Your Golf History.

I started playing golf in Junior High. My father gave me a set of clubs that had the odd number irons, a pw, putter, 3-wood and driver. The woods were wood with a metal insert and steel shafts. He then took me to a par 3 course in town and showed me how to grip the club and put a ball on a tee and told me to hit it. Right from my very first shot, I am a natural slicer of the golf ball. I had a great time, and went and played with a couple of friends that summer. For the next few years through high school, I would go out with my dad every once in awhile but it wasn't all that fun. He was extremely competitive and got mad at himself easily, and slow play really got to him. I pretty much left golf and took up tennis (which I still love to play). I would play a round or two of golf with my dad each year for the next 10 years or so.

In 2009 I bought a set of Walmart clubs and played once a week through the summer, and went to the driving range a few times. I got down to shooting about 110 for 18. Other hobbies again stopped golf, I would go maybe 5 times a year until 2014.

Summer of 2014 - This is the complete opposite of everyone else. In June I buy a house and my fiancee moves in with me, and I pick up golf again. Playing 3-4 times a week. I bough all new clubs and golfed through the end of Sept when a herniated L5S1 stopped me.

Spring 2015 - Started golfing in April, bought a season pass to the Muni that is a mile from my house. Been going strong since then, 4-5 times a week. Have taken my first lesson, mainly worked on balance, I was leaning to far forward at address with my weight on my toes, but I didn't realize this. Still need lots of work. Have shot a personal best of 84 this year, shot an 87 last night. Handicap right now is 21.2. Currently, I love this game, I have a push cart and I walk 95% of the time I play golf. My goal by the end of this season is a sub 20 handicap and to hit more fairways. Yesterday I was 4 of 13 fairways with 6 GIR
 
Started senior year in college. I realized golf was not as expensive as I thought, playing munis and buying my clubs at Target. Also, I liked I could drink outside. It was leisurely while at the same time giving you something to focus on.

After college though, I went to law school and kind of stopped playing. I'd play a round every now and then when I visited my dad, but that was about it. After law school, I started playing more frequently but it was more about getting together with friends than anything else.

Finally in 2009, after 10 years, I got a lesson. I realized all the bad habits I picked up and it was the first time I ever heard the club was supposed to go around you as opposed to directly in front of you. Unfortunately, the teacher was pretty bad and I developed a terrible case of the shanks. It was extremely frustrating and by the end of the year, I was ready to give up the game.

In 2010, I decided to try Golftec. I figured a nice regiment would be good and if I didn't improve by the end of it, then I was done playing. Even though they switched my teacher in the middle of the program and I didn't really like the new guy, my swing remained pretty bad through the lessons. But after the program, things started clicking and I saw a lot of progress. My daughter was born at the end of 2010, so things quieted down with golf for a little bit.

In 2011, I saw improvement and started to play more frequently. I refused to take lessons because of past experiences, but was finally enjoying the game more. At the end of the season, I broke 90 for the first time. 13 years after I picked up a club for crying out loud.

In 2012, I was a full fledged golf nut. I played a lot more, shot better scores, joined THP and joined a country club. I had not taken any lessons for over 2 years because of how weary I was, but started realizing it was necessary. 2013 saw more improvement, my first THP event, my first fitting, my first and only golf victory of any kind and my first lesson with my current teacher.

From that lesson on, everything changed. I started understanding the swing and how to understand what was causing my mis hits all while keeping it simple. I started playing the best golf I ever had and was a lot more consistent.

At any rate, that leaves us to now and I still have a lot to learn. How to practice, how to play under pressure, how to handle bad shots and bad rounds; how to handle playing well; how to get the range shots to the course and understanding how to play my game. I like how things keep heading in the right direction and a big part of that is from what I read on THP.

Wow this is long.
 
My golf history...

My golf history...

I was always around golf growing up. My Great Grandfather, my Grandfather, and my Dad all played golf. My Dad was actually pretty good before he had to start working (harder) to make ends meet with my family. I remember (barely) that my Dad won a Individual Tournament in SE Kansas when I was around 4 or 5. He won a little cash, nothing crazy, a set of Wilson irons and a Wilson Staff bag, or something like that.

Fast forward to the late 80's and I'm hitting my Dad clubs and golf whiffle balls across the yard with my (twin) brother, just seeing who could hit it farther. We're talking about Hogan blades and Wilson persimmon woods with steel shafts and cracked worn grips. It was around this time that my parents bought us both a starter set of junior clubs and a couple of bags. By this time, my Grandparents had retired moved down to Hot Springs, AR. My Grandfather was a member of all the clubs in the Village where they lived, and every summer when we visited he, and my brother and I would go play golf. It was a blast and one of the BEST memories I have of summer growing up. We took lessons one summer from John Daly's coach while we were there, it was a few days of junior lessons, but that was my first taste of improvement.
Practice wasn't much fun, as it is now, I just wanted to go out and hammer on the driver. Breaking 90 wasn't in the cards.

Early 90's roll around, I'm getting stronger and so is my game. I was able to have one last round with my Great Grandfather, Grandfather, Dad, and my brother and I...4 Generations on the course at one time, I we were 13. It was one of the last rounds of golf my Great Grandfather played, still have that picture of all of us at my parents house. Now, I have a fitted set of clubs, or what I thought was. The iron shafts were graphite and WAY to weak, but it was a start. My game is now in the 80's, and I'm learning a LOT more due to my own want to play better.

1994/1995 - Freshman year in High School. I thought I was good enough for Varsity, the Coach didn't think so. I was usually the 1 Man on JV that year. I placed in a few tournaments, didn't win any though. I'm shooting around 40-45 for nine holes on average, sometimes higher, but didn't break into the 30's for nine during tournament play. I didn't letter in golf this year, and that was disappointing.

1995/1996 - Sophomore year. I'm getting good, but the same Coach didn't see it that way. I started out the year as a Varsity Sub, and solid 1 Man on the JV team. I played a few rounds as a Varsity extra at a couple of home meets. I won one JV meet this year, and by the end of the year I was more of less on Varsity. I letter this year, scoring was basically 40-45 with the exception of the tournament I won on JV, I shot a 38 for nine holes and won the meet by 5 strokes.

1996/1997 - Junior year. I started the year as the 4 Man on Varsity and by the end of the year I was the 3 Man. As a team, we are SOLID and it's a team that our High School hasn't seen in years. We are winning or placing as a team in every tournament we go to. It's now a situation where our 1 Man is usually in the Top 5, and my brother and I are usually not far behind that. I placed in a few events, but didn't win any this season. I'm playing Callaway everything by this point and WOW did that make a difference. We got down to the end of the season, were at the Regional Event, and the HEAVY favorite (and home course team) has first place locked up. I comes down to me and my score, I shot an 84 and that's good enough for us to take 2nd and Qualify for the State Tournament as a team for the 1st time in over a decade. State was another thing altogether. I started out on the front nine, nervous but playing ok. I made the turn and fell apart. I felt like I let the team down. I shot a 94, didn't place (of course) and we weren't even close to placing in the Top 3 for the Team total.

1997/1998 - Senior year. WE were the favorites this year as we were returning all but one from last years team. We placed or won (as a Team) in every tournament this year...except for one. The League Championship, at our HOME course! Wow, what a roller coaster day that was! Our 1 Man made the turn 1 under par, my brother (2 Man) made the turn 3 over, I made the turn at Even, our 4 Man was 1 over and our 5 man was 5 over. We were cruising! Then, the switch flipped. I don't remember much about that round after that. I remember being on #8 (a par 5) and telling the guys I was playing with that I NEEDED to make a Eagle here to have a chance at a decent round. I holed out for Eagle from just off the fringe. Then Pared 9 to shoot a 86. I think, as I recall, I was cruising along and got to relaxed and then mad when the wheels started falling off. We ended up taking 4th as a Team, 5 strokes out of 1st, and only 3 strokes from T2. It was deflating, to say the least. Regionals were next, and again, we were favored to win....and again, we took 2nd as a team and qualified for the State Championship. We didn't play well at State, but not bad. I shot a 91, the team took 5th or 6th overall, as I recall.

I got recruited by a JUCO about 4 hours from my home town to play golf...and I accepted the offer and signed with Coffeyville Community College, as did my brother. Before college I (we) played in the Kansas Junior Golf Association events in North East Kansas. There was 5 events all around the area. I won one event, and took 3rd in another. Myself and our 1 Man from High School both earned a spot on the North East Kansas Sectional Team for the State Tournament. I played ok, I didn't place but I did shoot an 82, and along with my two fellow NEK Team Members, we ended up taking 2nd in the event. I still have that trophy in my office here at work.



(1998-2000)College was a WHOLE different level. In hind site, I wish I would have done more to better myself. I played for two years a CCC, and played in a number of events and never placed, only close once really. I was still shooting in the low 80's, sometimes in the 70's, but the guys who were winning the tournaments where shooting just under par, at par or just over par. So, I wasn't at that level at that time. This was the first time I ever carried a handicap. I played in league over the summers between this span, and carried a 3 on my home course and also shot my carrier low just before my sophomore year, and shot a 5 under 67 on my home course.



(2000-2003) I transferred to Kansas State after graduating from CCC. I tried to walk on there, but the Coach didn't want any walk on's. He even stated to the 35 of us...."If you can't shoot Par of better from the tips out at Colbert (Hills), then I'm not really going to even look at you." I thought to myself, some of HIS guys couldn't even do that, but it is what it is. It was a two day deal, I shot a two day total of 151 (75-76) which was 7 over par. I even holed our for a birdie from the front left bunker, on the signature par 3, 4th with the Coach watching. All I got was, "What's your name?" (I told him) "Great shot, James!" (Thanks Coach)...that was it....my college golf career was over.

After this, I started with as a free laborer at a local golf course (Rolling Meadows) in Junction City, about a 1/2 hour drive from my apartment in Manhattan. My friend who was the 1 Man in High School worked there full time. So I got to keep playing and practicing, as I thought I wanted to by a PGA Teaching Pro after college....and after K-State I got my first full time position at this same course. I started out hourly and then ended up being promoted to Assistant Golf Professional. By this time my game was REALLY coming around with all the practicing and playing. My handicap was down to a 1...it hovered around a .9 to 1.5. I was playing in money games just about every week it seemed. I was (in my mind) a little cocky, but didn't want to show it. I would get into these money games, and I usually didn't have any money in my wallet, and I'd usually leave with cash. There was only a few times where I had to hit the ATM.

THEN...the golf bubble burst. The City (it was a Muni) couldn't afford to keep me on Full time. So, they said they were going to have to cut me back to hourly in the Winter, AND take away my benefits during this time, but as SOON as Spring rolled back around, I'd be back where I was before. It didn't pay well to begin with...so I had to find a new job. My wife was still in school, and no other courses were hiring in the late fall, so I had to take a new path. My golf career was done.

NOW...I play when I can. I practice when I can. I'm on here when I can...and that's my golf game now. I'm probably a 10 handicap now and that's just a guess as I don't have a true cap anymore. I have my days! Like the KC Invitational at the beginning of this month, where it looked like my "old days" and I shot a smooth 2 over, 74...with a 1 under 35 on the front. Then I'll have days like the DAY before the KC Invitational where I played with a bunch of fellow THP'ers at Deer Creek and shot a very frustrating 94!

My game very much feels like a roller coaster anymore. I LOVE golf, but she can be a frustrating companion to have around.

Future plans are to get more practice time in, hopefully save up some money for a SkyTrak system and I can practice at home and during the Winter months. Maybe one of my girls will end up taking up golf, but as for now it's more Princesses and pink that sit around my clubs during the Winter.

If you're still here now, after all of that! Thanks for reading it. This was fun to recall some of my golfing past.

James

AKA. Agent Jay
 
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My family moved to country club when I was about 7 yrs old and by the age of 8 (1973) I was playing in the junior golf league. Golf became my game of choice, as well as baseball, all through my teens. Played on the high school team and was all-conference every year and conference MVP my senior year.

I joined the Army after high school and played a little here and there but not near as much as I had as a youth. Slowly gave up the game through my 20's and probably played a hand full of times until about 2009 at the age 44. I was laid off from work, recently divorced and decided to take off some time from working and starting playing again. I met some older retired guys to play with a few times a week and started playing A LOT. I found a course out in the country that had a $25 weekday all you can play rate and started playing there a few times a week and eventually starting working there. Slowly but surely, my handicap started dropping and I got it back down to a 4, where I was as a teenager.

In 2012 I got remarried and started a new job and basically stopped playing for the obvious reasons. I got settled into my marriage and my new job and started playing again in Sept. of 2014. I've recently joined a club and am playing 2-3 times a week and working on getting my handicap back down to where it was. I'm at a 6.3 right now and I know my game well enough to understand that I need to play and practice more to be able to get down to a 4 again, so I've got my sights set on a 5 and I'll be happy.
 
Had a set of Nike Junior clubs about 11 (?) years ago (currently 22, so I was around 11 I'm guessing). "Birdie Blue" I think the size was called. I had driver, mid-iron, PW, putter. Never golfed with those, but went to the range from time to time and hacked around my backyard. A couple years later, I upgraded to their biggest junior size, "eagle silver" I think. I had driver, 3W, mid iron, 7i, PW, putter. Went to the range from time to time. I was always really short growing up, so junior clubs still fit me in 8th grade, lol.

Freshman year in high school I got a starter set of Golden Bear clubs, and started actually golfing for the first time. I was absolutely atrocious. Wicked banana-ball slice on drives, chunked irons, couldn't putt. Played 18 probably 6x a year, range probably twice a month.

About a year later I started buying some of my own clubs. Got a set of W/S Ci6 irons, a Nike SQ driver, etc. At that point I was hovering around 100. Got one lesson from the HS golf coach, and have been improving since. He taught me proper iron swing technique. From there, I just watched YouTube videos to get rid of my slice and it eventually went away. Still was only playing 18 about once a month until recently.

7-8 years later, here I am. After I quit for a few years, I bought a range membership back in May for $50/mo, which has allowed me to practice more than ever. I finally have a job that allows me to play 18 at least once a week. Yet I'm as inconsistent as ever. With my best round being 76, 80, 80, 80, 82, 83, 84, but I just shot 95 yesterday. That's golf for you.

I'll never be a scratch golfer, I don't think. My goal is just to get to the point where I can hover in the upper 70s on a good day and lower 80s on a not-so-good day.
 
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I started playing 3 years ago at the ripe old age of 53. I had always disliked golf and thought it was the most boring thing possible - certainly on television. Nobody in my family played. But 4 years ago my wife's company had a 9 hole company outting and I went along for the ride. One of the guys let me tee one up. I smacked it dead center 230 yards. A light went off in my head and I was hooked. That was cool! I inherited some clubs and started playing. Now I watch golf all the time on t.v., I hit a ton of balls every day in the back yard, I bore the hell out of everyone talking about golf and I play as often as possible. I shot a 90 last year and hope to break that this year.

My goal so far is to learn a consistent stroke and learn to control the ball. The motivation behind the goal is that a pured stroke is cathartic - it feels awesome! And this sport really seems to be the ultimate blend of physical and mental, something that appeals to me a lot.
 
My golf history, hmmm
It really started when I was about 8 or so and I always wanted to go play with my dad so he bought me a used set of junior clubs. Played maybe 5-7 times on a course a year, but was in my back yard at least 3-4 times a week hitting them. That's when i really fell in love with golf. My parents put me in a golf lesson program when i was like 10 or so (pretty sure its now called first tee). loved it to be able to hit on the range at least once a week and get to spend some time with my dad. Played couple times a year till i was about 14 then quit golf as I found Skateboarding and that was more fun (read:dangerous). About 3 years ago a buddy sold me a old used set of clubs he had for $30 so i could go on a bachelor party golf outing with him and a few friends. Still have all the clubs from that set. Pinemeadow driver, Knight 3 wood, Wilson deep red II 3-SW (part of the reason i have been fond of W/S since I got back into golf) and an old accusnet putter in a beat up Ben Hogan bag. That golf outing reminded me how much i used to love golf, and made me question why i ever quit. Over the next few months I put together a full new set, along with a new bag. Callaway Razr X Black driver, 3W, 4-PW, and a Nike Method Concept putter. A few months after I started finding myself new clubs I found THP. And thats where the love of the game became a full blown obsession! I love this game again, and i hope I never lose sight of that again. I play for the enjoyment, the relaxation, the time i get to spend with my father, and friends on the course just talking about life and enjoying those moments. Golf has become a saving grace for me in the past two years, It is my therapy. So that is my golf history. And I do want to say Thank you to all the THPers that have helped me since I have joined, don't think I would have stuck with it if it wasn't for everyone here who has been so amazing.Thank you.
 
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I started playing 6 years ago at age 20. I played baseball competitively from age 7 through college so I had to find something else to get into outside of my slowpitch leagues. One day a friend and I were fishing & he asked if I had ever played golf, which at that point in life I'd only ever been to a driving range. He let me borrow an old set of his & we decided to go play a round. I couldn't tell you what I shot that day but I remember the 16th hole very clearly. It's a par 5 that measures 515 with the second shot playing well down hill. At that point, I couldn't hit a driver anywhere near straight, so I went 4 iron 4 iron to the middle of the green & 3 putted for par. I'm fairly certain that's the only time I've ever that green in 2... I was hooked.
 
2002 ... I think I was 46'ish ...recently divorced, and had started a job as director of IT for the DOL in Connecticut ... they graciously asked me to join the bowling league ... I had a blast bowling and great group of folks ... bowling ended and I asked what was next, they replied golf ... I asked if I could go buy a set of clubs at Dick's ... I did and they showed me the game and never once said a discouraging word ... it is because of them, I took up the game ... Thank you Ct DOL folks!
 
I tried golf briefly 15 years ago or so as a teenager and struggled with it and just gave up.

I started again July 2013. When I started back I knew it would be a tough game, but decided that I would stick it out this time and work my tail off to get good at it. I've taken over 30 lessons with 4 different professionals. I started with the average persons over the top slice swing and through the lessons have progressed to a predominantly single plane, in-to-out draw swing and am very happy with that accomplishment. It's taken me from a 36 to a 23 on very difficult courses (compared to average courses in my area).

I've struggled with other aspects of the swing (weight transfer, degree of the plane, moving off the ball) that have led to consistency issues at impact. However, I'm seeing a lot of improvement in that area and am confident that my cap will drop to 15 or better very soon. My goal was to be a 15 or better by the end of the calendar year.

I'm a member of a club with range access and will continue to use the range frequently and take lessons once every one to two months for the foreseeable future. I ultimately want to be a scratch golfer, but will be happy if I get into low single digits and find out that getting to scratch will require more time than I will have to give to the game.
 
I learned the game as a caddie around 1960, and got to play loads of great private courses on caddie's day every Monday in the summer. At one point while in the service, I got my handicap down to around 5. When the kids were little I took about an 8 year hiatus, limiting play to maybe 3-4 rounds a year. Prior to retirement 8 years ago I mostly played in a 9-hole after work league, with an occasional Saturday thrown in about 5-6 times a year. Now that I'm retired I play maybe 4 times during the week (no weekends). I'm in two golf leagues and have a regular foursome of some great buddies.
 
1970 - My family moved to CA and I used my dad's clubs and played almost every day at the course we had golf privileges at that summer. They tore it out the next year, and I had to work the following summer so there went that. Still I developed the swing motion before the age of 18. Life got in the way and never played again.

2012 - bought a set of cheap clubs in Sept. and started playing. Wanted to see if I still enjoyed it.

2013 - retired - decided I did and got a decent set of irons, driver and woods in July. Took a few lessons. I think I hit my 7 iron about 110 yds.
2014 - joined a league and learned how to play the game. Went from 37 to 25 in a summer. Took lessons from a different pro. Hit 7 iron about 135 yds.
late 2014 - back muscle injury at driving range.
2015 - decided to work on swing at the heated range over the winter months. Injured knee in January. Two months physical therapy. Took lessons from a different pro to rework golf swing to compensate for knee injury (bone spur that drags on patellar tendon). Shot around 90 in May. Rotator cuff injury in right shoulder in April and tried to play through it, then suffered an injury of the rotator cuff in my left shoulder in May. Two months of intense physical therapy in June and July. Played first rounds starting two weeks ago. Got lucky on the first 9. It's been ugly since. Still hitting 7 iron 155.
 
My golf career began in Summer of 2009 after getting laid off from my job and I had nothing to do. (this was when the job market was non-existent) I've never played before and the very first round, I birdied a hole. Hooked since.
 
I grew up in the 1960's in Endicott NY (upstate NY) where the village had a muni that was the site of the BC Open for many years. Back then, if you lived in the village and under 18 membership was $36. In addition, IBM (which was founded there) had 27 holes at the IBM country club. So, we had lot of good golfers at my high school (we won the NY State Championship 7 out of 10 years I think). I wasn't that good. I played maybe 6-8 rounds every summer. Some with my friends, some with my uncle. I had a mixed set of used clubs: 1/3/5 woods - 3/5/7/9 iron and a putter (which I still have but don't use any more). My friends and I would shoot high 40's/low 50's. Never took a lesson. Stopped playing when I went to college in 1974.

Graduated from college in 1978 and went to work in Boston. Bought a used set of Wilson LT1200's and would get out in the summer 10 or 12 times. Golfed with a co-worker who had been on the Northwestern women's golf team. Not long but straight as could be. Got down to the low 90's/high 80's.

1984-1985 - I made partner at my company and was traveling a lot but there were a couple of summers I was able to get in 30-40 rounds each year. Lived close to Boston College and would play some rounds with kids on the BC team on an old Donald Ross course. Got my game down to mid/high 70's.

1985-1995 - Moved to NYC, got married, moved to Chicago, moved to Seattle - no golf at all.

1995-2003 - Golfed with my wife's Uncle in Santa Fe and Los Alamos a few times - had a rental set of King Cobras and liked them so much I bought a new set when I got back to Seattle. Golfed 10-12 times per year with my CFO who belonged to a club in Bellevue (I was Chairman/CEO of a public company). He was a 4-5 handicap and I was golfing in the mid to high 80's at that point so he kicked my a**.

2003 - Moved back east to run another company and started doing the conferences that had golf as a networking event. Probably played 12 or so rounds a year until 2013. I have no idea what I was shooting because it was all scramble c**p.

2013 - A key person at one of my clients is an avid golfer so we started playing golf together. We really enjoyed doing that and he belonged to clubs in Scottsdale and Little Rock so we'd golf there or he would come up to Philly and we'd get a few rounds in up here. I started getting frustrated with my bad golf and I resolved to get better.

2014 - retired from my company (still own part of it) and am doing consulting for a couple of corporations. So I'm working half time and have half time for travel, golf, etc. Got fit in August for a new set of clubs and shifted my old clubs to Little Rock for a set there (I am there a couple of times a month). Weeks off started hitting 300 balls per day. Took 3 lessons at different points in the year from 3 different instructors. By end of year was back down to mid 80's.

2015 - resolved to break 80. Been playing since February but had to take March off as I tore my calf muscle running after a cab in Istanbul to get my camera (did get it back). Most of June was a washout as my Vitreous sac detached from my right retina and it was like looking through a dirty windshield. In spite of that, I was shooting in the low 80's most of the time. Last week I shot a 79 at Isabella in Hot Springs Village in Arkansas and then had rounds of 77, 79 and 79 (today) for four straight rounds in the 70's. Yeah! Today's round started with an ugly 42 but I scratched back with a +1 37 to keep the 70's streak alive.

My goal for the rest of the year is to: 1 - shoot 9 holes under par (I just missed two putts today by an inch each that would have done this) and, if I can really focus, break par for 18.
 
I am soon to be 47, and started playing with my father when I was 5 or 6.

He started me at the green and worked back as I got older and was able to hit the ball. His next move was playing the par 3s and playing in from 100 yards on the other holes. I won a Club Jr tournament when I was 10, and won again when I was 17. I remember the shot, like it was yesterday on 18 that led to a birdie. I hit a super high pitching wedge that fell right down the flag-stick to within a foot.

I had my first, and only lesson when I was 16. Went from a baseball 10 finger grip, to a more proper golf grip. He also got a used set of clubs, which I used until I was 23.

Once I got out of college, I bought a set of Ping irons and TM woods and played 4 or 5 times a week and got my handicap into the single digits. Marriage and children cut my golf down to 5 or 6 times a season until last year. Now I play once or twice a week and have my handicap index down to 8.9.

I still play with my father a few times a year. Earlier this season he shot a 76 to beat me by 3 strokes.
 
Pretty short but very interesting thanks to THP. THP is what got me into golf after only hitting the long ball in fun outings. Gave up the 50" driver and this is where I got my start in April of 2013. Been a blast and fun growth and have come a long way thanks to some great friends here.

So, I guess my history can all be found in some thread or another within these intergolfwalls. I just want to continue to improve as much as I can and experience the greatness of the people and events here. I've traveled to states I've never been to and golfed...met great people...shared many laughs...competed when maybe I shouldn't have...was part of a winning MCDOTCOM team and just too many countless memories in that short time.

If I had to give up golf tomorrow...I would not be happy; but, I would have so many memories and experiences so many people only dream about.
 
- Boss tried to get me to play company scrambles for years ... always found ways to get out of it - no interest whatsoever (serious fisherman all my life ... always heard you can't fish and golf - not enough time to do both well).

- almost 5 years ago, I finally gave in & played in one - had the time of my life. Loved it

- Bought clubs shortly thereafter, wife started playing at same time.

- Golfnow.com was really good back then - tons of cheap hot deal tee times (no more).

- played 100x a year for the past 5 years - a lot were 9 holes after work.

- Read Stack & Tilt book & watched all the videos ... best thing ever did for my golf game. I know I'm "different" in a lot of ways, but the greatest satisfaction I have out of golf is that I got where I am without taking lessons - to me, its a personal challenge. Its not like I do it on my own, I take full advantages of all the learning resources today ... TGC represents 90% of my TV viewing, golf message boards rule my evenings, read the golf mags cover to cover.

- putting has always been my nemesis - finally just starting to get a solid feel for it after all this time. For me, it has taken so much longer to develop a feel for putting than the full swing.

- I'm 50 years old, only goal I have left is that I just want to see a single digit hcp on my GHIN card one time in my life ... much work to do. The closer I get, seems the farther away it is - improvement is so gradual at this stage.

That's it in a nutshell ... PS - my fishing has gone to hell ... I've got weeds growing up through the wheels of my bass boat ... turns out that old adage is correct after all.
 
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I first got into the game when I was a freshman in high school. I had watched on TV and wanted to try it and managed to talk my grandmother into buying me a set of Northwesterns from WalMart. I also picked up a Spalding putter that day. I hit some balls around the yard and finally a buddy of mine who played for the golf team took me out to Shelby park here to play. I didn't do bad but not good by any means but I was hooked. The problem was money to pay for rounds and always needing a ride.

Eventually I had to move to my dads house at the end of my sophomore year and landed a job at Windtree golf course here. By my senior year I needed new clubs and finally got the maxfly revolution irons and got pretty decent but I never really kept score but I know I wasn't shooting any better than bogey golf.

Off to college I went...took golf as a class my first semester then didn't touch my clubs for a long time. Maybe played once or twice a year. Then about 4 years ago I got the itch again and the rest is history up to this point. I play as much as possible and love being out playing!


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Played my first round July 4th of 2013. Broke 100 for the first time a few weeks before I had been playing for a full year. As of today my handicap is trending to a 24.9 though my long term goal is to be in the low teens if not lower. First birdie was the day after my first THP event last year (Hilton Head) on a chip-in after a pretty horrible tee shot ... while playing with Ron (Lightning Bolt). Still no eagles or aces though.
 
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My setup looks pretty good at that age!

I played a little pitch-and-putt/par 3 golf during summer vacation in middle school with my grandmother and I still have some of the wooden woods that we used then. I didn't play at all in college and then picked it up again after graduating. I got a box set of RAM clubs and made do for a while before I got a little better and got some used Callaway X-14s. Playing with vendors in our industry was and is a great way to get out and play more.

I decided to track my play in 2011 and played 7 courses and figured out that I had an unofficial index around 17. I made a goal to play more in 2012 (28 rounds, 19 courses, final index 16.6). 2013 was when I really decided to play even more and get better because I was tired of being awful. I joined OOB in June to be able to better track my scores and stats and joined a club in September so that I could practice more and have a better time playing on the weekends. 49 rounds, 30 courses, and finished with a 14.5 and a PB of 82.

I played 68 rounds on 41 courses (holy crap!) and ended 2014 with an index of 13.4. I made it to a low of 11.7 in September and broke 80 twice (79 on a par 70 in June and another 79 on a par 72 in September). I stumbled across THP in November and found a super bunch of people to talk golf with.

2015 started on a high note by winning a THP shaft contest and then taking a trip to Orlando to play Bay Hill. Two weeks later, the year took a downturn as I blew out my right hamstring playing volleyball. That was quite the setback, even though we weren't playing golf outdoors at the time. I had set a goal of single digits by the end of the year, but I took that off the list after surgery. Rehab 2-3x/week kinda puts a cramp in the practice time so if this year's goals didn't happen, I wouldn't be totally upset. I'm up to 44 rounds on 26 courses (and 13 states total!) and set a new PB of 76 at Rutgers in June in my first round back from Missouri.

I was able to take two fun trips this summer and meet lots of fun and amazing people thanks to THP. I'm looking forward to my next trip where I'll hopefully meet some more great people and play more great golf. My last rehab appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday so I should be able to get back to the practice range and I will be hitting more greens in no time!
 
May 1989 - Jr. year of college - buddies took me with them to a 9 hole course to waste away an afternoon drinking. Borrowed someone's clubs. Shot 64. That summer, I got some clubs from my neighbor and played. I sucked.
Sept 1989 - went out for the college golf team. Got to play every day all fall, for free! I broke 100 once. But I was hooked.
1994 - Spent a year working as a manager at a daily fee golf facility outside of New Orleans. Got my game to about a 10 hcp.
2010 - Got back into golf after being a very casual player.
2014 - Joined a club, was a member for just under a year. Found THP. Became an active member.
Joined another club, much harder course with better practice facilities. I can regularly break 90 at most courses, have shot my PB this year (76) - goal is to shoot par.
 
I'm 32 years old and really started to take up golf when I was like 15.(Of course during the Tiger craze) My Dad and Grandpa were trying to make me play for years but I thought it was stupid, but of course all the hype around Tiger made it seem less stupid to me. I quit the football team my Senior year of High School to join the golf team. That was like my 3rd year playing and I was pretty good then. Didn't have a handicap but I was shooting in the low to mid 80s in competition regularly and made districts for our county. I then went off to college and kind of stopped playing the whole time, played about twice a year, but not much. Basically partying and girls put it on the back burner.

Then about 4-5 years ago I joined a golf league and started to play regularly again. I really haven't gotten any better than I have in High School though, I hit the ball further but the rest of the game isn't as good. I usually shoot a couple shots better at the courses I did then, but it isn't a major difference. I've basically gotten to the point where I accept the type of golfer I am, and that's a half way decent one but that's it.
 
I was on tour in 1999 with my old band and we had a day off... our road manager suggested we hit the links. I had never even held a club before (other than at the local putt putt) but it sounded like fun so I went along. He showed me a few things on the range, I hit a ball or two relatively well - pure luck, by the way - and was hooked.

Played sporadically while on tour in '99, '00 and '01, then quit the band and got a desk job. I played probably 20 rounds a year from '01 thru '05 and averaged around 120. Never took lessons, sometimes got lucky and hit a good shot but for the most part just hacked around out there.

I moved from SoCal to the Midwest in '06, found some golf buddies at work and kept up the same pace of 20 rounds a year or so thru 2008. I wasn't making any real progress and was tired of holding everyone else up while I hacked around so I finally got a swing coach and started lessons in summer of 2009.

At the end of last season I was finally breaking 100 regularly. I started off the season with a goal of breaking 90 and getting my handicap down to 18. Started off with a 5 pack of lessons, picked up some new irons and started tracking all my rounds. Since April I've played 53 rounds with an average score of 97.6 and my handicap is down to 19.3. Haven't broken 90 yet... personal best 18 holes so far is 92 and best 9 hole round is 41. Just gotta keep grinding.
 
It all started when I was 16 yrs old in 1973. I was pumping gas after school in hopes of saving enough money to buy a car. (yea that was back before parents bought cars for the kids like a new pair of shoes)
One of the mechanics that worked there (Herm Wagner) played 9 holes every Wednesday night and then 18 holes on the weekend at this little 9 hole course 15 miles away.
I was always watching golf on TV back then and was already interested in the game, but was that 15 miles away from the nearest course. He invited me to go on a Wednesday night, so I rented some really crappy clubs there and instantly fell in love with the game. I think I shot 65 or 70 on that first 9 holes, but I didn't care. I went out the following weekend and spent a big portion of my car savings on a set of Spalding Championship clubs, a bag, tees, a glove, a dozen Jack Nicklaus Golden Bear balls and a rinky dink pull cart.

Progression? Sure...I've gone from those early days of thinking a score of 120 was good, to being disappointed when I shoot over 80.
I've had a few lessons, and could use even more. My goal is to become a scratch player. Right now I am a 5 hdcp but things are starting to improve.
 
My dad, mom, older brother, and I all started playing in 1958; I was 5, three years younger than brother. I don't remember much of the first few years, but from about age 8 on through high school I did little other that practice/play golf when the weather allowed in Iowa. I always tried to get the better of my dad and brother...probably not much luck at that until my teens. I was pretty regularly shooting in the 30's on our 9-hole course by the time I was 12 and began to recognize that I had a knack for the game. There was a local golfer four years my senior who became a very successful junior golfer about that time; I watched everything he did and hoped to someday be as good as he. "His" high school team won the state championship when he was a senior; my brother played on that team. I became a freshman the next year and hoped to be on the varsity with my brother and his senior friends. The coach wasn't comfortable letting me play up, so I spent my time on the JV (unhappily I might add). That team finished third at state, and I knew the team the next year was "mine" to lead.

I had several buddies around my age that had played together for years. We knew we could be very good if we stuck with it even though 3 of the team were freshman and one was a junior along with me as a soph. We qualified for state, none of us with any experience there, and we finished a respectable 8th. Most of us high schoolers at that time played in the nearby course open tournaments against the adults. I had some success; partly due to trying to outdo my brother who was home from college and playing in those summer tournaments as well. We won several between us, as well as many of the local club championships during those years.

Our team was pretty much unbeatable in area competition during my junior year. We qualified for the state tournament again, but we felt much more comfortable that year. The tournament was held on the other side of the state from my town, close to the hometown of another junior with whom I was paired in the final group. He had a reputation as quite a golfer, and had many followers from the area in our gallery; I had none. I should mention that I was a skinny, short (at that time) short-knocker with a deadly short game. I couldn't reach all the par 4's in two at this championship course; it even had an island par 3 back then that intimidated most of us. I had one birdie (on a par 3) and one bogey (par 4) and came to the last hole at level par, a long par-4, slight dogleg to the left. My second got me close to the green and my chip left me an 8-footer with a bit of a right-to-left break. I had no idea that I had to make the putt for our team to finish in a tie for first place...I was just determined to make it! After it rolled in, my coach gave me the news (he was a nervous wreck). I had no doubt at all that we were going to win the three-hole aggregate play-off, which we did by 2 strokes. I was pleased to also finish 2 strokes clear as state medalist.

The team was all intact the next year except for one friend who graduated. I was the lone senior with 4 juniors rounding out the team. We won every match that year but one, and we once again aimed for the state championship. It was played at the same course as the previous year. I was paired again with my usual rival. I had learned that he had been asked to play for the university that called the course it's home. I had not been asked. I should add that at that time there was very little "recruiting" done by most major colleges. It was up to the individual to contact the college coaches and "ask" to get a shot. I wasn't sure just what I wanted to do in college back then, and I had contacted no one. Anyway, my buddy's gallery was back and more boisterous than the year before. Late May in Iowa can be rough, and this day was very windy, wet and cold (about 50). I had my growth spurt the summer before my senior year and gained some distance with that; I parred every hole, mostly through sheer will-power...often making some long par putts. I completely demoralized my playing partners who both struggled. I thought no one else could have shot near par in those conditions; my teammates didn't play as well as they normally did. However, we won the team championship by 2 strokes. One other boy shot 72 to tie me for medalist; he went on to have a nice career at Oklahoma State University by the way. He beat me in the three-hole play-off. No excuses, but I was so happy to win the team title, I had a hard time getting focused for the play-off. I wish I had put more of my usual effort into those 3 holes...there are only 1 or 2 two-time state medalists in Iowa.

I should mention that my rival went on to have a great college career and turned pro after. He played on tour for many years and came close to winning several tourneys, always coming up short. He had a very successful run on the senior tour with several wins there and was consistently in the top ten in the points-standing. I went to college at the other major university in the state. I never approached the coach about playing even though my parents encouraged me to do so. When spring came around that freshman year, I found myself wanting to play golf, so I called the coach and introduced myself. He knew my reputation and asked me to play 18 with him. I was on the team the next day and headed to our first meet. I enjoyed playing college golf, but again very few colleges offered scholarships to golfers back then. We traveled most every week from Thursday through Sunday. We had no academic support or anything like that, no real facilitation for making up for the missed classes. It was very difficult to be a student-athlete in golf. I played two years in college; my average was second lowest on the team. I made many great friends and had experiences I will never forget. I decided after my sophomore year though that I was going to stop playing so I could concentrate on my education. Once I quit, I pretty much quit entirely. I would play some for the next couple years but seldom practiced. Finally, I just stopped playing all together.

I played for 2 years after I finished graduate school and had started my first real job. I enjoyed practicing again and my game returned pretty quickly. Then my first son came along and I found myself drifting away from putting serious effort into my game. I found I really didn't much enjoy playing if I didn't put in some practice time to get the most out of my abilities, so I quit again. That was about 30 years ago. The only time I played golf after that was 9 holes with my dad during our summer visit back home. (Dad still plays 2 or 3 times a week by the way.)

Now, as I approach retirement, I hope to play a lot (and practice) after we move back to Iowa to a nice community near my hometown. I have a goal to shoot my age as young as possible. I want my wife and children to see that the "old guy" can still play. Mainly, I want to be able to enjoy again the game that has meant so much to me. There is so much more I could add about my and my family's connection to the game; for instance, my dad became superintendent at our home course where I worked for years. I'll save those stories and my thoughts about golf relative to my children for another post. Sorry this so long.
 
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