play more. I wanted to get good at it because it's hard to be good at golf. I'm quite stubborn and hard on myself like that! I saw it as a big challenge.

Now I spend most of my spare time playing practicing or talking about golf!

I love it. I just love it.

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Luke: I don't believe it!
Yoda: That is why you fail.

me? i tinkered a bit when i was in my 20's. then work demanded more of me so i gave it up.job now entails shift work . so lots of spare time during the week.been playing for about 7 years , got down to 22 then back to 24 and been stuck there for 2 years. learning 3sk's since october 07 , averaging 92 a round but come the comps can't seem to put it all together.putting letting me down , plus not quite there with the woods yet, still work in progress!!
love the outdoor life , so golf suits , just wish i could play a little better!

Walking sucks ... may as well make it worse. ;-)

Yes, Mark Twain did say "Golf is a good walk spoilt...", though, I tend to disagree...

To address LP's OP, I started playing Golf because a friend of mine asked me to. We joined a club together in 1986. I had only played just the one round prior to that and that was some 10 years earlier.

After my 3 cards, I was given a playing handicap of 23 and after 3 months, that had ballooned out to 25.

After speaking with my Club's low marker and the Club Captain about my swing and asking them for some "tips" to hopefully improve, they both told me to basically trust what I had and only worry about the game "one stroke at a time"......

Even 20 years ago, it was clear to me that our great game is played mostly "between the ears"...

That in itself is what I love about it most. It is basically me against me...

The rest (the camaraderie, the frothies, pennant flags and the like) is just gravy, as they say...

Cheers

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Look at the Target, Look at the Ball, Swing... Dr Bob Rotella...

I started because of an injury playing football (the proper game with a round ball) Damaged my ankle ligaments so bad I had to give up the game, although I carried on in the game by getting my FA coaching badges and coaching the schools of excellence for a few clubs.
Anyway while recovering I got to the point were I was told to walk regular so a friend of mine let me caddy for him in a local pro am. I was hooked and pestering him to teach me this great game, that was 20 years ago and went from trying to belt hell out of some cheap balls made of brick with a rusty bat that was too small and taking 130 shots to get round.
To a more leisurely walk with decent equipment and only averaging 80 or so.
Does that mean I got more of my monies worth shooting 50 more shots when I began?

Cheers peeps

As a kid i tried everything footy,cricket, field hockey, tennis and golf. I would have played more sports if time had permitted. At 15 i was playing hockey in winter, tennis in summer and a bash of social golf with a few mates on a Sunday morning. I gave up golf two years later due to moving to a small country town which had a golf course that was basically a paddock with s****es. I gave up hockey and concentrated on tennis all year round but always had the itch to take up golf again for some reason. Due to working shifts i had difficulties organising times to arrange a game of tennis with my team mates so i decided that because i did not need a hitting partner playing golf i would take the game up again and see how far i could take it (12 years after i had given it up). As all of you would understand golf became a disease fairly quickly and 13 years later i still love this game. I find golf keeps me calm at work because lets face it nothing is a s frustrating as golf some days but it is that constant search to find the secret that gets that handicap down which continues to drive you to improve. I started on a 21 handicap 12 years ago and have hovered between 7 and 9 for the past five years. Right now i have hit some form and if i have a good one this weekend will break the 6 barrier so as you would imagine i am hanging out for Saturday

Good luck arch11!

Hello,
For me, my grandfather used to play, and my father ended up with his clubs. Old Wilson maybe 50+ years old. Anyway, I live in a low populated town and I have a potato field behind my house. When I was 13 or 14, I began to drive golf balls out into the field. I would slice badly, but I loved it. I would start of with several balls, 30 or so, and hit them all. I would then run out to find them, hit again, and do this until I was tired, or out of balls. So, one day, in June when I was 15, me and two other friends went out to play golf at the local course. We payed for an 18 hole and began to play. We all did badly, but it was a great time. I remember we had to use the pencil and blank spots on the score card and tally our hits because many holes we scored 10+. After we were done the first nine, I went up to a man and asked him where the second (back) nine was. He laughed and said, "you just played it!" I was unaware it was a 9-hole course. Were played around once more, and called it a day. That is all why I got into it and I have loved it ever since. I cannot wait for this season to start. I can usually get out in mid-May, but as of now, we have around 3.5 feet of snow on the ground so it may be a long time.

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~"I just have LOTS of drive to become good and I do whatever I can to develop a good golf game"~

Why did I start golfing? Well, here goes! About 5 years ago, my "best mate" finally persuaded me to play a round with him. Up until then I just couldn`t see the sense of it all. I thought golf was the most boring sport on the planet. What I didn`t know at the time was that he was also "playing around" with my wife behind my back. Anyhow, after that first round, I went out the very next day and bought a full set of clubs. I was absolutely hooked. Although things were difficult for a time, I think I came out of it pretty well. After all, I`ve now got my golf! Thanks mate!

To get away from the wife!

I had my first game 21 years ago my first year at Uni with some mates. We rented a cart, filled the Eski with beer, bought 24 balls a each, rented clubs and we were away.

First hole, never swung a golf club in my life---missed the ball entirely... ! Air time all the way... I remember being shocked! I just could not believe that I had just missed a ball sitting there on the ground (we didn't have tees--didn't know they existed). We all had a good laugh and then I had another go, smacked it up high with a perfect banana slice... 5th hole, tee'd off hit it perfectly straight and on to the green on a par 4, 3 putted and i was hooked. Lost nearly all my balls that day, was bit drunk when I finished, but had the time of my life. As I played more, I soon realised that beer and golf don't mix if you care about your game...

Ran out and bought a set of irons (ping eye2's), after my 3rd game. Played twice a week for the rest of my uni days and got down to an 11 handicap... No where near that now... Work, kids, etc... Still love the game.

I believe that golf is a special sport that you can play all the way through life. Other sports are great, but most of the time you can only play them when you are young, and then you end up sitting in front of a TV watching them the rest of your life... much prefer playing than watching...

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SumoSid
"Moments of Greatness followed by Moments of horror."

I live near a golf course and been jogging around it for 20 years. I decided to try it. Next year will be my 3 rd full season. Game has been very much different than I thought - and if I'm right, I still don't have a clue what the game is about. (First I thought it was about hitting a ball, then I thought it was about dropping a handicap, then that it's a social even, now that it's a mental practice... tomorrow?

It has given me a lot to think about:-)

I remember watching golf on TV as a young tacker. A plastic set was purchased for me at an early age. Then when I was 5 I started off with a 7 Iron and a putter. Progressed to a mixed junior set and went from there.
I still love hitting a 7i.

Cheers

Darran