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Why Do You Golf?

man, great idea for a thread! i was talking to OEM kevin about this very thing today. i piddled around with golf later in highschool and then i went overseas where i played maybe once or twice a year. i married my college girlfriend and she and i relocated back to the town where i grew up. well, she and i didn't work out and she went back to australia in 2004. i really was in a dark place in my life at that time and my little brother reached out to me. he was the dining room manager at one of the private clubs back home and he brought me in to be his bartender on nights and weekends. we had golf privileges at the club so we started playing golf every sunday afternoon. we'd play as many holes as possible and i think that he and i both really got addicted to the game at around the same time. there's no doubt that he was the single person responsible for getting me into this wonderful game and i will always be grateful that he reached out to me when he did. i've really been working on my game for about 2 years and i am proud of where i am as a golfer and i am glad that it's something that i can share with my brother.
 
And to repay him, you brought him to THP....Oh lucky us. :alien: I kid I kid.
 
I started a year ago due to my father in law and brother in law. I had just been forced to give up playing college basketball due to injuries and surgeries and I was sort of lacking a hobby. My father in law (scratch golfer) and brother in law (scratch as well) took me out golfing for the first time in my life and as you can imagine just killed me. I am a very competitive person so I vowed that "next year I will be able to play with you guys!" Now one year later I am hooked like nothing I have ever been hooked to before. Can't beat them yet but give me another year.
 
When I was eight, my grandfather took me out in the yard and had me hit shots with a PW. We would always try to chip it in or towards a bucket. When we would see him, he would take me to the driving range, par 3, and full courses. It was always a thrill. Then, I played on the middle school golf team. Looking back, I wish I joined the golf team in High School but at the time I was into basketball. Over the last several years, I have become more serious about the game and trying to improve. No matter what happens, it will always be fun to go out and play.

THP has taught me a lot about the equipment and the game too.
 
My sucky play inspired me to get better. I just happened to be looking for something to do with three golfers and they thought we should play. Poor them lol. 130+ shots later I decided I didn't like being so bad at something.
 
When I was a very little boy and LBJ was president, my sister, who is thirteen years older, starting dating a big husky football player. She was a cheerleader. I do not remember my life without this guy in it. 40+ years later and they are still married. Not only was this guy a bruiser of a full back, he was also a damn good golfer. And he looked like Jack Nicklaus. I kid you not. Blond crewcut, big legs. It was uncanny. And he could hit the ball A TON. His clubs were MacGregor Tourney blades, and he had a MT driver with a light stain and a screwed in silver metal face. When he hit it on the screws, he really did hit it on the screws. I wanted to always do what he did.

He and my sister, he was now my brother-in-law, gave me a lefty ladies eight iron when I was eight or nine. That resulted in a few broken windows. Then they bought me a starter set of ladies clubs the summer before I started seventh grade. I can remember them like they are brand new. They were "Styleists". LOL. Man, I was styling with my Styleists. It about broke my heart after the "varnish" started coming off about three months in. The same summer I ruined my elbow throwing screw balls and had to give up baseball. Can't to this day throw for more than five minutes without my elbow acting up. At that time, with a resident card, juniors could play nine holes at our three county courses for a whopping $.83. My Mom started taking me and a couple friends to Moor Downs, the nine hole course in the group, on her way to work in the morning. My Dad would leave two or three dollars on my dresser before he left for work in the morning, and that would buy me nine holes, a plastic wrapped cheeseburger or hot dog you heated in the first of the microwave ovens, and a couple of sodas. My choice was orange and grape. We would play nine holes in the morning, then chip and putt for several hours until another Mom could pick us up. When I wasn't at the muni, I was chipping in the back yard.

Two years later, before my freshman year in high school, I found myself in a bit of a dilemma. I had caddied that summer supposedly to save money to buy myself a set of men's golf clubs. The idea of styling the Stylelists on the high school golf team was a little frightening. I had visions of standing in front of a firing squad of older golf lettermen hitting me with Titleists. Well, I did a fair amount of caddying that year. I also did a lot of pin ball playing at Aladdin's Castle, the arcade in the mall across the street from the country club. I also ate a lot of hot dogs at the grill in Jacques Penne. They were served in a grilled New England style hot dog bun, like a Maine lobster roll. They also rolled the hot dogs on a griddle. They were very good, as were the milkshakes. It was amazing how a dog, a shake, and an hour of $.25 pin ball games could destroy a $5.00 or $6.00 caddy fee.

Anyway, at the end of the summer, the summer my Dad had informed me I was to work and save for men's golf clubs, I think I had about $20.00. He was pissed. I expected him to cave and put some under the tree at Christmas. Nope. He never did budge, but when March and my birthday rolled around, my sister and BIL came through again with a set of "First Flight" blades and woods.

This is kind of rambling on, but anyway, I had real clubs for my freshman year. My sister and her husband were always like that to me. They're now in their 60's and they treat my Daughter the same way. Very cool people.

Those First Flight lefty blades turned out to be just the ticket. I had a successful high school career, an even more successful college career, and went on to win many tour events and 11 major championships.

Well, maybe not, but I did win a lot of beers playing pin ball, and have been playing golf pretty regularly and generally not too shabbily since I got those Styleists 38 years ago.

Kevin
 
My grandpa inspired me to play about 3 years ago. We were going on a trip to Palm Springs and he said why don't you throw some of your dad's old clubs into a bag and then well go play. Well after that I was hooked. I didnt make the freshman baseball team and wanted to do something in the spring, so I picked golf. Ive played for two years in high school and hope to make varsity this year.
 
TC said:
man, great idea for a thread! i was talking to OEM kevin about this very thing today. i piddled around with golf later in highschool and then i went overseas where i played maybe once or twice a year. i married my college girlfriend and she and i relocated back to the town where i grew up. well, she and i didn't work out and she went back to australia in 2004. i really was in a dark place in my life at that time and my little brother reached out to me. he was the dining room manager at one of the private clubs back home and he brought me in to be his bartender on nights and weekends. we had golf privileges at the club so we started playing golf every sunday afternoon. we'd play as many holes as possible and i think that he and i both really got addicted to the game at around the same time. there's no doubt that he was the single person responsible for getting me into this wonderful game and i will always be grateful that he reached out to me when he did. i've really been working on my game for about 2 years and i am proud of where i am as a golfer and i am glad that it's something that i can share with my brother.
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That is a great story man, good work little bro, good work! I'm envious of your relationship and wish my bro and I had a similar one.

I've played since I was 12 yrs old, not a lot back then but my uncles and cousin first would take me out every so often and I thought it was fun, I played like that for a while then my sophomore year of high school decided to use my grandma's set of RAM Gene Littler clubs with smooth leather bag and try out for the golf team. Well I made the team and eventually became one of the top 5 players on the squad my first year, yeah we weren't real good mind you. I played both my junior and senior years and was right in that top 2 or 3 spot but after high school I pretty much quit for a few years, I took up chasing chicks instead and it wasn't until I got a part time gig at a pro shop that I really jumped into full fanatic mode, being around those guys everyday did so much good for my golf game that I really became hooked and just couldn't get enough. About that same time a core group of my buddies all started playing a lot more seriously and we began yearly outings called the BustaBall Classic, it's something we still do to this day where we have teams of guys captained by someone different each year and it's all match play Ryder Cup style, super fun and a great way to stay in touch with some buddies and it just adds to my overall love for this game. The BustaBall Classic is why I'm so excited about the THP Ryder Cup style outing that's been thrown around lately!
 
I started playing golf in my late 20's with my former husband. I always played golf with a cheap yard sale set of men's clubs and only played a few times a year. I was always fairly good off the tee but the rest of my game was really bad. I didn't really like the game but I think it makes a big difference who you are playing with!

Ol' Gray and I will be married 5 years next week. He is truly the person who inspired me to LOVE the game. His passion for it and his fun with the people he plays with really drew me into it. The first thing he did when he found out I could play was take me and buy me a new set of custom Pings. He said he wasn't going to let me play with junk. I was so proud of my clubs but I still couldn't hit them all that great.

Once I retired two years ago, I got more serious. This year he encouraged me to take lessons with him. We took a series of 6 lessons together. Now I'm really hooked and take lessons at least twice a month. He has created a monster!

Thank you Ol' Gray!!!! Life is really good.
 
My inspiration came from my dad back when I was in high school. He's always been an occasional player during the summer, and I finally asked to go with one day. Have been hooked ever since, other than a 7 year stint of not playing after moving and not having access to clubs. Glad I'm back playing again, really missed it!
 
KellyBo said:
I started playing golf in my late 20's with my former husband. I always played golf with a cheap yard sale set of men's clubs and only played a few times a year. I was always fairly good off the tee but the rest of my game was really bad. I didn't really like the game but I think it makes a big difference who you are playing with!

Ol' Gray and I will be married 5 years next week. He is truly the person who inspired me to LOVE the game. His passion for it and his fun with the people he plays with really drew me into it. The first thing he did when he found out I could play was take me and buy me a new set of custom Pings. He said he wasn't going to let me play with junk. I was so proud of my clubs but I still couldn't hit them all that great.

Once I retired two years ago, I got more serious. This year he encouraged me to take lessons with him. We took a series of 6 lessons together. Now I'm really hooked and take lessons at least twice a month. He has created a monster!

Thank you Ol' Gray!!!! Life is really good.
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Congrats KB my wife and I just had our 5th anniversary last week!

Ok back on topic!
 
SEVE

I could leave it there but although as a kid I loved watching most sports he made golf look more exciting than I'd ever seen it before. I went out to the garage and picked up one my dad's old irons and started swinging, chipping and generally hacking up the lawn. After a ball through the double glazing I got hold a few aeroballs and started hitting them around and then was taken to my local course for a round. I can remember feeling so honoured by it at the time.

It was too long ago to recall any shots first time out but I kept going back and have always loved playing since, even through the bad times but I do remember my first par and my first ever birdie and how that made me feel. That feeling hasn't changed much over the years.
 
KellyBo said:
Ol' Gray and I will be married 5 years next week.

Thank you Ol' Gray!!!! Life is really good.
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Good stuff KB! Sarah and I will be 5 year at the end of April...maybe just maybe on our anniversary we will be in Florida with the rest of you great people! :D

As for the story of how I got into golf, well I was fairly young, 10-11 maybe and some of my hockey buddies started playing golf as Juniors at the local club. I took it up to spend time with them, and for something to do in the summer months. It also helped that the course was about 150y from where I lived. The first year I only played about 10 times, and I played left handed. For Christmas that year my parents got me a used set of clubs, which were right handed. So I switched to playing right handed after my first year of golf. Over the next bunch of years I played every single day that I could, and a couple times I logged over 200 rounds in the summer. Not bad for a jr membership cost of about $130, great for me, great for my parents as they pretty much always knew where I was. From age 13-16 I also worked in the pro shop cleaning clubs, redoing grips, and working out front. After that I got a job elsewhere, but for the summers between college years I worked on the course.

So I essentially I grew up either in a hockey rink, or on the golf course. After college I took about 6 years off of golf due to lack of transportation and money. When I met my current wife I said "I really miss golf" and she decided to take up the game to be able to spend time with me. Fast forward 7 years, and we live in a golf community and golf ever chance we get. Life is great.
 
For me it was my family. My grandfather played 5 times a week. My father played 4 days a week and his brother is a teaching pro and the golf coach for the Minnesota State University at Moorhead. My dad had a club in my hand from the time I could walk and had me in golf camp by the age of 3. Other than a serious hand injury that took a club out of my hands for just under 4 years golf has always been a part of my lif.

I was a 2 time junior champ (by age divisions) at my home club. I played 4 years of High School golf followed by 2 seasons of College golf. From there I turned pro (age 20). I left working in the game for 6 years and minus the 4 I couldn't play I think I played more golf the 2 years I could while I was away from the game than I had in any 2 year strech working in golf. I just cannot get away from it.

I am at the point now where this is my career and I know that I am going to be working in this field until I am forced to retire. I love this game so much and seeing my clients improve and watching their love of the game grow keeps it fun for me.
 
Nintendo golf games. I had fun playing and decided to try the real thing.
 
My FIL. He was a club pro and when I met him and MIL for the first time, he took me under his wing not only as a future DIL but as a very, very struggling golfer (couldn't drive the ball more than 5'. Seriously) While he didn't live to see me drive the ball 150 yards, he and my MIL instilled a great love of the game (the same love my husband had for the game), its traditions, and the commeradarie on and off the course.

Two things I remember most: The very first time we ever played golf together, after realizing how bad I hit the ball, he took me to the driving range at the club and tried to help me learn to hit a ball more than a few yards. After 2 hours, that must have been very frustrating for him, he turned to me and said "Darlin', you let the boys get you to the green and then you put it in the hole for the money" (I could putt pretty good) And, he and my MIL swore you would never meet nicer people than the people you meet through golf. He was right on both counts but especially the second.

Every time I pull a club from my bag, I think of him and know he is watching over my game. He's my 15th club.
 
A good friend convinced me to play a round back in August of 94. We had been good friends for 4 or 5 years at that time. I'm happy to say he has been my best friend since that day!
 
Guys on tv (Jesper Parnevik is the first pro golfer I remember being a fan of), also video games like Mario golf for n64.
I'm the first in my family to play.
 
KellyBo said:
I started playing golf in my late 20's with my former husband. I always played golf with a cheap yard sale set of men's clubs and only played a few times a year. I was always fairly good off the tee but the rest of my game was really bad. I didn't really like the game but I think it makes a big difference who you are playing with!

Ol' Gray and I will be married 5 years next week. He is truly the person who inspired me to LOVE the game. His passion for it and his fun with the people he plays with really drew me into it. The first thing he did when he found out I could play was take me and buy me a new set of custom Pings. He said he wasn't going to let me play with junk. I was so proud of my clubs but I still couldn't hit them all that great.

Once I retired two years ago, I got more serious. This year he encouraged me to take lessons with him. We took a series of 6 lessons together. Now I'm really hooked and take lessons at least twice a month. He has created a monster!

Thank you Ol' Gray!!!! Life is really good.
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Awwww Thanks for the for the thanks KellyBo! We try to inspire each other and always pull for each other to play well. I am on the sidelines looking in now so I am her biggest fan. She has game now and is improving at a fast rate. We have been on many golf outings together and if/when we ever move again it will be to a golf community.

I first played golf with my Dad prior to going into the Army and serving two years, one in Vietnam. When I came back a friend of mine ask me to play and as many of you have stated, it perked my interest. I played every sport possible coming up through the teen years of my life. Once my buddy took me out for a round of golf playing with my Dad's old Sam Snead Blue Ridge clubs, I was easy meat :golf2:...
 
I kind of inspired myself. I was working at a Country Club where I got free golf and just started playing. I have only been at it since 2002
 
I am so enjoying these stories everyone! We could be a golf ball or a kodak moment commercial. Someone should definitely write a book.
 
My dad purchased me my first set of clubs when I was 7. We used to go to the range a lot and then to a little par 3 course. I really started playing a lot when I was about 14. Our club offered a junior membership for 200 bucks a year. My best friend lived across the street from the course. We used to walk over carrying out bags, play 9 holes, go back to his place for lunch and swim, then go back and play 9 more. Those were great days. We would do that 3 or 4 days a week.
 
Dean taught me to play four years ago. I said when we first started dating that I would never play golf that only lasted about 2 years. Then Dean bought me my first set of clubs on ebay. We started with going to the range and par 3 courses. Now I'm hooked, I played in my first golf league this summer and I'm sure by next year I will be a member.
 
Summer before high school started I needed extra money. I worked full time at my dad's gas station but you know how it goes when working in a family business when you're a kid, you don't get paid anything. My dad spoke to a customer of ours, a pro from a country club near our store, and I got a summer job. Everyday I would work for my dad from 6:30-8:45 & 6-9:30 and for Bruce from 9-3. During some slow days Bruce would let me tool around with the putter and take it out the putting green. Then he let me take used clubs to the driving range and chipping area. Got some unclaimed clubs from Bruce by mid summer and was taking a complimentary junior golf clinic he throws every summer.
At the end of summer my dad took me to Academy and he bought me my first real set of golf clubs. A complete set of deltas' for $150. 2 weeks later I tried out for the High School golf team and made it.

This might sound strange but I guess the challenge of the game attracted me to golf. There was an intuitive approach to the game for me but it required me to be methodical as well.
 
i have played basketball all my life but i blew my knee out in high-school,and my DR. has been telling me for the past 4 or 5 years that i had to stop playing b-ball so much.I played about 4 times a week and in 4 to 5 leagues every single year but a couple years ago all of it started catching up to my knee,it has no cartilidge it is bone on bone and i have had 5 surgeries.So anyway i had to find something else to play or some kinda of hobby and,the first day i played golf i knew i had found both a hobby and a sport to play.i havent been playing very long but i do love this game as much as i love playing basketball.knocking the ball stiff less than 10 feet from the hole from 150 yards out is just as good of a feeling as scoring on someone who was put in the game to shut you down,the adrenaline rush is great.
 
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