I think a key part to answering your question is this: what’s the general tone / attitude of these golf outings? Is it laid-back and social, where it’s as much about getting out of the office for an afternoon as it is about the game, and where everyone wants to know when the beverage cart will be around next? Or, do the people in your company (and, importantly, your clients) view it seriously / competitively? As Dinsdale noted, do they golf in a format (like best-ball) in which being a not-very-good golfer isn’t as much of a problem (because even a bad golfer, like me, will get off a good shot every now and again)? Or, is it every golfer for himself / herself?
I’d suggest talking to a few of your co-workers whom you trust (and who you suspect are reasonably good golfers), and get their take on it. That may help you get an idea for how much effort you’ll need to put into getting good at the game before putting in an appearance.
As someone who has progressed from “really poor” at golf to “in the bottom level of maybe he has some idea what he’s doing”, I would say you have a long path ahead of you to get to where you want to be. I grew up as not athletic, basic coordination and body strength did not get allocated to me. I have found in my attempts at sports like tennis and golf that the average guy who has never done either before is already far better than me, just from basic physique. So that’s what I start with.
So, definitely get a package of lessons. Try to learn the fundamentals, and also the protocols and rules. Once you get some progress, start thinking about investing in equipment. Not all clubs or balls are the same. There are clubs made for “high handicap” (not very good) golfers. There are balls for the same type of golfer. Combine those two and you’ll see immediate improvement. BUT ONLY ONCE YOU HAVE SOME FOUNDATION. No amount of equipment will make a difference if you are still windmilling away without knowing something of what your are doing.
Then, try to find a sympathetic playing partner who you can go out with on a regular basis for a round. The difficulty with being a beginner and trying to go out as a single is that you get paired up with random really good players who may not always have patience with you. With a sympathetic partner, you run the chance of not getting paired up on a course with strangers. Go out late in the afternoon, after the busy times. They will let the 2 of you go out.
Also, spend a lot of your spare time at the driving range. But remember, hitting on the range will not really replicate hitting when out on the course. But it does give you the practice of swinging over and over and over and over.
I have a number of friends who are good at golf, but most of them grew up playing it because their parents (or at least their dads) played it. It wouldn’t surprise me if, at least to a certain extent, this is part of kids following in their parent’s footsteps as well as some confirmation bias. IOW, dad’s a businessman and plays golf. He takes his kid golfing on the weekends. Kid gets good at golf and also enters the white collar business world. And, with that, you’re ignoring all the other people like yourself that skipped the game as well as all the people that are good at golf that aren’t just on the course to rub elbows.
Anyways, I’d skip it too, but maybe go take some lessons. Just looking online, lessons aren’t overly expensive, I’m seeing them anywhere from $50 to $150 per hour. I bet if you could do it twice a month for a month or two and then once a month for another 10 months, plus going out and playing/practicing on your own at least once a week you’d be perfectly acceptable in just a few months.
I agree with this. I never got any good scores (I’d hit 90-ish on 9 holes) but I could hit it, hit it straight and keep it on the fairway. I just didn’t have much distance. It never bothered me, and it never bothered the others I played with socially. Sometimes, if the course was busy, they’d put a single player with a group of two like us to keep things moving and the “random players” who “got stuck with us” never seemed pissed-off at having to play with us duffers. The thing with golf is that you play your own game, you can shoot a brilliant score while playing with a duffer. That’s why I liked it. Tennis was a non-starter- running to collect the ball every time was boring, and the better player didn’t, and couldn’t, get a game when the ball never came back over the net to them. Better players can still get a game with a duffer at golf.
The aspects that Dinsdale points out are what will upset people. Keep moving and don’t do the “wrong thing”. Learning what the “wrong thing” is is probably the most important.
I also agree to find out the tone of the outings. If they are full-on tournaments where people are trying to “win”, steer clear, but if they are relaxed social outings, I think you could participate. I took clients out for a round (just us, not a full-on day), they were warned that we were pretty hopeless, but they didn’t care, they weren’t some super-high standard either. People who like golf often just want to be on the course, they don’t care if they are playing with people who are worse than they are. Those “play the best ball” rounds keep things moving and relieve the pressure of being a bit hopeless.
Also, I agree to get lessons. Learn the correct way to hit the ball early on, then if you absorb what you are told, you will get better. Go back to the golf teacher periodically so he can tell you what you are doing wrong and to get you back trying to do it properly.
Get a duffer to play with you on the weekends. You will get better, but I don’t think you need to be any good to participate in social work outings. Just have the knowledge that Dinsdale recommended.
Probably a little. I mean, there are lots of other events where I can rub shoulders with clients and whatnot, but for some reason our agency LOVES golf outings. We host them, we sponsor them, we send our people out to them whenever we get the chance.
I do the banquets, breakfasts, luncheons, and dinners, but I really feel left out with the golf outings. Everyone always comes back to the office saying how much fun it was. And yeah, a lot of deals are closed on the golf course. And that’s the other thing… I have no idea how to close on a golf course, because I have always avoided it. I don’t know the nuances of golfing + business. It’s such a casual setting, yet deals are closed all the time there (from the stories I hear).
So yeah, from the above suggestions, it looks like I should look in to lessons. I want to be a part of this little circle. I’m fairly athletic and coordinated, but I have never, EVER been good at golf. It’s just sort of a bummer that this is the game that we play in a “professional, business” setting. And I’m so bad at it!
I’m also with Dins (and the advice to keep everything lower than a 5 iron at home). KNOW THE ETIQUETTE and then just worry about advancing the ball closer to the hole with each swing. Pick up when you hit double digits on a hole. If you don’t slow people down too much by taking 19 practice swings (when you don’t golf well any way) or annoy them by talking at the tee box or while they are putting, you’ll be fine - and you’ll get to be a better golfer by doing it.
(And get yourself a set of lessons - get into the less than 120 on eighteen consistently point with some lessons and a few rounds on the weekend. 120 is easy to hit)
Lots of good responses here. The one I would personally highlight is etiquette. Not everyone can be good at golf - only a real jerk is gonna be mad at you for not being a scratch golfer. But EVERYONE can learn the written and unwritten rules. Don’t talk when someone is about to hit. Don’t spend more than a couple minutes looking for a lost ball (heck, don’t spend more than 30 seconds if you aren’t playing an expensive ball). Know that the player farthest away hits first, but be ready to hit when it’s your turn.
I imagine a few minutes googling will fill in the blanks; then get a couple lessons, hit the range, and play a few rounds with friends. But the important thing to remember (and I learned this the hard way as a bad golfer myself) - if you must be bad, at least be fast. Don’t make people wait around just to watch you suck at golf.
Agree - if you can do that consistently (rather than spraying balls all over the place) and know how to not hold up the group you’ll be welcome in all but the most serious play - if it’s something you want to learn, take a few lessons and get practicing.
Agree with everything that’s been said, and heartily endorse the lessons. But if anything’s going to hold you back, it’s this kind of thinking. If all you’re thinking about is how bad you are and that you’re going to embarrass yourself, then odds are you’re going to be bad and embarrass yourself. I think a challenge of golf for people who are otherwise athletic and coordinated is that you’re not (directly) reacting to others’ play. In basketball or hockey you get into a rhythm and most of what you do you don’t even think about. With golf, it’s just you and that damned ball and it’s easy to get stuck in your own head. But just like anything else, you can improve with hard work and expert advice.
Besides, it’s not like you need to be the best golfer. You just need to be the third best in your group, so that the three of you can snicker at that other guy lost in the rough.
Just in case it hasn’t been mentioned, “hitting the ball as hard as you can” is exactly the WRONG thing for you to try to do!
You can hit the ball 100+ yards with a nice, smooth, easy swing with a 9-iron (an easy-hitting, short distance club) with some basic instruction and practice.
This, coupled with Dinsdale’s advice. A golfer who can hit 150 yards straight consistently will always be more welcome than one who can hit 250 yards straight one time out of ten.
Along with lessons and the driving range, I’d suggest the putting green that many driving ranges have, and pretty much all courses do. As one of my golf buddies put it, “You’ll use your driver 18 times in a round, but you’ll use your putter 36 or more.” Practise putting–even a 150-yard straight hitter can get to the green in three or four, but that’s not worth much when you need for putts to sink the ball.
I’m not athletic, poor coordination and all but found myself in a similar situation. I had to go to a few tournaments where I was really bad. About 140. It wasn’t a lot of fun for anyone. And I was ignored by everyone.
I took some lessons, hit the range and played with a friend. I got down to the 110s and then the low 100s.
That was a huge difference. I wasn’t really slowing down the group or making the others roll their eyes (too often). You get a few good shots and you’re part of the group.
There are some people who are super serious and they won’t talk to you, but most were pretty cool.
When you take some lessons, you’ll learn that you are not trying to hit the ball at all. You learn how to swing the club, and where to position the ball. You don’t try to hit the ball, ever. The minute you do, it usually messes up completely, because you go tense and your swing messes up. The swing is (basically) to the rear and up and than down and through (the “through” is important). Non-golfers who try to “hit the ball” often stop when they’ve connected with the ball. Watch some professional golfers’ videos and see the movement. When they do it a couple of times at the tee, it is the movement they are thinking about, not hitting the ball.
Get a golf pro and hit the practice range, you’ll progress exponentially and you’ll be able to hold your own at these events. A golf pro will put you into the correct position. We often think we are copying things we are shown correctly, when we are not. You need somebody to tell you where you are “out”.
I’m just going to join the chorus and say “Take lessons”.
I went from “literally haven’t swung a golf club since I was 10” to “hey I want to play golf” when I was in my mid-twenties. I eventually took lessons and even after only five lessons, I was able to hit the ball exponentially better.
So even a small amount of lessons will do wonders.
Another thought: do you have TopGolf where you are? My local TopGolf has leagues where you meet every week and play the games. They have beginner levels (what I’m in) and I have seen my game improve a ton just by doing that and keeping loose. I’m having a blast too!
Or as my 75 year old mother says about her golf league - 80 year old women can hit the ball 100+ yards - they aren’t doing it with power.
There isn’t anything like golfing with women in there 70s and 80s - I’ve filled in on league a time or two - to make you realize that it isn’t about power. Their golf games aren’t what they used to be - but they are still respectable - they don’t tend to play regulation 18 courses though. My mother’s leagues are played on executive nines.
Re: Doing business. I never bring it up on the course unless my partner does it first. The course is for golfing. Business is done on the 19th hole (The bar) after the golf is done.
If you take a couple of lessons and practice what you learn, you should be down to around 100 in six to eight months. From where you are at, improvement will come very quickly. Once you get into the 80’s improvement comes slowly. You have to practice a lot and more importantly play a lot. Once you are in the 80’s, you have the skills. You have to learn the mental discipline, which is hard and a completely different skillset.
That’s a lot harder to learn and it can be embarrassing when you suck at it.