First Round!

I am 38 years old, and I played my first round of golf EVER this weekend! And I broke 100--that's good, right?

Oh, it was NINE holes, that doesn't make a difference, does it? :-)

Had a blast though. DW, also a rank novice, went with me. Amazingly, we ended up with the exact same score of 99. I don't know that I was THAT bad, but I diligently counted my "whiffs". I also quickly discovered that I didn't know what I was doing with my iron shots, as I hit many out of bounds. Again, I diligently followed the rules and took my penalties.

Amusingly, we drove an hour to play at a course in a rural area. There are several golf courses in the city where we live, including one two miles from our home, but we felt that we would be more comfortable at an "out of the way" course where there would be fewer witnesses to our incompetence. I think this was the absolutely right call, and I plan to continue playing at this course until I get better.

I have been intimidated by the idea of trying to play an actual round. This is due to a traumatic experience when I was younger. A buddy invited me to go play. I teed off on the first hole...and my ball went off into the woods somewhere. He said, "Just forget this hole and try again on the second hole." I tried again on the second hole...and my ball went off into the woods somewhere. :-) I stopped even trying after that, and just drank beer and drove the cart.

So I consider this weekend's round to be a success in that I didn't lose a ball. (Well, by "didn't lose" I mean "didn't hit one and couldn't find it". I did hit an iron shot up into a tree that didn't come down, lol. DW hit two into the water, but also didn't lose any balls other than that.) We used colored balls, which I know isn't "cool", but they sure were easy to see. Another positive is that I had a bogey on one of the shorter holes. There was also one hole where I went into the bunker, but was able to hit out and land on the green.

I also feel like I learned a LOT. DW and I hit some drives at the driving range before heading out, but I learned that I need to work on my iron shots next time. I felt like I was starting to figure them out towards the end of the round. Also overhit the green a few times, which I'm sure is a common rookie mistake.

I'm sure I still have a lot to learn about club selection. I used my "1" driver exclusively, as I'm only driving about 150 yards so far. I was pretty much using my 1i for my second shot, does that sound right? And are your iron shots supposed to stay close to the ground? If I'm not "divoting", does that mean I'm doing it wrong? Since I'm not very sophisticated yet, I was pretty much continuing to use my 1i till I got "close" to the green, then either switching to a 9i or a PW. (Not sure if the PW was right, but it seemed like I wanted to pop the ball up onto the green on some of the holes.)

One thing I couldn't figure out--the course had white tees and red tees. I thought the white tees were men's and red women's (I played red anyway due to my incompetence). But on some of the holes the tees were side by side. And on at least one, the red tees were further back than the white ones. Any ideas why this would be?

Oh, and what't the etiquette for if you have to go to the bathroom during your round? I know what I DID, but I'd like to know what I'm SUPPOSED to do. :-}

Oh, and the funniest thing. Both DW and I are athletic and play other sports, but we both had one VERY tight/sore muscle the next day, on the inside of our upper right leg. Is this normal???

All and all, we had a GREAT time (even though we sucked), and we are HOOKED. Can't wait to try again!

Any and all tips and advice appreciated. We're looking into lessons.

Thanks!
Joe

I'm sure the others here appreciate your honesty. However, wouldn't get too hung up in the score at this point. You can simply put down a smiley face for a hole you are satisfied with and a sad face for a hole you are disappointed with. You might want to count the number of strokes and or strokes/putts you take from 100 yards in, as this will utlimately determine how well you score when you have more experience. Continue to enjoy the game, would encourage you both to take lessons, and be prepared to spend lots of time and money.

My Dad, a self proclaimed perfectionist, devised a new scoring system where he rated his play on each hole...1-5. A 1 for a perfectly played hole. It made no difference if the ball went in or not, that wasn't his fault if he make the right club selection and the wind blew it over the green, or made the right line on the putt but the ball hit a rock and it went off line, he still made what he thought was the correct shots on the hole so he scored a 1. A 2 if he actually made 1 mistake. 3,4 and 5 the worst you can score..being mistakes on ever opportunity.

It worked out well, until he started to play with anyone other then myself or Mom and he kept real score. But at least this got him through the hard times of early disaster golf.

__________________
I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

Congrats, having fun is the key.

Though I would get rid of the 1 Iron, use mostly a 5 or 7 iron. They are much easier to hit. The driver is more optional but going to a 3 wood may help off the tee. Start by using the 7 iron 140-110 yds the 9 110 to 90 and the pitching wedge inside 90. If you are hitting over the greens/ not far enough then adjust, as you play more you will definately adjust. Outside 140 I would go with a 5 iron, now outside 200 I would try a 5 wood or 3 wood.

Thats my advice.

But goodluck.

Bob