Your Golf History

[TEA Time]

Everybody's got a story. I found this one typed up on my computer. I wrote it last year when I was really playing horribly and decided to "retire" from competitive golf... heh.

You guys have known me for only a couple of years at most, so I’ll start at the beginning.

1980–1988 - I started playing golf at a young enough age that my earliest memories involve a golf club. By age ten I was winning Jr golf tournaments and by 12 I was breaking 80. By age 14 I held a 1.4 handicap, won in multiple states, and lettered as a freshman - qualifying for state individually. Working at the course allowed me to develop my game whenever I wanted, which was good because we were poor and free golf was pretty much the only way I could ever play. I had planned on going to Arizona State (obviously on a scholarship ) and then going pro. Solid plan.

1988-1994 - Then life happened. Girls and skateboarding were sooo much more fun than golf. Getting drunk at lunch, getting laid at night, golf fell by the wayside. But my talent allowed me to still be competitive. Win-freakin-win! Then my grades slipped, I barely graduated, and college wasn’t an option anymore because my hopes for any scholarship money didn’t pan out. I got into a fight with my golf coach and didn’t even play my junior year.

1994 - I enrolled at Southern Utah University. The pro at my home course knew the golf coach there and I had three cousins attending, so it seemed perfect. The coach couldn’t have cared less. He had kids there that were 4.0 students who had won state. I amassed a 2.7gpa and played in state, but never won. Golf started in September but by October there was so much snow on the ground that the golf team had to drive to Nevada to practice. I hated it. I hated the snow, I hated the school, and I hated Utah. After the first semester, I quit and headed to Phoenix to a computer drafting school. Which I quit after one year.

1996 - I was offered a job at a machine shop. I still golfed whenever I could. Mainly corporate scrambles. What a joke.

1999 – I got married. Bought a house. Got into debt. Had to work more…

2001 – Had my first kid. I vowed at that moment that I would be getting paid to play golf before he reached elementary school. So I joined the AGA and started playing as many amateur tournaments as possible. My best finish was T7 which is still my claim to fame because I beat PGA pro Ted Purdy by one shot. After four years of no success, I put the clubs in storage again and had my second child in 2005. My oldest is now in 7th grade and I never made a dime playing golf.

2008 – I moved to Oregon. Golf-wise not a great decision, but life-wise a superb one. I found a local club and the flame began to burn once again. When I learned that the US Open would be held up the road in Seattle in 2015, I decided that my new goal was to qualify. I had no expectations of winning, or even making the cut… I just wanted to stand on the tee box at the Open and have my name called.

2013 – Another five years of tournaments with no success. I’d only broken 80 a few times at any important tournaments recently. I was watching the golf world slip away. After the last tournament I made a realistic decision. I was done with competitive golf. For good? Maybe. For now, absolutely. I’ll still be at the US Open, but on the outside of the ropes, corralled with all the drunken frat boys.

I'll probably always be competitive on the course. It's in my blood. So much that last week was the first time I drank alcohol while playing (even during regular rounds with friends). I take golf seriously... well I took golf seriously. Maybe now I can just relax and actually ENJOY a round with my son.

And that’s the sordid tale of how I came to retire from competitive golf at age 37.


So what's your story?

 

[eclark53520]

1986-2007, no golf was played except when I found my grandpa's old set and hit wiffle balls around the back yard at my parents house.

2007 - Met who would eventually become my wife, her dad was big into golfing, and I also got a job at an office where my supervisor was big into golf. Bought my FIL's old set from him. Spent a lot of time at the range hitting big banana slices. Spent a lot of time on youtube trying to figure out how to fix those slices. Joined shot talk around December.

2008-2010 - Played quite a bit, worked on my game a lot. Fixed my slice for the most part, played a fade. Started buying better equipment.

2011-2012 - Started playing a 'natural' draw, fought hook a lot. Started playing less.

2013-present - Don't play much anymore, couple times a summer, still hit a draw for the most part, fight hooks. Only play for fun, never really even bother keeping score. Just fun to hit the links with the guys or my wife/daughter.

I've never broken 90 that I know of, although I think I probably could if I had the desire.

 

[Fairwaysplitter3320]

1992-1999, Started playing golf in middle school, following Dad's footsteps but never took the game too seriously. Tried out for the high school team, made it but never won the qualifiers to play in tournaments.

2000-2002, played more golf in college when I wasn't playing baseball. Had first kid.

2003, had second kid.

2004-2006, played more golf and started to progress, shot under 90 for the first time. Had third kid.

2007-Present, have spent more time learning and practicing the game. Discovered Ho'ing, which is almost as fun as the game itself. Usually play once a week or once every 2 weeks, routinely shoot in the mid 80's and working towards a single digit cap. Wife is pregnant with 4th and final kid.

 

[Rick R]

A rather short history compared to some others: I retired at age 62, I had never played before. My father in law played, but wouldn't take me out until I got some experience. I started with a pretty nice set of clubs I bought at a yard sale, improving the equipment as I improved my game. I never got to play golf with him, his health declined and he passed before we could get together on the course. I should have started long before that because there were numerous times that someone asked if I "played", including some friends who lived on Hilton Head Island and had a membership at Harbor Town. I've been playing for some 10 years, now, not well, but I'm having fun in a county where there are about a dozen golf courses within 20 miles reach. I'm starting my 2nd year in a league and looking forward to move up this year to a better handicap category.

 

[TEA Time]

Excellent!

 

[IrishGolfer]

Ok, so I've been playing golf now for over 36 years. My first experience at a course was with my brother waiting for my dad who was in the bar. We had marbles and found a cool place to roll them was into a hole that turned out to be the 18th green. We couldn't figure out why everyone was shouting at us! I'm guessing I was 6 or 7.

Started playing about 10 and was hooked. My heroes were Langer and Ballesteros.

I played a lot at school and university, got to 3, then held it about 5/6 for many years. About 4 years ago I had a hot season and got to 3.5, but surgery, work and other commitments has seen me slip to 7 now. Hopefully I'll get more golf this summer and get a few good rounds to get me to 5 again.

I've always been very competitive but also enjoy social rounds now and playing with wife and kids.

I'll die a golf addict, love the game as much as ever. Love the history and honour that this game has provided. I appreciate good rounds / shots and love that I've been lucky to play all
round the world making friends as I go.

 

[anonymous golfaholic]

I had no access to golf as a kid, nor the money. I did play a lot of baseball though. I had a couple schools courting me early in High School but I ended up quitting at the end of my Junior year in H.S. because I got mad at my coach and I never played baseball again. In college I started missing it, so I started playing some softball but I hated that. I needed a sport and golf was my answer. I think I bought myself my first set of clubs when I was 21. At that point, golf was on my mind every day. I can't even explain how addicted I became...obsessive actually. I started playing with a guy who was a plus cap. I couldn't break 100 and he was shooting in the 60's. I learned a lot from him. My cap kept dropping and now I beat him half of the time. My handicap hit a low of 2.4 in the Fall of 2012. My cap is around 4-5 now I think, but if I could just find a way to get rid of my wife and kids, I think I could get to scratch.

 

[limpalong]

1982 - At age 36, I'd never seen a golf course or swung a golf club. No interest whatsoever in the game. Went to Minnesota that summer to visit wife's relatives. Her two uncles asked me to go with them while they played a round of golf at the local Country Club. Sleeveless western shirt, with snaps for buttons... high-heeled western boots... a cap advertising construction equipment... Yep! I was certainly prepared for this excursion. I walked along with them, stepping in goose poop, and my feet were plenty tired by the time we got done with 18 holes. I swung a couple of their clubs a couple of times and sorta got the bug. Still no clubs and no real place to play.
1983 - Moved in to the office of the construction firm I was with. The comptroller was a golf addict, had just moved to the area, and wanted someone to play golf with. I told him I hadn't played much, if any. I had an old S&W K15 .38 Special. Took that handgun to a local pawn shop and traded for a complete set of MacGregor irons, woods, putter, and bag. Didn't know the clubs had aluminum shafts that were known to break.
1983-1989 - The comptroller and I played a lot of rounds at local courses. Our twosome grew to a 4 or 5. We would play every Saturday morning. I got a little better, but most of all just had fun.
1990-1999 - Moved to the KC area. Became good friends with the couple who owned the local Play-It-Again Sports franchise. Got bit hard by the club bug. Over those 10 years, I played a lot of golf at some great courses. I also had a new/different set of clubs in the bag about once a month. My work flew me all over the U.S. Played golf from Oregon to Wisconsin to North Carolina to Florida to ..........
1999 - Present - Moved back "home". Overcame the golf ho bug somewhat. Rejoined the old club where I had belonged in the 80's. Was immediately "picked up" by a couple of guys near my age and golfing ability. Some have retired and moved away. Others, still here and still playing. One of them and I own our cart together. We play golf every chance we get. Log well over 100 rounds/year. Nothing competitive, except now and then for "quarters". One of our son-in-laws has been in our group for about 4 years now. He and I do get extremely competitive.

Golf, today, is a social event. I know most of the club members. See 'em on the street and in stores and restaurants. Wife gets upset when we will stop and talk golf and completely throw off any planned schedule. There are days when the body and the clubs are a team and I can score well. There are more days when the body and the clubs are dire enemies and I can't buy a par. But... we have stories out the yingyang to tell. (Almost too the head off my golf partner this morning with a tree ricochet!!!!)

Some day, I'll use up the swings the Good Lord put in this body. Until that time, I appreciate the opportunities I've had to enjoy one of the greatest games ever invented......

 

[TEA Time]

It's fascinating to me to see that people who absolutely love the game, didn't even pick it up until later in life. I've played it my whole life but never really had that burning desire like some of you do. Nobody picks up football at 65, ya know?

 

[Louie_T07]

It's fascinating to me to see that people who absolutely love the game, didn't even pick it up until later in life. I've played it my whole life but never really had that burning desire like some of you do. Nobody picks up football at 65, ya know?

I think thats one of the greatest things about the game of golf, its ageless. it doesn't matter when you pick up that first club, just as long as you never put it down.

 

[anonymous golfaholic]

Fantastic stories, guys! Great thread, TEA.

 

[TrickyPutt]

My college roomate got me started in the 80's. We both worked and made decent money for college guys and had enough cash to afford the mid tier courses and some reasonable clubs. By the time we got out of school, we were both trying to break 90. Although I had gotten around to getting my first fitted set and a nice bag, I had had one lesson, that being the how to hold the club and setup lesson, and wasnt very good. My partner finished and left and finishing my degree and a business opportunity that happened in the 1990 recession took my mind away from the game.

At the beginning of The Great Recession, I was finishing reworking an apartment building I bought earlier, and during the course of reconstruction I manage to pinch a nerve in my neck. My CPA went to Wisconsin on a golf scholarship and took me out to play. I still had my old clubs from the 1980s in the shed. I decided golfing would help to unpinch that nerve. I had enough time to play since work was slow and I was done with my apts.

I got my bag out in late fall 2008 and it was a mess. The foam lining had decomposed. So I got a new bag. When I went out with my tiny steel headed drivers it was amazing how short I hit compared to everybody else. I had ping zing knockoffs for irons. I was straight but 3 clubs short compared to everybody out there. I started Ho'ing when I bought my first Ti driver from the local pro. He got me started with a Cleveland 290 and it was so radically improved over what I had played I was hooked. I let my muse run with golf, chasing down all the nuances I could learn, bought club making gear and have worked my way into the mid high 70s today.

Rebuilding my affairs after the GR is taking more time from my game, but I enjoy the simple purety of mind that can be found out there. Its just a game with a little ball, and a nice day with good company makes for very pleasant and refreshing recreation.

 

[Rick R]

I always tell everybody that once you hit the ball and feel that electric reaction of the ball and sweet spot of the club, to see it fly straight and long, it's something that grabs you and you're hooked. The feeling may be close to the same reason guys like me have ridden a motorcycle for over 45 years. Some people who never have tried it will never understand.

 

[beeno374]

In the early 80's as kids we built our own three hole course on a school's field during the holidays. We used a push lawnmower and a heavy roller to make the greens. Between us kids we had a few irons and made a putter from a pipe that was bent like a hockey stick and flattened. For balls we just melted some plastic bags and shaped them into golf balls. My first club was a Slazenger 9 iron. I traded one of those Ping 2 tone balls and a few other stuff for it.

In the mid-90's as a student a friend gave me a set of Ping Eye 2 irons. He was obsessed with golf and wanted me start playing as well. He is currently a caddy on the European tour and travels all over the world and rakes in about 7 figures a year. My first driver was a Callaway big bertha that won me my first putter at a long drive competition.

When I started working I joined a golf club and started playing more regularly. 2 years ago I got fitted for a set of clubs and about a month ago started taking lessons. I play off a 10 HC and regularly break 80 since taking lessons. I've played a few league games for my club. I tell my wife I'm going to quit my job and join the senior tour. I have 10 years to sharpen my skills.

Before my son was born I already bought him a set of clubs and at the age of 6 enrolled him into a golf school hoping he would be the next Tiger. He showed promise, but I made the mistake of buying him a Playstation and that was the end of his interest in golf. He is now 10 and has ambitions of becoming a game developer. I'll support him.

 

[TEA Time]

In the early 80's as kids we built our own three hole course on a school's field during the holidays. We used a push lawnmower and a heavy roller to make the greens. Between us kids we had a few irons and made a putter from a pipe that was bent like a hockey stick and flattened. For balls we just melted some plastic bags and shaped them into golf balls. My first club was a Slazenger 9 iron. I traded one of those Ping 2 tone balls and a few other stuff for it.

In the mid-90's as a student a friend gave me a set of Ping Eye 2 irons. He was obsessed with golf and wanted me start playing as well. He is currently a caddy on the European tour and travels all over the world and rakes in about 7 figures a year. My first driver was a Callaway big bertha that won me my first putter at a long drive competition.

When I started working I joined a golf club and started playing more regularly. 2 years ago I got fitted for a set of clubs and about a month ago started taking lessons. I play off a 10 HC and regularly break 80 since taking lessons. I've played a few league games for my club. I tell my wife I'm going to quit my job and join the senior tour. I have 10 years to sharpen my skills.

Awesome! Building your own clubs and courses is hardcore.

Before my son was born I already bought him a set of clubs and at the age of 6 enrolled him into a golf school hoping he would be the next Tiger. He showed promise, but I made the mistake of buying him a Playstation and that was the end of his interest in golf. He is now 10 and has ambitions of becoming a game developer. I'll support him.

This sounds all too familiar...