I was wanting to learn how to play Golf and was wondering how difficult and how other TWW members learned to play.

Did you merely just grab some clubs and teach yourself on the course?
Have your parents give you golf lessons?
Took the NCSU PE class?

Some buddies of mine keep inviting me to the course but I don't want to be that noob taking 10 strokes hitting the golf ball everywhere with a group behind us waiting to play through.

7/27/2009 11:49:32 PM

get a used set of clubs to start off with, get some tees, go to the driving range, test it out

7/27/2009 11:50:48 PM

I just went to the driving range with a friend who was on the golf team in high school and he tried to teach me, but sucked at it. I kept going back though, and got some instruction from friends who really knew what they were doing.

My stepdad plays all the time and got my mom into it and I got some of her old clubs that were not even old. I took PE 245, it helps alot for beginners, IMO. My boyfriend has played for years and is reallllllllllllllllllllllllly good, plays in amateur tournaments all the time. He wants to get me golf lessons from a pro.

My game has improved alot with practice and what not, I enjoy it alot more. For me, its one of those things that just comes with time.

Best of luck!

7/28/2009 12:06:04 AM

have been playing for 20 years.

It doesn't get easier. I am a more consistent player now than back in the day (99-03).

I don't really shoot more than 75 on a course I am familiar with and I don't break 69 much anymore either. My long game is still $ but my putting is the x factor that keeps me from hitting the really low scores. If I play 3-4 times in a week, my putting comes around. If I am hungover, forget short game.

Play about once a week now. Used to be 5-6 times a week. Takes a lot of practice and money to become good at golf.

[Edited on July 28, 2009 at 12:22 AM. Reason : mexicellent]

7/28/2009 12:21:29 AM

I've played a lot with my dad and grandpa since I was little. I still suck. I took the PE class at state too with Tharrington. I think I do a little better since taking that class but I would still say i suck :/

But yeah I think that a nice set of irons that are the right size and everything for you are key.

7/28/2009 1:22:32 AM

^^ man I miss playing that much. It was easy working at a golf course.

Mostly golf is about muscle memory. Teaching your body to do a specific movement in a specific sequence, and consistently repeating it (which is how a lot of sports are really). It also takes a lot of self-awareness to be able to "feel" what is right and what is wrong. Some people just don't have that kind of skill.

Learn a bit about swing mechanics so you know what you should be doing compared to what you are doing, if it doesn't help get help from a professional, if that doesn't help, give up the game.

7/28/2009 1:46:44 AM

i just bought a new set of irons...Ben Hogan offsets. pretty pumped about them...also picked up the Taylor Made Burner driver (9.5 degree).

7/28/2009 9:05:28 AM

Quote :

"My long game is still $ but my putting is the x factor that keeps me from hitting the really low scores. If I play 3-4 times in a week, my putting comes around. If I am hungover, forget short game. "

story of my life

Im not quite as good as you, im around mid-70's to high 70's but jesus my putting is definately the bottleneck.

If i drink then im slowly drinking myself out of my game. tis fun though

Like others have said, Golf is fucking expensive to get good at. Its the only reason why I cant get to beergolftile status. I'd be super poor.

[Edited on July 28, 2009 at 9:19 AM. Reason : tile/lite]

7/28/2009 9:19:23 AM

ive got a set of beginers clubs you can have. ill be honest its nothing fanceybut they are free. let me know

7/28/2009 9:26:50 AM

ive got a set of dunlop slammers that im selling...

3,5,6,7,8,9, 3wood, 5wood, Driver

i broke my 4 iron

they are graphite shafts, so they are easier to hit than steel, but i just cant control graphite. decent for beginners.

7/28/2009 9:41:04 AM

i can shoot in the mid to high 80's usually. sometimes lower 90's but i usually keep it in the 80s. i cant putt, if i could, that would definitely shave strokes off my game

also, i use just an off brand set of irons i've had for like 4 years now.. the first set i've got. I guess a new set of irons would improve my game but i'm poor, haha

i can hit my irons high, but i've always had trouble getting my driver to go in the air. i was using an off brand driver and it had 10 degrees loft...

i bought a cleveland launcher 460 driver used from golf galaxy for like 50 bucks a few months ago, and the difference was huge.. i was definitely hitting it longer more consistently, and getting it higher, but now i feel like i may be hitting it too high sometimes. I tee it up really low on my drives and sometimes i still hit it a little high. the loft on the new driver is 10.5 degrees. Maybe i should have gone 9.5 degrees instead, but since I was having trouble originally getting launch i went for more loft.

When i hit it really good though it makes a big difference.. with my crap driver i was hitting it around 210-220 on average. I say now i'm easily at about 240-250 on average if i hit it good. and i've hit some out there about 270 if i really make good contact. That's really far for me because I'm only like 5'7 and i weight 120 pounds. haha.

Played hillandale on sunday with a buddy, and on the 16th hole you tee off, after about 200 yards it starts going downhill.. I bombed a tee shot out there, and me and my friend both measured it with our gps on our phones and both said it was 313 yards. i landed it about 5 yards short of the bunker in front of the green, and just flopped it up and on. easily the furthest drive i've ever hit, and probably will ever hit, even if it was downhill.


my irons are really inconsistent though. sometimes i hit them really solid with a very slight fade, but now all of a sudden i'm starting to hook them a bit, its driving me nuts.

7/28/2009 9:57:05 AM

if i could stop slicing i would be right at a consistent 300yd driver. i can knock the crap out of a ball off the tee...its my accuracy on approach shots that kill me. but ive gotten a lot better. when i first started playing when i was younger i would shot 115, then i started getting to around 105, and once i started breaking 100, its the normal now for me to shoot 90-95.

i'm not one of those golfers who gives themselves a "handicap" and "isnt allowed to take strokes".

thats that stupidest thing about golf. people who think they are better than they are and use this handicap rule. hit the ball, add up the # of strokes it takes to put the ball in the hole.

pretty simple.

my lowest round ever was @ Ballantyne, i shot a 84

7/28/2009 10:25:24 AM

yeah my scores aren't really too accurate.. i shoot a wide variety from 86-95.. if i'm playing strict rules its widely varied like that, sometimes even higher

but when i'm just out with the friends goofing off we take a few mulligans here and there, but i don't really count those scores.. i'm still trying to practice. so if it's not crowded i try to take the time and hit different types of shots when i'm out.


i think me and a buddy are gonna go play brevofield on thursday.. its not a great course by any means, but its cheap and the greens are in good shape usually. plus u can pay to play all day. its like 25 bucks or something on the weekdays.. we'll probably try to get at least 2 rounds in.. can't beat that deal.

7/28/2009 10:37:05 AM

I just got a set of Taylor Made R7 irons and a new Taylor Made Tour Burner (9.5, S), and it's done wonders for me. I get 10-15 yards longer on the drives, and it's much more forgiving than my old Firesole 9.5. The new irons are ~10 yds longer, much smoother, straighter and more forgiving than my old Ping Eye's.

7/28/2009 10:55:28 AM

ha i also recently broke my 4-iron, kevmcd86

hybrid at that

7/28/2009 11:08:58 AM

I play Ballantyne a couple times a month

When I'm not playing it, after work we go out on the parking garage at my work and launch shots on to the 13th green, then play RPS to see who has to go pick up the balls

7/28/2009 11:11:52 AM

daz, I grew up playing Hillandale. It's a fun course. Not the most picturesque, but they (at least used to) do a good job of keeping it up. I know the hole you're talking about. That, and and there's super-elevated tee shot (13 maybe?) are a lot of fun to tee off on. What kind of shape was the course in?

Also, since everyone is sharing, I shoot mid 80's to mid 90's. Best I've ever shot was 80 at Eagle Ridge. I'll still end up high 90's sometimes though, with a couple of triples or a snowman. New clubs seem to have helped a lot though (even though I've only played 2 rounds with them).

7/28/2009 11:39:08 AM

Quote :

"I tee it up really low on my drives and sometimes i still hit it a little high."

I hit the ball high, but it probably has more to do with your swing plane than the actual loft of the driver.

loft within a couple of degrees has never made a difference to me... it all comes down to how hard i swing the club.. if i'm swinging harder, my swing plane is more vertical and i hit the ball higher, if i'm more relaxed, it's flatter and to ball doesn't come off as high.

7/28/2009 11:44:23 AM

i tend to swing a driver too fast, resulting in slices

so i started fixing the problem the last time i played by angling the driver face closed about 8° or so, it helped somewhat

7/28/2009 11:47:31 AM

are you slicing it or are you opening up the club face as you swing. (assuming you're right handed?)

[Edited on July 28, 2009 at 11:49 AM. Reason : .]

7/28/2009 11:49:04 AM

slicing, when i slow the swing down a tad, it goes straight (but slow swings are not fun to me )

im guessing that the shaft bends during the swing, opening the club face, but i need the Time Warp guys' camera so i can watch it in slow-mo lol

[Edited on July 28, 2009 at 11:51 AM. Reason : ]

7/28/2009 11:50:31 AM

one thing that helped me out a lot was the momentus swing trainer. it helps build muscle memory in your core and your shoulders and I didn't have to swing nearly as hard to get the same swing speed i wanted.

for me it had less to do with the shaft bending as much as when I swing hard I don't keep my right arm as straight through impact and it causes the club face to open.

7/28/2009 11:56:03 AM

Quote :

"(1) Did you merely just grab some clubs and teach yourself on the course? (2) Have your parents give you golf lessons? (3) Took the NCSU PE class?"

(1) Bad idea, assuming of course that you go out there with absolutely no idea how to properly strike the ball. The only thing you'll do is develop bad habits that will hold you back until you learn to swing correctly, and bad habit can be VERY difficult to overcome.

(2) Best idea. IMHO if you're going to pay a buttload of money to play golf, then take the time to learn how to do it properly. If you get lessons early on, then you'll have a strong foundation that can stronger with practice.

(3) Took it, and it's mostly just a waste of time. It's not that the teacher(s) don't know what they're doing either - it's that it's really hard to teach an entire group of people how to swing properly. I liked it only b/c it provided a time and place for me to practice, but that's about it.

In summary, I suggest that you:
- Get lessons from a professional
- practice
- learn to enjoy playing the game badly, b/c otherwise the game will drive you insane.

Quote :

"slicing, when i slow the swing down a tad, it goes straight (but slow swings are not fun to me )"

I'm with you man, but I hate playing like shit more than I hate swinging slower

90% of golfers have a slice. That to me is the biggest reason to get lessons, b/c if you don't then you're most likely going to develop common BAD habits like everyone else. Among the most common I see are:

- Not keeping you're eyes on the ball through impact. This is an absolute must to hit the ball properly. One thing that helped me - pretending that I needed to see the divot I made before looking up to see where the ball went.
- Not keeping the left arm (right-handed) relatively straight on the backswing.
- Breaking your wrists too early (or immediately) when taking the club back on the backswing. Some people do this and make it work, and yes it can be done. But it's really tough to do this and consistently make good contact.
- Making too long of a swing. You can swing hard. There's no problem with that. Just ask Tiger. But Tiger never takes the club back past parallel with the ground. I recommend doing what Tiger does
- Trying to line up a shot when standing over it. Bad idea. You'll end up aiming to the right every time (if you're right-handed). Try it and you'll see what I mean.

And those are just the common bad habits that I have

7/28/2009 12:28:05 PM

I'm going to Eagle Ridge today, anyone wanna join? I usually just pair up with randoms so this isn't really different. I shoot somewhere between par and +10 but I'm cool playing with hackers...hehe Reply soon if you wanna go, playing around 3 or so.

[Edited on July 28, 2009 at 12:33 PM. Reason : .]

7/28/2009 12:32:53 PM

Quote :

"and bad habit can be VERY difficult to overcome."

THis needs to be said many times over. It took me over ten years, with me quitting golf twice due to frustration, to finally fix my fucking swing.

Quote :

"Breaking your wrists too early (or immediately) when taking the club back on the backswing. Some people do this and make it work, and yes it can be done. But it's really tough to do this and consistently make good contact. "

THis is actually how I fixed my swing..

took me awhile to get in the groove with it but I think Ive finally gotten it consistent.

[Edited on July 28, 2009 at 12:37 PM. Reason : s]

7/28/2009 12:37:25 PM

another important factor is your grip

don't hold it like you would hold a baseball bat, youll have to do some research on what's best for you though


actually, sometimes i will use the baseball grip when im chipping, it just seems to work better that way for me

[Edited on July 28, 2009 at 12:40 PM. Reason : ]

7/28/2009 12:39:41 PM

ive been slicing recently, and what ive found to work pretty well is to try and keep my right elbow tucked into my side during the backswing. think of it like you have a napkin pinned in between your elbow and side and dont let it fall until your follow through...

this prevents your swing from coming inside-out and cutting across the face of the ball, resulting in a slice.

also, i realized that in trying to crush the ball, i was taking my swing too far back, when the shaft should be parallel with the ground at the top of the backswing.

if anyone is slicing, keep those two things in mind and try it out.

7/28/2009 1:00:32 PM

Quote :

"THis is actually how I fixed my swing.. "

Maybe I should have mentioned that I usually shoot in the high 80's... so yeah I'm no pro either

7/28/2009 1:03:42 PM

Quote :

"daz, I grew up playing Hillandale. It's a fun course. Not the most picturesque, but they (at least used to) do a good job of keeping it up. I know the hole you're talking about. That, and and there's super-elevated tee shot (13 maybe?) are a lot of fun to tee off on. What kind of shape was the course in? Also, since everyone is sharing, I shoot mid 80's to mid 90's. Best I've ever shot was 80 at Eagle Ridge. I'll still end up high 90's sometimes though, with a couple of triples or a snowman. New clubs seem to have helped a lot though (even though I've only played 2 rounds with them)."

the course was in good shape.. greens were good and were running the right speed, they weren't dried out and really hard. great course for the money if you go late in the day. it was under 30 bucks on sunday to play at 3pm. it was like 27 or something.

7/28/2009 3:00:46 PM

The Match 2

Pouring rain.

I believe Tigers squad will win it.

5/24/2020 3:14:33 PM

that Barkley-Tiger interaction was rooooooggghhh

5/24/2020 3:16:41 PM

Are Brady and Manning making the conversation interesting? The first Phil Tiger thing was a snoozefest.

5/24/2020 3:27:25 PM

this might be the funniest thing to watch on tv in years

5/24/2020 3:53:09 PM

Is this gonna be available on-demand?

5/24/2020 5:59:59 PM

I dunno but Brady just holed out and split his pants in the span of a few seconds

5/24/2020 6:02:05 PM

It was amazing and I really think golf could thrive in this format

5/25/2020 4:49:26 PM

30yo Grayson Murray died yesterday after withdrawing from the tourney

5/25/2024 4:14:02 PM

Vaccinated?????????

[Edited on May 25, 2024 at 5:33 PM. Reason : Seriously though, incredibly sad]

5/25/2024 5:31:57 PM

you fucked up the joke

5/25/2024 7:01:04 PM

I don't want anyone to think I'm serious

5/25/2024 7:02:31 PM

Just another bad apple I guess

https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/40240096/charges-dropped-scottie-scheffler-louisville-arrest

5/29/2024 10:25:02 PM

Quote :

" Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell"

5/30/2024 1:05:19 PM