Hi all, IGÇÖm Simon, 34, and currently living in the south of England. I played 9 holes about 2 months ago at a local pitch and putt and fell in love with the game. I recently bought my first set of clubs and I have my first lesson tomorrow................cant wait.

If anyone has any tip please share, I went on the driving range yesterday for the first time and I need all the help I can get........

At this point the best thing you can do is stay patient and really pay attention to your instructor. Many golfers become frustrated because they are not improving as fast as they want to and try doing stuff other than what instructor is trying to teach and this just makes it worse. Just have fun.

pikapp23 wrote:

At this point the best thing you can do is stay patient and really pay attention to your instructor. Many golfers become frustrated because they are not improving as fast as they want to and try doing stuff other than what instructor is trying to teach and this just makes it worse. Just have fun.

Agreed! As a recent beginner myself I can testify to the frustration that comes from the slow ascent up the learning curve. Keep practicing and taking lessons and you will improve. It's easy to focus on all the stuff that's going wrong in your game so try to look for things that are improving. Keeping stats on oobgolf will help you do that.

Golf is a strange game. It seems to be one of the few sports where personal achievement and satisfaction are measured in relative rather than absolute terms. There was even a Wedge Guy article on why people give up golf, and the number one reason was because people didn't feel they were improving!

So, try to enjoy the game for what it is, keep working at it, and be sure to acknowledge improvements as you make them.

bm~

pikapp23 is right when he says have fun. Golf is a strange game that can give you the highest high and 3 holes later make you want to snap your clubs. But for some reason we keep coming back.

Spend as much time as you can practicing. Divide time equally between the range, short game and putting. Then after a few rounds decide which areas need most attention and adjust your practice time allocation accordingly.

Be patient and set realistic goals for yourself. This is my first season as a golfer and I am having a great time with it.
My personal challenges for the season are to hit at least one birdie, get better than 15% GIR for the season and to shoot a bogey round on my home course.
Those are the measurable targets. I would also be pleased with a more consistant and repeatable swing and to be able to hit shots longer so that I can clear the water (141 yds) on #9 with a 3i rather than with a 5W.