The Thread Where We Discuss Golf

[gunnar hendershow]

Wow I'm stunned Zach Johnson was the guy who emerged from that crowd.

[Baddar]

Robert Allenby says he sacked his caddie mid-round at the Canadian Open after disagreeing over club selection.

However, Mick Middlemo claims he chose to walk off in Ontario because of a series of "personal insults".

It is the third time that Allenby has lost a caddie in the middle of a round.

 

The 44-year-old Australian, who shot 81 and withdrew from the tournament, said: "My nerves have been rattled. I'm in shock. This is the worst incident I've ever witnessed as a player."

The confrontation occurred on the par-five 13th when, on the advice of compatriot Meddlemo, Allenby hit an eight iron into the green but found a creek and eventually made a triple-bogey.

The four-time PGA Tour winner said he told Middlemo: "You know this happens every week. We keep making bad mistakes and you're not helping me in these circumstances."

Allenby added: "He just lost the plot at me. He got right in my face as if he wanted to just beat me up. I said, 'Stop being a such-and-such and calm down and get back into the game.'

"And he just got even closer and closer and I just said, 'That's it, you're sacked. I will never have you caddie again.'"

 

He's sacked 3 caddies mid round? Surely some responsibility falls on him by this point...

[Thrilla]

Sounds like me playing TGC >_>

[Meacon Keaton]

Rickie Fowler got a hole-in-one today.

[Baddar]

He's a shot back going into the final round. His round starts in 15mins so I'm gonna have to watch, aren't I.

[Your Mom]

Ok we bought the new EA Golf game and I mean it's kinda fun but that isn't the point of this post. Inside there were 3 codes for $20 off Tee Times like you know real life type Golf. Well we have never played and we don't know anyone who plays.

Originally I was going to offer the codes to one of you guys but then I thought "Hey Golf might be fun to try!" So my questions are as follows

1. Is it fun to play? Do you enjoy it?

2. How hard is Golf for people who have never played? Will it be "Ha ha we suck" fun or "Fuck this we suck!" irritating?

3. We don't have clubs obviously. Can you rent them? Is that a thing?

4. Is it better to just jump right in or should we try and practice or something first?

 

Thanks for the help Golfing people!

[DavidMarrio]

I don't know if they have a pitch and putt in America but that would be a good way to start. Smaller courses and not as many clubs, can sometimes rent them as well. 

 

Driving ranges as well would be a good place to start to learn and get a feel for playing. You'll get used to getting your swing right. 

If you're trying to be all serious about it then you'll get frustrated but if you're playing for fun you'll have a laugh no matter how good or bad you are. 

[JasonM]

I never have played golf, but my brother is a bit of a fan of it. I've had interest myself in the past, so I know this from him.

1: My brother likes it a lot, it also depends on how serious you are.
2: It's a sport about technique, so it'll take a bit of time before you really get underway. The hardest part is getting the ball where you want it to go, so form is important... If you're with a casual group of all sucky people, and you don't take that too serious, then you can still have a fun time because everyone is sucking.
3: You can often rent them at most if not all golf places, depending on your height/sex there are different sets more often than not. Taller people need longer clubs, and shorter people need smaller ones.
4: Personally I think you're best off having some practice first, Like I said it's a sport about proper swinging technique first and foremost. And if you don't know how to stand, then you'll have a bad time. Depending on the place you go, and how busy it is, the people at the club will be helpful to newer people, since they obviously want as many new customers as they can get. If you're at a place where they brush you off despite it not being busy, then you're probably better off somewhere else. (but the same goes for every other sport and activity, really)

Again, bad form can be bad on how you play, but it can also cause some pretty nasty shoulder/elbow injuries if you are just hacking it. Clubs are stick with a heavy block at the end of it, so you need to know what you're doing.
 

[MJB]

Golf is probably the most frustrating game in the world. Purely because you can play brilliantly on one hole and then be really shocking on the next. For an amateur, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

However, I love it and try to play as often as I can. To answer your questions...

1) I find it fun. It seems to divide people though. 

2) First time, yeah you'll probably suck. Sorry. How quickly you improve will probably determine how angry you get.

3) Hiring clubs is a difficult thing. You need to find what is called a Par 3 or a Pitch 'n' Putt course that isn't too serious. They should let you hire out a few clubs.

4) Jumping straight in shouldn't be too bad. Just try and find a relaxed place with other families. You don't want to be going to a serious golf club where everybody has been playing every week for 30 years.

 

Hope that helps.

[apsham]

I've always wanted to gold really bad. We had a chance in high school to take a different sport based thing - and I decided to go with golf since my friends were and they had done it before. We only went out to a course once, and I didn't do terribly but I wasn't all that great either.

I'm always intimidated to go with people now that I'm older because I feel like I'd slow them down, and if I had people behind me I would feel rushed and not enjoy myself.

[Your Mom]

Yeah my big hesitation is I'm worried like if I take 38 shots to make it people are going to be waiting all pissed off

[HC]

No, but I am an expert at Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge.

 

 

 

[Mick]

Just go to a driving range, get a feel for how to play, then just play casually at a local course, usually starting with about 9 holes. 

 

Though, I thought we were gonna talk about golf video games, in which I would whore out the Links series  . 

[Gazz]

Yeah my big hesitation is I'm worried like if I take 38 shots to make it people are going to be waiting all pissed off

I wouldn't worry about it personally, golf clubs don't allow women.

[TCO]

I play pitch and putt a lot and it's amazing fun, would highly recommend it for beginners!

Always wanted to take up golf but don't know if I'd have enough interest in make the investment in the clubs. Don't know anybody who I could borrow left-handed clubs from either to find out, so I'm stuck playing pitch and putt for now!

[Whisper]

I've just recently taken up golf over the past year or so. My mate is really good (plays off 5) and he spent some time teaching me at the range and on the course. Just recently I decided to have some lessons at the local club and I've improved dramatically.

Best advice, as mentioned above, would be to start at a driving range or a pitch and putt, just to get a feel for it.

Golf is probably the hardest game to pick up and play, but it is immensely fun. If you wanted to actually get semi-good I would highly recommend a lesson or two. Not only has it made me much better, but just chatting to the golf pro and asking him questions has made me much more comfortable around the place. Golf clubs can be pretty intimidating places with all the etiquette/dress codes etc.

[Colly]

Does crazy golf count? I'm ace at that.

Edited August 14, 2015 by Ultra Rare Colly

[Meacon Keaton]

 

1. Is it fun to play? Do you enjoy it?

2. How hard is Golf for people who have never played? Will it be "Ha ha we suck" fun or "Fuck this we suck!" irritating?

3. We don't have clubs obviously. Can you rent them? Is that a thing?

4. Is it better to just jump right in or should we try and practice or something first?

 

Thanks for the help Golfing people!

I actually just started golfing six months ago. Prior to that, I had played once before, so I can give a pretty novice opinion.

1. It's incredibly fun. It gets me out of the house, it lets me hang out outside. You can play at your own pace, and it's a laidback enough game that you can enjoy the company of your playing partner. I'm in the process of getting clubs for my wife, because I really think it'd be a great couples game. 

2. It's incredibly hard. As for the "haha we suck" or "fuck this we suck" it really depends on how competitive you are. Or how much instant gratification you want. You aren't going to go out there and down it in five, six, seven, or likely even eight or nine shots at first. If you've never even gone to a driving range, 300 yard or more holes are going to take you forever to get to. You really need to hit up a driving range and at least become somewhat decent at driving the ball 100-150 yards before trying to play a course unless you want to be there all week. 

3. You absolutely can rent them. You won't be getting any clubs with very good quality, most likely, which will hurt your game. You can find a decent pair on Amazon for like $150 (on sale) to $300 that are made from graphite. Graphite is very forgiving, so even if you don't hit the ball precisely right, it'll still go a good distance.

4. Practice, practice, practice. Going to a golf course can be expensive. Go find a driving range, spend ten/twelve dollars a piece to get a large bucket of balls and practice driving for several hours (not necessarily at one time  ) before wasting money at a course. You're more likely to get upset and frustrated if you drop $70-$100 for you guys to play a course, and suck, and quit, than you are to spend to $10 at a driving range and just have fun "whackin' it".

Hope this helps. Hopefully welcome to the golf fraternity/sorority.  

[munky]

I play Whap-Fuck, where you take a long walk on a carefully manicured lawn digging many small holes and frightening wildlife.

Also, beer.

[METALMAN]

Golf makes me so, so miserable. My dad used to drag me along to play golf with him. Probably because he knew he was guaranteed to beat me.

But I had all the gear and I used to go to my age group's golf club after school on Mondays and play a full round and it made me so miserable. Then I stopped because one really wet day I started my back swing with a 5 iron and it slipped right out of my hands and flew into a nearby forest and I couldn't find it.

I just don't like golf. My uncle got me tickets for the Open once though. I guess that was pretty cool.