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Your Golf History.

I started golfing about 20 years ago with my best friend at the time, with the first round being at a short 9 course with all par 3s. I had no instruction, no idea what I was doing, and definitely not my own clubs. I enjoyed it but was terrible, and over the years played 5-6 times per year for the first ten years. I did eventually pick up a set of clubs, and then another, but then stopped playing about 10 years ago, having only played maybe 3-4 times during that time. In all of that time, I only beat my buddy twice, which was frustrating, but inevitable given how much more experience that he had than me.

I've always wanted to play more, but just never did since my golf buddies are scattered around now and we hardly ever see each other. Recently, I went to the US Open at Chambers Bay and it, along with playing a scramble tournament at work ignited my desire to get back out there. I replaced all of my equipment, and am determined for the first time to not only play, but to also study the game and really make an effort to become better. In the month that I've had my new clubs, the improvement has been dramatic, though there is still a LOT of room for more.

If and when I ever get my buddies back out on the course, there will be hell to pay! :)
 
Some great stories in here!
 
1978 - Began playing after making my middle school baseball team then deciding that I really didn't care for the coach and didn't really want to play on the team. Went out for, and made the golf team a month later. Was up second best out of seven by the end of the season. The golf bug had officially entered my body for life.

1978 - 1985 - Played extensively though my middle school, high school and junior college years. Shot a 67 in 1983 for the best score of my life.

1986 - 2008 - Played sparingly (maybe 5 - 10 times per year) as life started to get in the way from every angle.

2009 - Present - Have probably averaged 36 holes per week and feel a big void in my life if a week goes by that I do not get to play.
 
About 1963 a group of men including my dad rounded up funding for a grant to build a golf course in our little rural community. They hired one of my high school coaches to live on the place and run the course, he was responsible for all the greens work as well as the club house and pool. He hired me to help with the work. In partial payment, I received a set of clubs; Spalding driver, three W, 3, 5, 7, 9 irons and a putter. I began spending every hour at the course working or playing. I learned a lot about mowing, fertilizing, aerating greens, cleaning pools, and such as well as the rudiments of golf. Scores were in the 100's

I went off to college in '66 and was only able to play golf sporadically but still found some time for the game.

Upon entering the Air Force in '71, I took my clubs with me and kept on playing. Most of my enlistment was spent in northern Michigan where the golf season was pretty short and I took full advantage of the $20/year "membership" of the base golf club. Since I was mostly on second shift, I would play golf every morning and work on missile systems every night. Scores averaged about 50.

After discharge from the AF in '75, I started work as a teacher and coach. The coaching part meant long, long hours for most of the year. So golf was pretty rare during the football, track, and basketball seasons. But during the few weeks of summer when I had a little free time, I played up at a local muni which was a pretty good course. Scores were in the 90's pretty regularly.

Later in my career, I cut back to one sport and got to play more golf and joined a club which was convenient to my school even though they required carts and I enjoyed walking. In 2002 my daughter decided to play golf so I joined a club closer to my home and have remained there ever since. Scores there fell from the 90's to the 70's and my index reached a low point of 3.2 a few years back.

My first year of retirement, I recorded 299 rounds with GHIN and began golfing and traveling. I have played golf in all 50 states and have played in state level tournaments as well as local "invitationals."

The last few years my scores have started to rise and it has been one physical challenge after another. Now I'm playing 2-4 times per week and scores are mostly 80's but can go into the 90's or 70's.
 
summer of 1998 was the summer before my senior year of high school. i think my mom suggested i take a couple golf lessons with my step-father, perhaps so we could have more quality time together and maybe also so i would have something more "adult" in common with my grandfather. the lessons were given at a local goat ranch driving range with a par 3 course that has since been re-purposed for a walmart. i can remember the second lesson like it was yesterday. "back to the target, swing through to the finish." after showing me the grip and basic setup, these were the instructions the "pro" at the range gave me. i was swinging away with a borrowed graphite-shaft 7i, hitting it all over the face. but then it happened. one glorious, sweet-spot, high and straight shot. i don't know how it far it went, but it was the ultimate feeling of satisfaction. that feeling of accomplishment. and i knew i was hooked.

i wasn't in a fraternity in college, but almost all my friends were. my junior year i lived in the fraternity house with one of my buddies, and he and several other guys got a job as a cart boy at a country club in birmingham. every monday was caddie day, and i would beg them to skip class and take me to the course. we would play sun up to sun down, walking and loving every minute of it. this carried over into my senior year, and that's when i broke 100 for the first time.

it's been a love-hate relationship ever since. as my responsibilities and waistline have grown, it's been a struggle to maintain any semblance of a decent game. even at 34 i find myself thinking about how good i used to be, which wasn't very good. i spend more time and money thinking about the game, buying equipment, taking lessons, and playing than i ever have. i love the game right now, and even though my boys are still young, i try to make it a priority. my wife is out of town with my kids, and she said last night my youngest (2yo boy) out of the blue says, "i want to play golf." she told him i was at work, and he pitched a fit insisting to tell me he wanted to play golf. so we facetimed, and the first words out of his mouth were, "daddy, i want to play golf with you!" sweet words, and hopefully portending things to come.
 
2008/2009 - Picked up my first set of clubs due to the culture of the company I work for. Traveled a lot and played in scrambles etc. No real ambition to improve from just your average hacker.
2010 - Started to get a bit more serious about playing, more "real" rounds etc. Upgraded my equipment etc.
2013-Present - Pretty serious about my game, play about 40-50 rounds a year. Practice weekly and can't put it down. Would eventually like to buy some lessons to tweak things out and try to get to a low double digit hdcp.
 
Started playing at age 12 when I decided I didn't want to play baseball anymore. My dad signed my sister and I up for the once a week junior golf program at the local course, Hudson CC(Wisconsin). Played once a week for those 8 weeks and I was hooked. My dad set up bicycle flags in the yard at home as we had about an acre of grass. By the second summer I was playing 3-4 days a week. My dad would sometimes drop me off at the course in the morning at 6:30 and pick be up at 6:00 on his way home. I had limited privileges with my junior membership so some of those days i couldn't play until late afternoon so I would just hit mostly chips and putts all day. By the time I was a 15 I was a 5 index and got it to a scratch that summer after my freshman year. I played a little bit in college back in the mid eighties and have been an avid golfer my whole life. I averaged about 150 rounds each year during my 20's which slowed down to 50 rounds a year when my kids were young. Now that my 2 oldest are teenagers I have the time to play a few days each week again. My biggest joy in golf is playing with my youngest daughter who is 10 and enjoys the game more than anyone I've played with. She's in a junior golf program once a week and we often get out 3 days a week together. We have our first father/daughter tournament in a couple weeks!
 
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