Why/How Did You Start Playing Golf?

[Josh Parker]

With all of the divide going on in the Tours and money grabs, it got me thinking. 

Why or how did we all start playing golf?  What is it that keeps us coming back?

I got into this game when I lived in a small town with not much to do.  My co-workers invited me to play a round.  Of course, no one was a lefty but they mentioned that the gentleman in the proshop was left-handed and would let me borrow his clubs.  It was a horrendous round..... but my competitive nature was hooked.  The guy had an extra set of clubs he was willing to sell me super cheap and I jumped at the chance.  (Wilson Prostaff almost blade model)

I began playing once a week and then an opportunity came up six months later to transfer to the GC with the city from the water and wastewater department and help them change some things at the course.  I worked 4 days a week and had the chance to play golf the rest of the week.  I would practice on the course and picked trouble shots all over the place.  Working on shaping the ball and getting out of those conditions. 

Eventually life changed and got busy, losing golf for a number of years, only playing once a month or or every other month until this past two years.  I was now in a better position in life and had the ability to regain focus on the game that brought me so much joy. 

This challenging game that we all cuss at from time to time until we hit that great shot and are quickly reminded that this is what we are chasing.

 

[russtopherb]

I "played" as a kid and young teen with my father and grandfather. Once I hit college and beyond the clubs stayed in the basement and I'd pull them out once every few years to play in a scramble.

Around 12-13 years ago I was having a lot of problems with my right knee and my doc told me to sell my hockey gear and stop running. I needed something to do and a number of my friends had taken up golf, so I pulled the old set out of the garage and started going to the range. My wife bought me a boxed set for Father's Day that year, and that sent me down the long rabbit hole of golf and gear.

[ParFore74x]

I had always wanted to play golf but I’ve always had way too many hobbies going at once to be able to dive in. Motorcycles, bicycle racing, ice hockey, gaming, running as well as wife and daughter were my priorities. In 2017 I finally made the decision to minimize the amount of things that take my time and money and started playing golf more regularly. Forward to now and golf has all but taken over my life. It has truly become a full time obsession for me because I love the challenge of trying to be better and more consistent. I also really enjoy the sunrise rounds that are whisper quiet except for the occasional fellow golfer or grounds keeper mowing a green.  

[EMJL]

How/Why play golf? I played a few weekends each year with my dad and/or grandfather when I was a kid. I probably just liked to try to hit the ball as hard as possible. 

 

Why keep playing? Golf can be many things. Some days I'm feeling competitive and so I head out to the course with a goal of scoring well. Other days, I want to relax and just enjoy being outside and doing a little exercise. (and yes, my better scores are often on the relax days where there are no expectations). 

[Kenny B]

When I was growing up, there was only one golf course in town and it was private.  Never got interested in golf until late in life when I couldn't play softball and volleyball any longer (should have quit both years before and I might have better knees today)!  

It was a Sunday while on a two-week business trip to Livermore, CA and our team had the day off.  Seven other guys were going to play golf and needed another to fill out the second foursome.  Everyone was renting clubs, but the course only had 4 sets so the "better players" played there and the rest of us had to go to another course.  Didn't know what I was doing but had a lot of fun!  Came home and spent the next year at the range with a bucket of balls and a club the course let me use.  Joined the company league a year later, and played at a local muni with their gangsome that had a few pros playing as team captains.  I was always the last one picked... "and you and have Kenny."    It pushed me to get better, and I'm still working on it!!

[Golf2Much]

My last three years of high school we moved to a rural town about an hour south of where I grew up.  Our central school had about 1000 kids from kindergarten to 12th grade in the same building.   My graduating class was 51 students with about 15% of them going to vocational school.  Needless to say, at times it was tough to put together enough students to field teams and compete at high school sports.   

In the spring of my senior year, a friend asked if I wanted to join the golf team.  I had never even thought about playing.  His big sales point was that it would give me a legit reason to get out of school the last few periods of the day to practice!  One problem, I didn't have any clubs, a swing and never played a regulation course.  Not a recipe for success!  I had played a short par 3 course a couple of times, but never took that very seriously.  Another friend said he had a starter set of Wilson Sam Snead clubs and a bag he'd sell me for $10.  It had driver, three wood, odd irons, pitching wedge and putter.  Let's see...invest $10 and get out of school early every day for the spring of my senior year?  What should I do?  So, I joined the team!

Our "home" course was a nine-hole course that ran through and adjacent a mental hospital.  It wasn't tough enough with the hazards on the course.  We also had to deal with patients walking on to the course picking up your ball and trying to sell it back to you for $0.25.  We had to create a local rule that a player got a free drop is a patient "accidently" pick up your ball.   The mental facility has been converted to a prison.  Somehow, I can't see inmates climbing over the barbed wire and wanting only $0.25 for your golf ball. 

I picked up the game pretty quick and actually qualified for a couple of high school team matches that year.  One I remember playing over my head and having my coach ask if I really shot that good!  The following summer my two younger brothers and I would go play at a course about 6 miles from our house on Sunday afternoons.  Of the three of us, I was the only one who continued to play golf regularly as we got older.    

In the Fall, I went away to college and didn't pick up golf until I graduated (four colleges and six years later).  At work there was a bunch of guys my group that liked to play golf, so I picked it up again.  The same clubs, same grips and with a bag with broken zippers.   I ended up taking a sock, creating a little pouch and attached it to the bag to carry my golf balls.  Even with this old beat-up starter set, I got to the point where I was competitive with my work peers.  It was another 3-4 years before I updated my starter set and bag and took it a bit more serious.

The rest is history!   

[Tom the Golf Nut]

I have posted this somewhere before but here goes. I was working for a company that had a golf league. If you played in the league you got to leave work at lunch time on Wednesday. If you didn't you had to stay and work and also cover for the guys who left to play. After a couple months of 12-hour workdays on Wednesday I decided, I was going to learn to play golf and be ready for the next golf season. Then I went out and purchased a new set of King Cobra ll's, and signed up for some group lessons. Come the next spring at the age of 30 I was on the league roster and never looked back. Thirty-four years later I'm still at it playing twice a week. Fortunately, the two companies I worked for after that had a golf league. Over the last 10 years I have really worked on my game and my current company of 15 years sends me to represent them in lots of customer outings. For some reason they encourage me to take customers golfing to generate business and build relationships. I will say it works, and it is a great perk. I'm no tour pro but sometimes it feels that way. With someone paying you to travel around the country to wine, dine, and play golf what can be better than that. I'll keep the retirement thoughts on the back burner for a while. 

I encourage everyone to put their location on the community map. You never know when I'll be in the neighborhood. I've already played with a few spies by looking on the map and then sending them a message.   Go up to the top bar, pick Members. From the drop-down box select Community Map then put your location in.

[Josh Parker]

4 minutes ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

I have posted this somewhere before but here goes. I was working for a company that had a golf league. If you played in the league you got to leave work at lunch time on Wednesday. If you didn't you had to stay and work and also cover for the guys who left to play. After a couple months of 12-hour workdays on Wednesday I decided, I was going to learn to play golf and be ready for the next golf season. Then I went out and purchased a new set of King Cobra ll's, and signed up for some group lessons. Come the next spring at the age of 30 I was on the league roster and never looked back. Thirty-four years later I'm still at it playing twice a week. Fortunately, the two companies I worked for after that had a golf league. Over the last 10 years I have really worked on my game and my current company of 15 years sends me to represent them in lots of customer outings. For some reason they encourage me to take customers golfing to generate business and build relationships. I will say it works, and it is a great perk. I'm no tour pro but sometimes it feels that way. With someone paying you to travel around the country to wine, dine, and play golf what can be better than that. I'll keep the retirement thoughts on the back burner for a while. 

I encourage everyone to put their location on the community map. You never know when I'll be in the neighborhood. I've already played with a few spies by looking on the map and then sending them a message.   Go up to the top bar, pick Members. From the drop-down box select Community Map then put your location in.

I know when I have tried to add location for the map it hasn't let me add. 

[cnosil]

I don't recall everything about how I started playing golf.  Some of the things I remember:

70s - some of the neighborhood kids got some clubs and we hit balls in the cemetery at the edge of our neighborhood.   My grandmother and great aunt started playing and I decided I'd give it a try.  

80s - stopped late in high school and played a few times in college

90s - started playing again with my father-in-law until he couldn't play anymore.  Kept playing the occasional after work rounds at a local inexpensive course.

2000s - this is when I started seriously getting into golf.  Was invited to join a group of about 30 golfers that played every Sunday and although the group has dwindled for many reasons I still play every Sunday. 

[cnosil]

7 minutes ago, Josh Parker said:

I know when I have tried to add location for the map it hasn't let me add. 

@GolfSpy_APHI've seen that there is a workaround to getting locations published but don't know what it is.  Do you have the instructions posted somewhere?

[Shapotomous]

I started in the early 70's as a young'n at a chip and putt course because my dad got me involved in all kinds of sports.  Played there a good bit because it was cool to play at night under their lights.  Progressed from there to playing an executive course that had an all day rate.  During summer about 1 day a week I'd get dropped off in the morning with a lunch and get picked up early afternoon.  I am not sure that would happen in todays world!  I really got hooked and started getting better when i started working at a local country club where i had unlimited practice opportunity and lots of free lesson help from the assistant pro's. 

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

2 hours ago, cnosil said:

@GolfSpy_APHI've seen that there is a workaround to getting locations published but don't know what it is.  Do you have the instructions posted somewhere?

@Josh Parker the search function doesn't work. If you drop a pin by going to the area double clicking or going to a marker it should work! 

[Josh Parker]

5 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

@Josh Parker the search function doesn't work. If you drop a pin by going to the area double clicking or going to a marker it should work! 

Got it.  Thank you!

[coachshalley]

My dad was a high school golf coach. He took me to the course when I was 8 yo hit it around. Sand greens for the first 30 years 

[Big moose]

I started playing in 1975, I was working in a steel mill in Ohio and 4 of the guys on my shift played golf and they asked me if I played, I told them the only time I ever swung a club was at this place that had a driving range and batting cages. So I morning after working 11to 7 we went and I used a spare set that one of the guys had that I ended up buying from him. Dunlop max power blades with persimmon woods, totally wrong for a beginner. It would be several years later that a friend of mine who built clubs told me that those clubs were not right for me and so I had him make me a set of snake eyes and that's when I started playing better. I didn't know about shaft flex and that I needed longer clubs and the lie angle had to be different I knew nothing about that. 48 years later and I am still trying to figure out this crazy game and loving every minute of it. 

[Mike10487]

1985. I worked in a restaurant that had started a Superbowl scramble. My buddies and I bought 2 sets of clubs and shared them for the round. It was so much fun. Of course, alcohol and other things were involved, but we had an amazing day.  The restaurant has been closed for many years, but we still have the scramble every year just to get together and stay in touch. I now set up and run the scramble.  Good times! 

[Samuel09152]

I started playing in 2018 with a buddy. He got into and said I needed to because he knew I was way to competitive to be sitting at home after a serious knee and hand injuries left me from being able to play basketball. I took him up on a round, played like crap, but saw the fascination with it. I caught the bug, played over Covid but never took it serious, just went out and played to drink beer and hang out with friends. This year I started taking it serious because I dont like loosing, I guess you could say I caught the bug for a second time more serious this time. I know love the game, and get upset with my mental game. That’s the part I need to get better, if I want to be better. But I love this sport because it’s me vrs me. Nothing else!

[Woodrow72]

As a kid our cousin lived next door and bought a set of clubs and had some plastic waffle golf balls , he showed me how to swing and told me to hit those balls whenever I wanted so I did some . My other cousin played a lot and invited me to play in 1969 so I did and wow it was a pretty terrible event . I caught the bug later that year , bought a set of busted up set of old clubs for $2 that were wooden shafted ( steel down the center ) and started playing then . I bought a used set the next year and started playing more . They opened a new 9 hole course that was desperate for members and they offered to let me pay my yearly dues monthly ( $120 yearly) and I became a junkie while still playing every other sport !

 So I often tell this cousin he’s cost me a bunch of money over the last 54 years

[Jim Shaw]

1 hour ago, Big moose said:

I started playing in 1975, I was working in a steel mill in Ohio and 4 of the guys on my shift played golf and they asked me if I played, I told them the only time I ever swung a club was at this place that had a driving range and batting cages. So I morning after working 11to 7 we went and I used a spare set that one of the guys had that I ended up buying from him. Dunlop max power blades with persimmon woods, totally wrong for a beginner. It would be several years later that a friend of mine who built clubs told me that those clubs were not right for me and so I had him make me a set of snake eyes and that's when I started playing better. I didn't know about shaft flex and that I needed longer clubs and the lie angle had to be different I knew nothing about that. 48 years later and I am still trying to figure out this crazy game and loving every minute of it. 

Snake eyes, good clubs, I didn't have a set but saw many set's around good players.

[fozcycle]

In 1959, the City of Frankfort, Kentucky opened a new park called Juniper Hills,  located just west of the city.  Juniper Hills included a Par 72, 18 Hole rolling terrain golf course and an Olympic size swimming pool.  My Grandfather and his buddies joined the club and began playing every week.  I was only 8 yrs old, but my Grandfather decided I was old enough to be his caddy.  So I began my golfing career pulling a Bagboy pull-cart filled with Powerbilt golf clubs up and down the rolling terrain of Juniper Hills.  As a caddy, I learned the rules of golf and how the game was played.  My first set of clubs were a hodgepodge set of old hickory shafted clubs, leftovers from my Grandfather’s old clubs.  Ones that he took to Africa when he was building a sawmill to harvest mahogany wood for office furniture in 1948-49.  He was a Civil Engineer.  They carved out some land in the jungles of the Gold Coast(now Ghana) for a 9 hole course and played it for their recreation. Sadly, today I only have the putter left, so it hangs on the wall above my desk at home.  I progressed from the hickory sticks to used Powerbilts that were my Grandfather’s.  At age 10, I got my first set of cleats(steel spikes of course).  I felt like I was king of the world when I walked around the clubhouse area going clickety-clack, clickety-clack.  I spent my summers at Juniper Hills, just a mile from my home, caddying in the mornings then either hawking lost balls, putting for pennies or playing in the hot Summer afternoons.  I witnessed a Hole in one at age 13 when one of my friends aced the 140 yard Par 3 #6.  For my High School Graduation, my Grandfather gave me a new set of Powerbilt irons. I got my Ace in August, 1985 at Pine Ridge Country Club in Winnfield, LA.  When I moved to Florida in 1987, I was a 10 Handicap, gaming Nicklaus Muirfield irons.  Unfortunately, I was either working, or playing with my 4yr old daughter so I did not get much time to retain my handicap and watched it slip to an 18.  Fast forward through the years to now, I have been playing with a 6” steel plate, 13 screws & an inch of my left hip bone in my left wrist (ice skating accident in 1998).  The inch of my left hip was to make both arms the same length again.  Because of the injury, my handicap ballooned to the mid 20’s for several years, so I moved to graphite irons to reduce as much vibration as possible.  I was able to get my handicap back down to 13 for a few months in 2011, but that did not last.  For the past dozen years, I have been bouncing between 17 and 22.  I also have two Ligaments damaged in my Left Ankle(too many ankle sprains).  The Dr’s offered surgery but I declined because I was not ready to stay off of it for 4 months. I wear an ankle brace occasionally but try to play without it. I am an Accountant(Ky State Univ. 1977) that retired in Jan 2017 and now play weekdays(Mon/Wed/Fri) with a group of old farts, aged 65-84 at Heritage Isles in Tampa, FL.

[rkj427]

Started in 1966 with 2 of my brothers, when we took lessons and learned the game through a program sponsored by the city of Detroit.

We were able to ride our bikes to a city course, have a lesson once a week, and play a round there as time permitted.

In the mid to late 70's my Dad joined a small golf club, and we again were able to play as often as we wanted, and also had a few lessons from the pro there.

Life changes in the 70's through mid 90's still allowed me opportunities to play, just not as often as in the past.

Had a weekly Friday evening afterwork round with some co-workers, and then played in a Saturday morning "sunrise" league where we had 40 players, going off the first tee at sunrise.

Did that through 2010 when more changes to both that league folding, and work facility location changing back into the heart of the downtown area, made playing time less likely during the week, and limited to weekends if available only.

In 2021 I was playing as much as possible on the weekends, when I met the current people that now comprise our foursome.

We play weekly, at least once per week, and I live within walking distance of a course that I can go and utilize the practice green, bunkers, and range as long as the course if open, and daylight hours are available.

 

[TimT]

I’m trying to post but keep getting this message?

 

[EMacK1961]

I started playing golf back in the 80's as a way to take the pressure off of being in the Infantry (101st Airborne Div). I was also a competitive bowler. I would later go on to join the PBA Tour in the mid-90's. Golf has always been an outlet for me. My first set of clubs was a Jack Nicklaus signature set of irons. McGregor, I think. My woods were persimmon. Man, the time on the course really allowed me to clear my head. It was almost a spiritual experience. It still is, in fact. I never lose that feeling no matter how I shoot. it is always about the camaraderie, the communing with nature, the vistas, etc. that make the game special.

[Preeway]

I don’t recall the exact date but I was around 10 years old and smacked balls around with my grandpa’s clubs. I was pretty good pretty quick so he bought  me a beginner set for my birthday and I never looked back. We even built a make shift driving range on his property (he owned a couple hundred acres of forested land) by cutting down a bunch of trees to open up a landing area about 200 yards away. Wasn’t long before my driver went too far and carried into the forest behind. Still one of my greatest childhood memories is going to the driving range. 

[Jim Shaw]

I think I posted this at some point as well however always fun to revisit how I started golfing.

Basically not an option for me, both my mom and dad golfed, since the were both 40 when I was born and pretty much established in business and community one of their social activities was golf. 

I was born in 1958 and that was the year the 9 hole golf course was planned to be built and my dad was one of 3 men that designed the course, he was a dentist by trade but an avid sportsman, curler, golfer, etc. from the Canadian Prairies. Anyway the course was built by late 1960 early 1961 and I was tagging along at age 2... hit a few balls, then go to the club house for treats while my mom and dad finished their round. 

Had some success early and enjoyed the feedback from members and got hooked, the rest is a wonderful adventure. 

[Preeway]

10 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

@Josh Parker the search function doesn't work. If you drop a pin by going to the area double clicking or going to a marker it should work! 

When I double click on the map, it zooms in. Am I doing it wrong?

[jbern]

In high school, I hurt my shoulder in football two-a-days.  The doctor said I could still move the shoulder fine, I just couldn’t take any impact. Golf tryouts were the next week and my cousin told me to tryout since I wasn’t able to play football most of that year. I tried out and made the last man on the team by 2 strokes over 54 holes. I fell in love with it and golf a ton in high school. 
After high school I just never went. Mostly due to financial constraints of a college kid, but I also forgot how fun it was. 
Then COVID hit and golf was the only SWMBO approved way I could see my friends. So I went out a few times and was terrible, but the grind and getting better and the time spent with friend has kept me coming back as much as possible!

[GolfSpy_APH]

12 minutes ago, Preeway said:

When I double click on the map, it zooms in. Am I doing it wrong?

Up top go to "create" and select "Community Map Marker" select Member and drop the pin for your location. 

[Preeway]

3 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Up top go to "create" and select "Community Map Marker" select Member and drop the pin for your location. 

I fumbled my way through it and figured it out. Thanks!

[aguybadatgolf]

I’m really enjoying reading everyone’s stories!

 

I just happened to move very close to a golf course but was not a golfer so thought nothing of it. Fast forward a couple months to May of 2022 my buddies and I were going to Moab for mountain biking. I live in Denver just off of I70 so my house was the natural meeting spot. 2 of my friends on the trip are golfers and saw the course and started talking about playing. Over the course of Moab trip they were able to convince me to play a round when we got back.
 

2 days later I was on the course with some clubs belonging to my friend’s wife. I played terrible for the most part but hit a couple good drives and even found the green on a short par 3, overall I enjoyed it more than I had expected. I told my wife about it and to my surprise she was very excited that I had a good time. Her dad is a huge golfer and has been playing for 40+ years so she used to go to the range with him as a kid.  She had always wanted to get into golfing but didn’t really have anyone to golf with as he lives about an hour and a half away. So we went out the next day to a play it again and each got a set of clubs for a grand total of 200 dollars. We took a lesson and started practicing and playing a few times a month for most of last summer. I got completely hooked. I am admittedly a bit of a nut and pretty intense with my hobbies. This past summer I took it very seriously and practiced at the range a couple times a week. And I think I played a round nearly every week from May to September. 
 

I've now replaced every club in my original bag and my handicap has dropped dramatically. I’m tall and can swing it fast so learning about the importance of fitting your clubs to your swing was an eye opener. Most of what’s in my bag was based off of MGS reviews and recommendations. I owe a lot of my knowledge and improvement to MGS. I even had the pleasure to be a tester this summer for the Zebra AIT3 putter. It was a lot of fun to do!