Golf - how bad as a beginner?

[RossiT]

Having being playing for a couple of months now just wondering how bad everyone was when starting out, how many shots per hole, how many balls did you lose per game etc?

Thought I was making progress on my usual course but played a new course today and had an absolute nightmare, lost 4 balls, 6 or 7 shots on Par 3's.

Any similar stories?

[vladcjelli]

Yep.

[Cheib]

Anybody that says they haven't is a liar!

There are two very different things to learn when playing golf. One if blindingly obvious....the other is course management. Shot selection is everything...playing the percentage shot and knowing your limitations will see most high handicappers improve markedly.

i.e. When you're in a foot of rough take the medicine and just get your sand wedge out and get yourself back out on the fairway.

The other one thing you can really win with as a beginner is spend as much time practising your short game as your irons and woods. Most people go to a range and belt their driver and irons for an hour and the only practice they do for their short game is for five minutes before they tee off on the putting green. Your short game is at least 50% of your shots.

[cheddar]

My first ever 'full' round was 162

Took about 25 rounds to get to + or - 115

Then had 103's to 115's for a while

Another 30 rounds got me the first one under the magic 100

I could lose 15 balls in a round

I started playing everyday when I moved to live opposite my course last year

Had my first round under 90 8 months ago and I couldn't believe it

Now I play regular 85's to 95's with a best of 82

I know I can get down to zero handicap but it'll take coaching

Get help rather than hammering the driving range

And buy balls, lots of balls, you'll need them.....

[Challo]

Cheib said:

Anybody that says they haven't is a liar!

There are two very different things to learn when playing golf. One if blindingly obvious....the other is course management. Shot selection is everything...playing the percentage shot and knowing your limitations will see most high handicappers improve markedly.

i.e. When you're in a foot of rough take the medicine and just get your sand wedge out and get yourself back out on the fairway.

The other one thing you can really win with as a beginner is spend as much time practising your short game as your irons and woods. Most people go to a range and belt their driver and irons for an hour and the only practice they do for their short game is for five minutes before they tee off on the putting green. Your short game is at least 50% of your shots.

I was really bad when I first started. Lost lots of balls, spent most of the rounds in the rough/trees hacking my way round. Got given some golf lessons for christmas this year and it was the best thing I ever did. Went back to basics and worked on my grip, stance, swing and although it was painful at first im now striking the ball well and more often than not they are straight. I still slice/hook the ball but i can work on that.

If you can get the key fundamentals then your game will vastly improve. Plus you will start to understand what you are doing wrong and you can correct it. Plenty of drills on youtube to practise as well.

Also get out on the course if you can. I play regulary with people that are good and pick up loads of tips. Mainly about club choice, shot selection which really helps you learn.

Good luck

[Cbull]

RossiT said:

lost 4 balls

Pfft Amatuers, 1 year on and the ball replacements is still more expensive than the cost of a round of golf. Yesterday I went around with the same ball over 13 holes, the previous 2 rounds I lost about 15-16 of'em. Go figure

[dxbtiger]

I was lucky enough to start relatively young (10/11) and what I remember about being that age was I literally felt like I improved every time I played.

I also used to spend hours round the chipping and putting green as well which is the single best way 99% of all amateurs could improve imo.

Don't remember what I used to shoot, the only first I remember is my first par (lagged a 20 foot birdie putt as I was so excited about potentially making par).

Got down to 5 by the age of 15, it's taken me another 18 years to get to 2!

I actually find I play better on courses I don't know a lot of the time, tend to focus on where to hit it rather than trying to avoid stuff that has caught me out in the past.

[taaffy]

I started playing when I was 10 by having lessons in school. By the time I was 11 yrs old my first handicap was 12 and I had already carded a par round off that handicap.
By the time I was 16 my handicap was +3.
I can't remember scoring over 90 as most of my time was spent practicing and when I actually played on the course I was able to play and score.
As a kid I literally lived my life at the golf club.
My home course was a challenge and was used as an Open pre-qualifying venue so my handicap was a competitive one.

http://www.lanarkgolfclub.co.uk/index.php

I turned pro and had 10 yrs of toil and struggle trying to make it before deciding to teach and then became very bored teaching so regained my amateur status.

The golf course you play can depict your handicap and how strong that handicap is.

I joined the 2010 Ryder cup course in Newport Wales and now as a 46 yr old my handicap has soared from scratch to 3 on that course, but if I play the local Cardiff courses then I play to scratch.

SHORT GAME ,SHORT GAME, SHORT GAME ... the biggest improvements will come if that is consistently tight.

Edited by taaffy on Wednesday 24th July 11:35

[pimpin gimp]

My first round on an 18 hole course was with my works society, which was called "hackers and flashers"
I think it was at Raglan, and on the first hole, a par 5 I believe, I carded a 13. This pretty much set the stage for the rest of my day!

I was abysmal.

I rapidly improved though, which I put down to a combination of calming down and giving the blades back to my dad so I could use some cavity back clubs!

When I say rapidly improved, I'm talking getting from a 50odd handicapper to high 20's, which I consider acceptable on a course. It took me a year or two playing about once a month to get to low 20's, and now I play to about 18 playing once every 6 months. I'm better now than I used to be because I take my time, and think about the course, planning my next couple of shots every time I step up to the ball. I take the easy route of a 5 wood and a 7 iron rather than a driver and a wedge for example, makes a big difference.

Still can't putt for toffee though, so practice that as it's pretty key to a good round.

[ascayman]

4 balls in a round? ive lost 4 on one bloody hole.

[zip929]

The thing about Golf is that it spoils a good walk.

As long as you do not take it too seriously, it is a great way to while away a few hours.
It is probably one of the hardest games in the world to master. No two days play are ever the same.

[roboxm3]

taaffy said:

I started playing when I was 10 by having lessons in school. By the time I was 11 yrs old my first handicap was 12 and I had already carded a par round off that handicap.
By the time I was 16 my handicap was +3.
I can't remember scoring over 90 as most of my time was spent practicing and when I actually played on the course I was able to play and score.
As a kid I literally lived my life at the golf club.
My home course was a challenge and was used as an Open pre-qualifying venue so my handicap was a competitive one.

http://www.lanarkgolfclub.co.uk/index.php

I turned pro and had 10 yrs of toil and struggle trying to make it before deciding to teach and then became very bored teaching so regained my amateur status.

The golf course you play can depict your handicap and how strong that handicap is.

I joined the 2010 Ryder cup course in Newport Wales and now as a 46 yr old my handicap has soared from scratch to 3 on that course, but if I play the local Cardiff courses then I play to scratch.

SHORT GAME ,SHORT GAME, SHORT GAME ... the biggest improvements will come if that is consistently tight.

Edited by taaffy on Wednesday 24th July 11:35

taaffy - I'd love to hear a bit more about your "10 years of toil" playing as a pro if you're willing to share a few tales?

As I'm sure most keen amateurs do, I love talking to ex/teaching pros about tournamnts they've played in, the best players the've played with, shots / rounds they've seen etc.

I started playing late (22 I think) and managed to, through pure golf obsession, to get down to an 18hcp within a year. Then over the next couple of years down to 11, shooting single figures twice. I used to think if I could get down to a 4hcp and qualify as a teacher and clubmaker then I would have the best job life in the world! haha

[taaffy]

roboxm3 said:

taaffy - I'd love to hear a bit more about your "10 years of toil" playing as a pro if you're willing to share a few tales?

As I'm sure most keen amateurs do, I love talking to ex/teaching pros about tournamnts they've played in, the best players the've played with, shots / rounds they've seen etc.

I started playing late (22 I think) and managed to, through pure golf obsession, to get down to an 18hcp within a year. Then over the next couple of years down to 11, shooting single figures twice. I used to think if I could get down to a 4hcp and qualify as a teacher and clubmaker then I would have the best job life in the world! haha

I guess every kid who is really into their golf imagines of being on TV playing the courses that are immortalised by their idols.
On the putting green with their mates holing that 3 footer for the Open, Masters etc.
At the practice area with in the bunker with an up and down to win the Ryder cup.

I certainly did and most of my mates at the course did too.
Some of them are still in the golf industry and some realised early that they were not good enough.

At +3 I thought I'd be good enough to play so I went ahead and had a go.
Let me inform you that there is a huge gap between playing to +3 on a course that you know very well and then playing multiple courses under tour conditions to provide money to cover your entry, travel, accommodation and then have enough left for living expenses.
I never made it to the full European tour instead touted my wares on mini tours throughout the UK.
An average tournament could cost circa £500.
Had I made it to the full tour those expenses would be more like £2000+ per tournament.
I was working part time and had some financial help from friends to provide the funds and as the events were every other week I always managed to cobble the money together.
I never broke even.
I gave myself a 5 year plan to make it to full tour and that I thought would be enough time to make it there, hell I was a +3 golfer surely I was good enough.

For the 1st year I was a bit green so it was spent learning the protocol and just getting used to playing golf as a job.
It was a big wake up call, I hardly broke 80 all year and was a bit shellshocked.
Year 2 was a bit better as I got my game together and put in some decent scores but still was way off the money and the leader board.
Years 3,4 and 5 continued much the same as year 2 and I had a few good finishes which got some money back but all in all it was a pure slog.
Late tee times were a nightmare as I'd always be up early in a strange place and all day to kill before I started play.

Tour school which is the marathon that decides if you are good enough to gain your playing rights. I didn't ever feel that I could justify the 6 or 7k spend as I felt that I just wasn't consistent enough to string together the amount of good golf needed to win one of the coveted spaces.

Open Qualifying was an absolute blast and I had a crack at that on 10 occasions getting to final qualifying on one attempt but bottled it on the day.

After I had decided to call a day on the playing I decided to go into teaching and although it provided an income it was not for me.

Edited by taaffy on Wednesday 24th July 18:10

[RWA441]

Interesting read there Taaffy. Sounds similar to so many I grew up with playing the game. I was down to 3 at the age of 15 and at the age of 34 now I'm off 4!!

Big difference now though is I love the game. I enjoy playing with friends and entering the club comps each weekend, playing in the local scratch league etc and with 25yrs + at the same club and county I've made many great friends.

Back when taking it too seriously and trying my best to get down and possibly become a pro (like you said - childhood dream etc) I ended up hating the game by about 19 yrs old. Once the penny drops and you realise you're a million miles off the tour guys you start to enjoy it again.

Not sure which tours you tried but the likes of the mastercard tour and europro I've had friends play on them and in all honesty they realise they just can't make a living. In fact, just the other week I checked this years europro and looked back through the last 4 yrs winnings a lad I used to play against (county golf) He'd ammassed the grand sum of 8000Euro in almost 4 years!!! He was a +3 golfer too ironically!

[taaffy]

RWA441 said:

Once the penny drops and you realise you're a million miles off the tour guys you start to enjoy it again.

Not sure which tours you tried but the likes of the mastercard tour and europro I've had friends play on them and in all honesty they realise they just can't make a living. In fact, just the other week I checked this years europro and looked back through the last 4 yrs winnings a lad I used to play against (county golf) He'd ammassed the grand sum of 8000Euro in almost 4 years!!! He was a +3 golfer too ironically!

When I played it was the Mastercard, Futures tour and hippo tour.

The strange thing is that if you were to watch the practice range the standard of ball striking is pretty much the same whoever you look at and you'd be hard pressed to pick the better players out from the crowd.

When I played I didn't feel that different pegging it up with the guys who were making the money. They certainly didn't stand head and shoulders above me in ball striking. They were however a lot better at cobbling scores out of nothing on a strange course and that is how you earn money from the game.

I remember playing with the likes of Peter Fowler, Warren Bladon, James Hepworth, Lee James, Paul Way to name but a few and they just managed to compete whether in bad weather or when having a mare.

I'm glad that I did it, I do however enjoy my golf more now as an amateur again.

Recently I played 9 holes at the 2010 with Philip Price, we both hit similar shots on every hole. I finished the nine a couple over the card , and he 4 under the card. If he missed a green he saved it and when faced with birdies he holed them. I however didn't make the birdies to catch up on the missed greens and consequent bogey's. Granted he is in the twilight of his career but he is still damn good, a lot better than I was at my best.

There are a lot of young scratch players out there with big dreams, a few may make it for a while but the vast majority will get an expensive wake up call.

[roboxm3]

taaffy said:

Recently I played 9 holes at the 2010 with Philip Price, we both hit similar shots on every hole. I finished the nine a couple over the card , and he 4 under the card. If he missed a green he saved it and when faced with birdies he holed them. I however didn't make the birdies to catch up on the missed greens and consequent bogey's. Granted he is in the twilight of his career but he is still damn good, a lot better than I was at my best.

I think this is the sort of thing that the average golfer i.e. me finds it so hard to get my head around and understand the difference between a very good golfer (+hcp) and a successful pro.

In my 'golf obsessed' days, I'd be up the range almost every night and playing both days at the weekend. I got on well with the club pro and played a few holes with him on one of the rare occasions that he actually got his clubs out (this is one of the other things I could never understand!? haha).

Watching him play, striking every ball flush, hitting every fairway and every green, it's difficult to understand just how much better you need to be to achieve success.
Like you say, it's the saves and birdy putts that make the difference but it's not like he (or you) didn't have the technical ability, so is it purely a mental thing or are the top pros a leap ahead again in ability?

[Cheib]

roboxm3 said:

taaffy said:

Recently I played 9 holes at the 2010 with Philip Price, we both hit similar shots on every hole. I finished the nine a couple over the card , and he 4 under the card. If he missed a green he saved it and when faced with birdies he holed them. I however didn't make the birdies to catch up on the missed greens and consequent bogey's. Granted he is in the twilight of his career but he is still damn good, a lot better than I was at my best.

I think this is the sort of thing that the average golfer i.e. me finds it so hard to get my head around and understand the difference between a very good golfer (+hcp) and a successful pro.

In my 'golf obsessed' days, I'd be up the range almost every night and playing both days at the weekend. I got on well with the club pro and played a few holes with him on one of the rare occasions that he actually got his clubs out (this is one of the other things I could never understand!? haha).

Watching him play, striking every ball flush, hitting every fairway and every green, it's difficult to understand just how much better you need to be to achieve success.
Like you say, it's the saves and birdy putts that make the difference but it's not like he (or you) didn't have the technical ability, so is it purely a mental thing or are the top pros a leap ahead again in ability?

I've played a few rounds with club pro's and scratch or very low handicap amateurs...whilst they are all clearly bloody good golfers they're ball striking just seems a world away from a tour pro.

I once played in a Pro-Am at Wentworth with a guy called Lon Hinkle who was on the Seniors Tour at the time but in his prime had finished 3rd on the PGA Tour and had a couple of Top 3 finishes in majors. Even as a 50 plus year old his ball striking was incredible his ability to really work the ball....fades, draws high/low all in the repetoir. His putting was extremely tidy but not as good as I would have thought....but I guess that's why he "only" won three times. The step up from how he struck the ball and how I have seen pro's at tournaments seemed as far from a club pro as a club pro is from a 5 handicapper.

[pimpin gimp]

Anyone interested in hearing more stories similar to Taafy's should read "Bring me the head of Sergio Garcia" by Tom Cox, it chronicles his attempt to qualify for the open.
I've just finished reading my copy, I'll post it to whoever wants it. Not the best book, but worth a read I reckon.

So if you want it, message me or let me know here.

[taaffy]

If you want real insight into life as a journeyman on tour have a read of this warts and all book by journalist Lawrence Donegan who spent a summer caddying for Ross Drummond on the european tour.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Four-Iron-Soul-Lawrence-Do...

Edited by taaffy on Thursday 25th July 20:40

[roboxm3]

Cheib said:

I've played a few rounds with club pro's and scratch or very low handicap amateurs...whilst they are all clearly bloody good golfers they're ball striking just seems a world away from a tour pro.

I once played in a Pro-Am at Wentworth with a guy called Lon Hinkle who was on the Seniors Tour at the time but in his prime had finished 3rd on the PGA Tour and had a couple of Top 3 finishes in majors. Even as a 50 plus year old his ball striking was incredible his ability to really work the ball....fades, draws high/low all in the repetoir. His putting was extremely tidy but not as good as I would have thought....but I guess that's why he "only" won three times. The step up from how he struck the ball and how I have seen pro's at tournaments seemed as far from a club pro as a club pro is from a 5 handicapper.

I've only been to watch a pro tournament a few times but the first time I went was a practice day in the BMW at The Grove.
I was really keen to watch the players on the range to see how they really practice / prepare for a round and to hopefully catch a glimpse (read: watch for over an hour and follow for about 14 holes) of Ernie.
As we got closer to the range I remember my first thought was "why does it sound like that when they hit the ball? ...it doesn't sound like that when I hit the ball! In fact I've never heard it sound like that before."
It's the thing that stood out above anything else when I was watching any of the players on the range. That and how little effort they put into their swings, making it look like the easiest thing in the world...the bds!
It was almost a 'slap' sound, as if you could hear the ball being compressed and deformed but without the need for huge effort or a ridiculous divot.
I can only assume that that's the difference between a ball being struck well and a one being struck perfectly?
So...how do you do that?? haha