What's a beginner to do

[Whalen]

Played my first round of golf this Monday at the Turtle Mound Course.
Our foursome is new to the game so we thought a course rated 1 was for beginners. We arrived on time for our 8:05 tee time.

The starter called us to play and we proceeded to the first hole where we waited for the golfers in front of us to leave the green. We then all took our first shots and as I walked back towards my cart the ambassador drove up to me and abruptly told me we had to move the game along, no more than 10 minutes a hole, 6 shots pick up your ball and go. I told him we were beginners and he then told me to play in the afternoon when no one is around. I noticed the party behind us were impatiently tapping their feet so we left & moved on. By now we're a bit nervous, looking over our shoulders, rushing our shots and not having much fun.

As we get to about the third hole the ambassador was sitting by the path watching us, we exchanged pleasantries about Walden Pond and played the hole.

Now we are at the the sixth hole, Mr Ambassador is after us again because the group in front of us was a hole ahead of us and I looked back to see the toe tappers. At this point I said to the ambassador we just started playing, we picked this course because it was an easy course for beginners, I didn't know I'd be playing with Arnold Palmer in front of us And Jack Nicklaus behind us, and don't tell me I have to play at high noon or at night when no one is around, that's just not fair. My husband said we're not really behind and if these players are so good why don't they play a harder course. The ambassador was then very gracious and told us not to worry, play our game and he'll take care of the people behind us.

Well now the day is just about over, between the toe tappers behind us, the road runners in front of us and the ambassador in the bushes I couldn't wait for the ninth hole to end. Which it did at 9:45.

I foolishly thought that golf was a genteel game, played at a leisurely pace by civilized people.
I didn't realize it was a race to the finish.

And please don't beat me up over this post, I've already had my golf whopping for the week.

Thanks for listening.

[under55]

Just play the game and enjoy it. Will be down there in late September set us up a tee time and I will glady join you in a round of slow play.

[joannej]

Sometimes the marshalls will make you advance to the next hole even though you're not finished with the current hole to keep things moving. What to do? Go to driving ranges and practice hitting the ball. There is one off of 466a and a few more around the area. I remember when I was a beginner I went to many 3-hole places during the off-times to practice playing. Also, are you playing ready golf or fast play? Courses are available for Fast Play. The sooner you learn the rules of fast play, the better off all of you will be. Another thing you can do is let the better golfers behind you to go ahead of you. If you're not in a hurry, that usually works to get people off your back. Golf Lessons are good to take too in TV. I'm a seasoned golfer, and have played with beginners who have taken lessons in TV and I must admit, they do pretty well. One more thing to make you move faster as a beginner is to play off the Ladies tees (or the front tees). After 6 shots, pick up your ball, and move to the next hole during the busy times. Have fun; you will get better with practice and more play. Hope this info helps! :o

[Taj44]

Sometimes the marshalls will make you advance to the next hole even though you're not finished with the current hole to keep things moving. What to do? Go to driving ranges and practice hitting the ball. There is one off of 466a and a few more around the area. I remember when I was a beginner I went to many 3-hole places during the off-times to practice playing. Also, are you playing ready golf or fast play? Courses are available for Fast Play. The sooner you learn the rules of fast play, the better off all of you will be. Another thing you can do is let the better golfers behind you to go ahead of you. If you're not in a hurry, that usually works to get people off your back. Golf Lessons are good to take too in TV. I'm a seasoned golfer, and have played with beginners who have taken lessons in TV and I must admit, they do pretty well. One more thing to make you move faster as a beginner is to play off the Ladies tees (or the front tees). After 6 shots, pick up your ball, and move to the next hole during the busy times. Have fun; you will get better with practice and more play. Hope this info helps! :o

Joanne, good advice. Whalen, don't be discouraged. You'll get better with practice. But as a newbie, I'd advise you to play at off hours so you won't be holding people up. If you have one open hole in front of you, you're not keeping pace, and need to pick up to get back up to pace. If you finished at 9:45, I'd guess you started around 7:45, so you were one of the first groups out. If the pace of play gets backed but that early in the morning, every group that tees up after you will be behind as well, just so you understand. Try playing at 5:00 at night. Good luck.

[dadspet]

It is the ambassadors role to keep play moving along so they can keep their schedule. Each course has scheduled t times about every 10 minutes or so. Turtle mound has an expected total play time of 1 hr 30 minutes or 10 minutes per hole. Roosevelt a harder course has a long play time of 1 hr 45 minutes. At first you will seem rushed but after some practice and playing Ready Golf you will be able to keep up. If you don't want to feel as rushed (as we don't BTW) the suggestion of playing in the afternoon is good. It isn't that bad and not feeling as rushed will make the game a lot more pleasant!
Hang in there and have fun at it!

[texasfal]

You might have asked the toe-tappers if they wanted to go ahead of you. Just a suggestion. Remember everyone started out the same way and you will get better. Hang in there.

[Whalen]

We finished our round in 1 hour and 40 minutes, I really had no idea that golf is such a fast game. Live & learn.

Thank you all for your kind words, encouragement, and good advice.
It is greatly appreciated.

[graciegirl]

Don't give up. It is at first a very frustrating "long walk spoiled". It just looks really easy.

The G's will come down and do battle with the course along side of you just as soon as we can.

Don't get discouraged. I am so looking forward to playing golf with you.

It get's easier and faster, I promise!

An hour and 40 minutes is very good time for your first round.

I think you will be on the tour before you know it!

[MelZ]

We finished our round in 1 hour and 40 minutes, I really had no idea that golf is such a fast game. Live & learn.

Thank you all for your kind words, encouragement, and good advice.
It is greatly appreciated.

The Ambassador was just doing his job, which is to keep the game moving. Don't get overly sensitive, and remember even Tiger had to start somewhere.

First time I played, the course Pro was on the foursome after us. He critiqued my game loud enough for me to hear. Freaked me out, but my buddy encouraged me in spite of the jerk.

Keep a smile on your face and your head down:wave:

[katezbox]

Gail

Let me know when you would like to play with us. Jim and I oftern go out around 6:30 - it is cool and there are few folks on the course.

K

[Indy-Guy]

It is to bad that this happened to you your first time out. My suggestion is that if a hole is ahead of you skip a hole by picking up your ball and move up to where you can see the foursome ahead of you.

If you wait and let the people behind you go ahead of you that will take more time and just back up the foursomes behind you and you won't make any friends that way. Also the ambassadors wont' want you to let a foursome go around you. You can always ask the ambassadors which one they want you to do this will help your comfort level. I am sure they will tell you to pick up your ball and skip a hole.

I realize that you went out to play 9 holes of golf but the mental strain will be much better if you do it this way. That is just my opinion.

The first time I took my wife out on a Championship Course the ambassador told us up to pick up the pace. I play about 4-5 times a week and I didn't feel that we were behind pace. When he told me we had an open hole ahead of us I told him that when we teed off there was no one in site now and there is still no one in site. I let her play from my drive to speed things up a little.

Also remember if a twosome is behind you they will play faster than your foursome. I get irrated when I am in a foursome with a twosome behind us and they hit into us like the four of us should play as fast as the twosome is playing. Especially when we are keeping up with the people ahead of us.

Last night I went out on a Championship course at a little after 7:00 there was no one infront of me nor behind me. On my second shot I was hitting 6 to seven balls from that point as I was working on my 150 yard to the green game. No one around. After a couple of holes I was on a par 3 and hit 6 balls from the tee four were on the gree and two just off. I looked over my shoulder and a guy had caught me and was comming off the green behind me. I was gathering up my balls as he pulled up and said for me to go ahead and practice and he would skip that hole. That was very nice of him. I wasn't there to play 9 holes all I wanted to do was practice and not bother anyone. It worked out great.

[KathieI]

Whalen, after reading all these posts and your experience, I'm staying off the green for sure. This is much more complicated than I want to deal with. I also thought it was a laid back game and just had some rules like hit the ball in the hole, but I'm hearing an awful lot of drama and I'm totally scared to even try it. :confused:

I'll continue to dance at Havana and you can join me anytime. I'm not going to complain if your too slow.....
:pepper2::pepper2:

[graciegirl]

If being a new golfer makes you tense and you feel a lack of patience and a little animosity from the other players, try being a beginner trying to get into a game with seasoned Mah jongg players. Ouch.

[Hancle704]

If you finished in 1 hour and 40 minutes, I'd say you were doing okay. The suggestion previously given to pick up after 6 strokes (including putts) is good advice.

My foursome is made up of some older gents who don't move too fast. We compensate for this by playing best ball so as not to slow down the speed of play.

Read about "ready golf". A thing that frustrates golfers who are waiting behind you is to watch folks who hit the ball then return several times to get their club for next shot. Consider taking your putter with you when you are close to the green instead of having to return to cart.

Also, I suggest that you consider the reality that everyone was once a beginner and sadly some folks have forgotten that.

[taylor111947]

Sorry you had such a disappointing experience your first time out. I remember those days.

There are a lot of tips and tricks that you can learn to make your game move faster without having to run from shot to shot. Playing 'ready' golf, knowing where to park your cart etc. will make the game less stressful.

I have a few suggestions.
You might find that playing as a twosome gives you more time. If you can each take a cart it will also cut the time down. See if you can play with someone who is experienced enough to explain golf etiquite (I know that's the wrong spelling). Even better, arrange to play a round with the pro. Get out there on the driving range and practice using all your clubs until you get a feel for distance. Club selection can also be time-consuming until you gain more confidence. In the begining, don't even bother keeping score - just concentrate on hitting the ball.

The key is to have fun, but not at the expense of others.

Good luck.

[PR1234]

TIP for new golfers. When I first started out my golf instructor would have us tee up all the way down the fairway. I ended up doing this for about a year:):) It really helps you to get more comfortable hitting off the fairway AND saves time. Even now if I start getting frustrated my hubby says T UP:)

[Minnesotalyn]

Whalen, Brings back memories. It gets easier. I still get nervous when my husband and I get to the golf course and we're set up with people we don't know because you don't know how good they are. But we've met some very good and patient people and that gets easy too. There are so many golf coarses in Mn.,that the one we like, if we go in the middle of the week about noon we've had the place to ourselves. That's all ways great.

[logdog]

Playing as a two-some really isn't an option here. The tee time system will just pair you up with another two players. I played this morning with another gentleman who knows who to play and two women who just came out to have fun and enjoy the day. They compensated by playing best ball to keep the pace going and avoid stress. It worked out quite well.

[jmitchell]

Played my first round of golf this Monday at the Turtle Mound Course.
Our foursome is new to the game so we thought a course rated 1 was for beginners. We arrived on time for our 8:05 tee time.

The starter called us to play and we proceeded to the first hole where we waited for the golfers in front of us to leave the green. We then all took our first shots and as I walked back towards my cart the ambassador drove up to me and abruptly told me we had to move the game along, no more than 10 minutes a hole, 6 shots pick up your ball and go. I told him we were beginners and he then told me to play in the afternoon when no one is around. I noticed the party behind us were impatiently tapping their feet so we left & moved on. By now we're a bit nervous, looking over our shoulders, rushing our shots and not having much fun.

As we get to about the third hole the ambassador was sitting by the path watching us, we exchanged pleasantries about Walden Pond and played the hole.

Now we are at the the sixth hole, Mr Ambassador is after us again because the group in front of us was a hole ahead of us and I looked back to see the toe tappers. At this point I said to the ambassador we just started playing, we picked this course because it was an easy course for beginners, I didn't know I'd be playing with Arnold Palmer in front of us And Jack Nicklaus behind us, and don't tell me I have to play at high noon or at night when no one is around, that's just not fair. My husband said we're not really behind and if these players are so good why don't they play a harder course. The ambassador was then very gracious and told us not to worry, play our game and he'll take care of the people behind us.

Well now the day is just about over, between the toe tappers behind us, the road runners in front of us and the ambassador in the bushes I couldn't wait for the ninth hole to end. Which it did at 9:45.

I foolishly thought that golf was a genteel game, played at a leisurely pace by civilized people.
I didn't realize it was a race to the finish.

And please don't beat me up over this post, I've already had my golf whopping for the week.

Thanks for listening.


You are funny and I'm sure FUN to play golf with!

[jmitchell]

We finished our round in 1 hour and 40 minutes, I really had no idea that golf is such a fast game. Live & learn.

Thank you all for your kind words, encouragement, and good advice.
It is greatly appreciated.


Did you ask the toe tappers what song they were singing :throwtomatoes::throwtomatoes:?

[Pturner]

I see that this thread was revived, and that Whalen posted about her new golf experience more than a year ago!

But now, I'm curious. Gail, did you stick with it? Do you still golf? I'd be happy to golf with you next time I'm there.

[Russ_Boston]

It would be interesting to hear the one year update.

We were all beginners at one point and faced the same issues.

However, I do agree that real beginners should practice at a range a little prior to their first round. Then during their first few rounds employ some of the ideas mentioned earlier (like pick up after X strokes, move ahead a hole if behind etc.). Or maybe play a scramble for the first few rounds so they can play from the best shot.

Most courses suggest that real beginners play other than early morning. I think that is a good practice.

I have more issues with people who are NOT beginners who play slowly. "Don't look around, you know who you are! "(George Clooney, 2010 Emmy show)