For 69 years I've managed to avoid the addiction of the game of golf. The entry cost too high, and then there's the greens fees.

Then, yesterday, enjoying some whiskey with our next-door-neighbor to one side, he mentions he'll be golfing the next day. We get to talking about it and he suggests I give it a try. Hauls out a piece of, I dunno, astroturf or something, a 7-iron, and a bucket of banged-up balls.

Now I know a little of how it works, having watched carefully over the years.

I take some practice swings to become familiar with the motion, put the ball down, and...

...proceed to put it airborne, right down the middle of his yard, for about... 100 yards or so.

From there on I mostly got worse, because then he started critiquing my stance, swing, etc., and I started trying to "correct" my mistakes.

But I got it into my head: "Hey, I maybe can do this." Told Mrs. ensigmatic this morning "I think I'll head over to the local golf store and see if I can pick up an affordable 7-iron to play with." Then she reminded me the husband of one of her friends passed away a couple years ago, had been an avid golfer, and was exactly the same height as me.

Long story short, I am now in possession of this:



Pray for me. I may be in trouble, here

The putter needs to be re-gripped. The material comes off all black and nasty. Turns out that's quick, easy, and economical, so I'll get that done tomorrow.

(And, yeah: I already bought a putting practice thingy. Yes, really.)

Grabbed one of the 7-irons from the bag, set an indoor/outdoor carpet square on the grass, took a dozen or so practice swings, put the ball on it, and knocked it about 100 yards straight down the middle of my back yard (At a lower angle than yesterday, though. It'll be interesting to compare his 7-iron and mine.)

Yeah, maybe I can do this.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ensigmatic,

Don't do it.

Golf is a four letter word.

I was enthusiastic but not very good. I did get much more value out of the cost by hitting the ball so many more times than other players.

Welcome to the rabbit hole! I love the game. Not that great at it, but love it. Mostly I enjoy the fresh air, scenery, and hanging out with the guys from work. We get out once a week and really enjoy ourselves. Have fun and if you figure you want lessons, do it. If not, golf magazine has an app that can help too. Fix finder is the name of it. Free to download and pros give short instruction, usually a few minutes long in videos.

I call those things in that bag "Fetch tools". Thank god I'm over that phase of my life.

A famous man said:
Golf. A good walk spoiled.

quote:

Originally posted by 2BobTanner:

Years ago I did the math on how much ammo I could buy if I gave up golf and I arrived at the same conclusion. ...a waste of space for a rifle range.

Golf is also known as 'cow pasture pool".Hey as long as you enjoy it that is all that matters. .......drill sgt.

Two years I tried it,
Did wonderful off the Tee,,
I mean really really good

That must be the really easy part,as I
Stunk too high heaven
all the way to the cup.

I did not par more than twice,per game in two years.
And!
We always walked, ALWAYS!

quote:

..was exactly the same height as me...

Stand a tall guy next to a short one and have them let there arms hang down. For the most part, their fingers will be about the same distance off the ground. Club length rarely needs changing except for personal choice in drivers and putters.

quote:

Originally posted by petr:
Have fun and if you figure you want lessons, do it. If not, golf magazine has an app that can help too. Fix finder is the name of it. Free to download and pros give short instruction, usually a few minutes long in videos.

The "have fun" part: That is the plan. As for the lessons and stuff: The problem I have with many new hobbies is jumping in full-bore right out of the gate and immersing myself in it. Then I often burn out, after having spent a bunch of money and time, and move on to something else. Thus "Hobby Of The Week."

This time I'm going to try something different: I'm not going to do that. I'm gonna start with lofting some balls into the woods (gotta find a source of cheap balls--cuz I'm never gonna find most of 'em out there--at least until fall), putting practice on the indoor/outdoor carpeting in the basement, and probably hitting the driving range.

Only after that, if it seems to "take," will I take a shot at actually playing the game.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Two years I tried it,
Did wonderful off the Tee,,
I mean really really good

That must be the really easy part, ...

From what I've been reading that's one of the harder parts.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
I did not par more than twice,per game in two years.

I'm not even remotely close to even thinking about making par

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

And!
We always walked, ALWAYS!

That is definitely the plan.

quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:
Stand a tall guy next to a short one and have them let there arms hang down. For the most part, their fingers will be about the same distance off the ground.

Huh. I'd never considered that. I guess it makes sense.

Interestingly: There is a 5-iron, a 5-wood, two 7-irons, one quite a bit shorter than the other, and a 7-wood. (There's also the rest of the 3-9 irons, a driver, and a pitching wedge.)

I guess figuring out when & where to use each of the clubs optimally will be part of the adventure

quote:

Interestingly: There is a 5-iron, a 5-wood, two 7-irons, one quite a bit shorter than the other, and a 7-wood. (There's also the rest of the 3-9 irons, a driver, and a pitching wedge.)

I guess figuring out when & where to use each of the clubs optimally will be part of the adventure

a driver, a putter,a sand wedge and a 3,6 and 9 iron are all you need to start

quote:

Originally posted by nasig:
a driver, a putter,a sand wedge and a 3,6 and 9 iron are all you need to start

I disagree. On one weekend outing with friends, I sucked so bad on the front nine, that after four or five libations on the turn , I played the entire back nine with a '6' iron. Yes, a six iron. I even putted with the back side of it. And ya know what, I didn't do any worse on the back than I did on the front. Even lost a couple fewer balls.

I always enjoyed finding more balls than I lost. To me, that was a winning day.

After my wife’s Mother passed, I offered her Father a proposition: I would be the personal chef and he would teach me how to play golf. As a young man after WWII, he was a scratch golfer. He chose the family business over golf.

So... I had just turned 70 when He began instruction. He insisted that I take lessons from a professional instructor and that we would not go out on the course until I could hit ten balls in a row straight down the driving range.

It took two months to do that. We also had a practice putting green at the courses and spent about half the time on putting.

Finally got to the point where we could play together and have a good time. It took a year before I broke 100!

He was amazing... he would complain about his distance off the tee, only about 180 yards... at the age of 90! He passed at 90 1/2 of a stroke, blessedly very quick.

As cautioned above, the game is addicting... enjoy!

quote:

Originally posted by nasig:
a driver, a putter,a sand wedge and a 3,6 and 9 iron are all you need to start

From what I've been reading, a sand wedge is one of the last you need. From what I've read it seems like the "ideal" minimal starter set would be a driver, 6- or 7-iron, and a putter.

Anyway: I have 'em, so I might as well use 'em I figure I'll hit a driving range and try 'em all, to see which does what for me.

I've been doing some reading, and that's a good thing. I'd been wondering just how one controlled distance and what each of the clubs was for. Lo and behold: Using different clubs is how you control distance. It seems that, with the exception of things like chip shots and putting, and the difference between irons and woods, the idea is to address the ball and swing the same, using the club selection to control for distance. Would have never guessed that.

It's cool to learn new things

quote:

Originally posted by tleddy:
After my wife’s Mother passed, I offered her Father a proposition: ...

Cool story. Did you stick with it? Are you still golfing?

quote:

Originally posted by tleddy:
As cautioned above, the game is addicting... enjoy!

Yeah... I'm going to try to avoid that. I've enough on my plate and enough upon which to spend money, already

TBH: I'd probably be happy enough if I could find some buckets of used balls for cheap I could just drive into the woods all summer long. Then go hunt 'em down in fall, when the vegetation and mosquitoes have all gone away.

The original owner of the house used to do that. I found golfball-after-golfball out in the woods. Even early this spring, only about 25-30 feet from the back property line, and well into the woods, proper, I found one. This after 28 years owning the home.

Now I'm wishing I'd kept 'em all

Man, that set is practically antique. Not that you can't use them just fine.

I've been trying to be a good golfer for 30 years, and I played less seriously before that.

Have fun.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Man, that set is practically antique.

I kind of figured that was the case, being as, when I searched on "TM-Tour" and "Titan-Steel II," which is what's printed on most of the heads, all that came up was a set for sale somewhere in Canada for $40.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Not that you can't use them just fine.

That's my thinking.

It’s a wonderful sport you can play your entire life. My six year old granddaughter has started and chips around for hours.