how does one get started ?

Wook

I am interested in playing golf , but i have no clue how to get started?
Driven to Holyfield golf club and they do classes for 50 euro an hour but thats a bit steep just to start off with or am i getting this wrong?

The golf Pro would they not be annoyed training a brand new player?

driving range, how do you avoid embarrassment of being extremely crap?

do i buy clubs?

just you know, how did you all get started by yourself?

Mister Sifter

Wook wrote: »

I am interested in playing golf , but i have no clue how to get started?
Driven to Holyfield golf club and they do classes for 50 euro an hour but thats a bit steep just to start off with or am i getting this wrong?

The golf Pro would they not be annoyed training a brand new player?

driving range, how do you avoid embarrassment of being extremely crap?

do i buy clubs?

just you know, how did you all get started by yourself?

Wook, welcome to the game! i started when i was kid so my example is probably not for you. One of my mates took up the game in his 20s though and he did it this way...

He got hold of a few clubs (if you don't have any of your own perhaps you can borrow a few or some ranges lend them out) and went out to a driving range on a Saturday afternoon when it was quiet and tried to hit a basket of balls. He did that a good few times and slowly he got to where he could hit the ball. Maybe that's what you could do.

Will a pro be annoyed? Absolutely not! Don't even think that, because it would probably be the opposite. A good pro will see you as a project and someone that he can help along.

How do you avoid the driving range embarassment? Trying to go at a quiet time would help you here. i generally find ranges on a saturday afternoon are dead quiet, especially in dry weather as everyone is out on the course. Again, don't be too worried about going to a range as a new player.

Running Bing

The golf Pro would they not be annoyed training a brand new player?

Yes nothing gets on a golf pros nerves like somebody coming to them for help.

driving range, how do you avoid embarrassment of being extremely crap?

Wear nothing but your underwear....then nobody will focus on your golf swing.




Ah no, Im just messing with you. Seriously relax about it, the game is not like it used to be, everybody seems to play now and the majority of people are'nt very good at it. A golf pro will welcome you with open arms whether your playing off 2 or cant get under 122. As for being embarrassed at the range...dont be silly. Just go and hit the balls. Nobody cares what your swing is like and nobody will pay a blind bit of notice.

As for lessons, thats pretty much the going rate. You could shop around but you wont find much cheaper. If you can afford it and your serious about taking up golf I dont think there is a person who wont recommend lessons to you. You could go it alone and just work at the range but the problem with that is you can pick up bad habits that can be hard to break and you'll probably end up getting lessons at some stage anyway.

I'd say definitely buy clubs as well if you want to take the game up. They dont have to be fancy, Argos do some nice sets for reasonable prices and brands like Wilson and RAM do packages that are very good value for what you get.

You could get a friend and go for a few games of par 3 just to test the waters first and see if you like it. Then if you like that you could buy a set of clubs, maybe get a lesson or two and then just spend a bit of time at the driving range working on what the pro tells you. Your first round probably wont be pretty but a lot of the fun of golf is getting better.

paulanthony

Maybe try to get involved in a beginner group lesson - when I started off it cost me €120 for an 8 week group lesson which was ok value.

PhilipMarlowe

I'd agree with the lessons... you can find a range near you that has a teaching pro. Ring him and tell him your situation. He will most likely lend you some clubs to use for the lesson to see if you like the game.
If you catch the bug you can decide to book more lessons or buy clubs or whatever.
Maybe if you post up a request for an old set of clubs on our Golf Stuff thread you might get someone who has an old set they could part with.

WHIP IT!

If you're sure you would like to take up the game as a hobby, I would strongly recommend getting lessons from Day One.

I took up golf at the age of about 20 and I wish I'd gotten lessons from Day One. It's easier than trying to fix a whole host of ingrained bad habits a few years down the line.

I actually kind of envy you!

Good Luck... and enjoy it!

Myksyk

Wook wrote: »

The golf Pro would they not be annoyed training a brand new player?

driving range, how do you avoid embarrassment of being extremely crap?

do i buy clubs?

just you know, how did you all get started by yourself?

Definitely get lessons to have an understanding of the fundamentals of grip, stance, ball position etc ... if you don't, your unavoidably frustrating first attempts will be a 100 times more frustrating than they should be.

The thing about driving ranges and golf in general is that we're usually too busy worrying about our own crapness to worry about or notice any about elses so don't be self-conscious ... have you seen where some of the pros land when they're playing? It's just a tough game.

Remember, because it's a tough game to learn you should set your expectations accordingly. Get the right info to start with and you'll save yourself lots of agitation. Then give yourself a few years to build your skills. Set realistic intermediate goals that are reachable in any given year so that you're aware of the progress you're making. And Good luck!!

stephenoleary

I have no idea what kind of a budget you are working with, but the suggestion of group lessons is an excellent one if you are looking to keep costs down.

Most adult education programmes now have a golf option, check out http://www.nightcourses.com/ for listings or visit a local school. The beginners classes would be made of plenty of players starting like yourself which might take away some of the worry about how you look/swing etc at the range.

You may even meet some other beginners in the class who you can practice with, or in time, venture out onto the course with.

Best of luck with it, golf has thought me more about myself than any other sport, and opened more doors than I thought possible.

Obni

I'd agree with the others on the evening class route.
I know several guys who were absolute beginners and took that route, and really enjoyed it.
Much easier to get over any intial awkwardness when you can see that you're amongst fellow newbies.

Wook

Thanks guy's!
good advice, and looking forward to it