Just remember it’s OK to play poorly and it’s OK to play slowly. But you can’t do both.
Lots of good advice here, and I’m not sure I can add much. So I’ll address one of the points that haven’t been fully explored yet.
One of my golf buddies can’t hit a decent drive from the tee unless a couple of us are discussing action movies in the background. Nobody knows why, but a discussion about Die Hard, or The Dirty Dozen, or similar, in the background, result in great drives for him. He doesn’t get the same results when we discuss, say, The Wizard of Oz, or just keep quiet. Strange, but it works for him. It doesn’t work for the rest of us, so everybody keeps quiet when the rest of us are teeing off.
Traditional golf rules and etiquette is an important part of the game. Knowing who hits from the tee, and in which order, is something the more experienced in your group will help with. But I’ve always found that we all have more fun when we go beyond that; and I can attest that my golf buddies and I have the most fun when we behave as gentlemen towards each other. Even though we’re playing against each other, we congratulate each other on good shots, and commiserate with each other on bad shots. If a player makes a bad shot, a reassuring “That’ll play,” rather than, “Man, that sucked,” will go a long way towards having an enjoyable round and making friends on the golf course. Respect the course and the efforts of the groundskeepers, buy a round for the group from the refreshment cart when it’s your turn, and start and end each round with a handshake.
One of the saddest things I ever saw was a very expensive putter, broken in half, and stuffed in the trash can by a tee. Don’t be that guy who broke his putter in frustration–at its heart, it is only a game. Be the guy who, even if he’s not having a good round, makes the effort, accepts his limitations, looks forward to improving, and is the guy who others want to play with in the future. Enjoy your day out on the course!
Going off the latter part of your post Spoons I should be able to keep my composure pretty well since I know already how terribly I am going to do. I am getting a nice set of clubs (probably) so I won’t want to hurt them. It’ll be interesting to see if the “I know I’m bad let’s have fun” part of me outshines the “I’m a competitor” part of me.
just wanted to add that yeah, you’re not going to be very good for a long time. With major talent and some practice time, you might break 100 in a few months. But it’s a very difficult game.
Forget the long irons, forget the woods (mostly) - an oversized driver with a shorter shaft to tee off, get some hybrids for your mid game, and spend almost all your time:
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working on chipping from various lies to a 15’ diamter target.
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putting to a 3’ diameter circle around the hole.
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choking up on your driver and hitting a clean (if short) initial shot.
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middle hybrids are pretty easy to hit. Love them
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MOST IMPORTANT: don’t worry about hitting great shots. Hit adequate shots, and aim for mediocrity. Nothing dramatic, and you’ll save more shots with a decent short game (which can be picked up fairly simply) and short, straight and boring tee and fairway shots.
Par is ridiculous for a beginner. I started out played Par+2, and then Par+1 (bogey golf) as my reference point. The goal is beat your best, not others’.
By the time i was good enough to think about scoring, I was also good enough to shoot against Old Man Par directly.
Picker
former scratch golfer
(now an awkward and rusty double digit hcp) - I’m officially an 11, but I play worse than that these days. No time.
Gonna bump my thread to say that my parents bought me a BEAUTIFUL set of clubs for my birthday this weekend!
I got a brand new set of Affinity RZR clubs…and a full set!
Got me a big ole driver, 1 and 3 woods, a full set of wedges, a putter, and best of all a 4 and 5 hybrid club!
I’m gonna take everyone’s advice and do my best to get lessons and to practice some. I just need to learn when and how to use these wedges and these hybrids.
Gonna selfishly bump one more time and say that I just got back from my first time at the range. And having not touched a golf club or ball in a good 15 years I’m gonna have to say…
I didn’t do too bad.
The first couple buckets were pretty godawful. Whenever I did hit the ball all it would do is go straight (no not THAT straight) and ricochet off the walls of the stall a couple times. It was horrible. Thank god no one was in the stall with me. Frankly that’s still a problem I have, anyone know what causes that or how I can fix it? I did everything from trying to angle the club head as I hit the ball to moving closer and further away and aiming the actual club head closer or further away. Even after I stopped doing it as often I still did it a lot.
I noticed that when I did hit the ball it either went in a total and direct straight line, or it did the wall bouncy-screaming-death thing, very rarely did I actually slice it one way or another.
I did sign up for lessons too…I start monday. Overall I am excited for the next time I go out and hit (probably saturday) because I was starting to make A LOT more contact during that last bucket and showed actual signs of progressing.
Final thing: I, of course, wanted to end the day on a good note so I said “the next good one and I’m done”. I got to the final ball in my bucket…whacked it…and got a bouncing ball of death. Grabbed a ball that was laying next to me and the VERY NEXT HIT…I hit that baby straight as an arrow 170 yards. It was absolute perfection and a wonderful way to end it.
Ut Oh! I am diagnosing a life long disease called golf fever.
Glad you signed up for some lessons.
I’ve golfed only 4 times previously and am certifiably terrible. I don’t plan to golf that often at this point but I am definitely interested in buying a set of clubs for convenience and familiarity. However, I don’t really have a clue what I should buy given all of the options. Do any of you have suggestions for good clubs for a beginner? I would prefer to stay under $300 for a whole set but if that is being too cheap I could definitely be convinced to spend more if you think it will help.
for a beginner, i recommend a generic brand. Called “clones”. find a discount golf shop in the yellow pages. they should be able to fix you up.
Or ask a local golf shop if they have used clubs for sale. Most do, and you should be able to pick up a nice set of Titleist or Nike or Callaway etc. for your price range. Nothing wrong with used. Tell the shop you’re a beginner and they’ll help you get the right kind of clubs. You don’t want to learn with tour blades.
Ebay my man.
It might not help you in the “getting clubs too advanced for my skill level” department…but you can definitely find whole sets for around there (and usually no shipping either)
My husband has a set of Ping Eyes gotten for about that price through a second hand shop.
Take advantage of the fact that a lot of golfers think their golf game will get better if they have different clubs and therefore get new clubs every few years 
And then never be that golfer.
Would I be really weird (or would it be against the rules) if I wore two gloves?
Granted I am new to playing the game but going out and hitting at the range has completely destroyed my non-gloved hand. It also is the hand that is on the club more so than the one that HAS the glove.
Are there any obvious disadvantages to doing this?
Wearing two gloves is not against the rules but a little weird. There is a journeyman pro who wears two gloves all the time, even putting. He is known has Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey. (sounds like a mafia hit man).
Disadvantages? none that I think of other than it will get you some odd looks and perhaps some good natured ribbing.
Getting some raw spots on your hands is not unusual. One of the first thing a pro will do is show you how to grip the club. Gripping the club is very important. Maybe the most important thing you can learn from a pro.
I don’t wear any gloves, mainly because of expense.
Two Gloves lipped out a putt on 18 last week that would have put him in a playoff, and finished tied third today. He’ll be in the top 25 money winners on tour after today.
His gloves aren’t normal golf gloves, either. They’re the thick, all-weather type that baseball players use. He also swings with a baseball grip.
He wasn’t the only Big Break graduate playing pro golf this week - Sara Brown and the lovely Blair O’Nealplayed in the LPGA tournament this week, although neither made the cut. Brown missed the cut by only one shot.
Big Break Alumnus Ryann O’Toole played the LPGA event this week and had a decent showing. she is going to Turkey this week and play on the Euro Ladies Tour.
Nothing that hasn’t been said;
Buy used clubs. Or a cheap set. My boss, who is a really good golfer, puts it well: “You have to be really good before your cheap clubs limit you.”
Get a free “lesson” from the pro at the golf shop before you buy.
Hit the driving range a few times before you play. Driving is fun, and important to practice, but use your full range of clubs to learn. Driver, woods, hybrids, irons, wedges. Get used to all of them on the driving range. Probably the only two you can’t really practice on a driving range are the sand wedge and the putter. But some ranges have practice bunkers and greens, so practice those as well.