Same here. The idea that you keep your left arm straight on the backswing still feels weird to me. And I'm still too handsy and grip the clubs too firmly. It's nothing like baseball - just remember that.

Licked the edge of an A1 bottle at restaraunt out of habit, think the waitress saw me do it.

Who in SE is not a pro but can consistently break 80?

My guess would be Riverman? tuq? mjw?

I don't think you'll have any chance of breaking 100 after 4 weeks unless you play an easy and extremely short course from the reds and thats only if you're really talented. Then you have maybe a 10% chance. The main thing is to make sure you know the ettiquette and everything though. If you find yourself away for consecutive shots more than once a side then you need to be very conscious of your pace and where you're leaving your bag/cart and make up the time while walking or in your routine. Most beginner golfers are terribly inconsiderate with this and it is dreadful to play with them even if they're your friends.

I think most people who try to pick up golf get out on the course way too early on in their development. I was a medicore high school golfer (low to mid 80s from the back tees on decently tough courses) and now struggle to break 100 on easy courses 7 years later. 100 is not a score most people can shoot if they don't take the game seriously. My friends that claim to shoot 95-110 are usually about 30 strokes worse than that if I'm being generous. If a beginner tells you they shot 100 then they probably shot 130-140 and maybe worse.

Going by reported scores I should give most of my friends who are beginners .5 strokes a hole if we played match play, but I would definitely give them 2 strokes a hole and feel like I am getting the better of it and I am probably a 20+ handicap right now.

that's disgusting.

Proper ball position changes depending on what club you are hitting. A driver should be even with your left toes while a wedge should be in the middle of your feet.

For beginners it is absolutely crucial to master the grip before doing anything else. If you have a bad grip you have no chance.

Just because your friends lie, doesn't mean everyone who claims a score lies.

Larry: breaking 100 is doable by the middle or end of this season imo.

i dont golf but based on how much in general people exaggerate i assume cdl is right and people are horrible at reporting accurate golf scores

the habit of finishing off your dad's peen?

There is an index database in the golf sub. Probably Riverman, Tuq... Schu might be like 50/50 to break 80 (?). I think CheckRaise has broken 80 once in a while. Trying to think who else.

virtually every player I have ever met that shoots >100 lies about this. I played as a single a ton in middle or high school (got dropped off when my mom went to work and played 36 like 4 days a week every summer) and can probably count on 1 hand how many players I have played with that shot >100 and took the correct score on every hole.

If we put Larry on a 6500 yard course of middling difficulty after 4 weeks he has a <1% chance of breaking 100 if he really has no experience.

I keep accurate score (well, as accurate as I know. I don't have the official rulebook freaking memorized). My first few rounds out were like 126, 122, 120 or something.

But I'd played probably 10-20 times in my life. Like once a year when I was a teenager I'd go play or whatever but had no idea what I was doing. Also would go to the range and rip 80 drivers once in a while.

I agree with CDL that people don't generally want to claim higher than "I just missed breaking 100". I played with a friend who played on my baseball team and is athletic and was a very good contact hitter and he was in the 140s when I took him out.

An actual honest 100 isn't as easy as it sounds. It's basically 1.5 extra strokes per hole. If you are wont to blow up a few holes (which new players are), it is exceedingly difficult to keep your score right at 100. There are only 28 extra strokes to play with over 18 holes.

This reminds me, LarryLegend: Keep accurate scores. It's the only way to know if you are improving. You can log them for free at oobgolf.com and be in the 2p2 group page.

Lol at any beginner actually scoring themselves correctly. The next beginner who hits a provisional instead of just dropping somewhere near where their ball went into the woods will be the first, ain't nobody got time for that

I don't break 80 too consistently, but I'm like a ~12 handicap so I do it often enough for how much I play.

I agree with Riverman when it comes to your grip. You don't even need to go to a pro, just work with someone who really knows what they're talking about and make sure that your grip, stance, posture, and set-up are correct. That is at least half the battle.

I also strongly encourage you to focus more on playing actual rounds. Going to the range for hours at a time can turn out to be counter productive, especially for a beginner. The range is mostly helpful for people who really know what they're doing and want to get accomplished. It's extremely easy to lose focus at the range, even after like a half hour. You'll learn a lot more by going out and playing and figuring out what works and what doesn't.

I really struggle with my driver at times, but I've played so much that I know how to hit shots to get out of trouble, know course management, and can putt extremely well. If your short game is really a strength, you just need to focus on staying out of trouble and getting around the green in regulation. As a beginner, you probably won't be able to hit it far enough to get into a ton of trouble. If you can just keep it in play and make good contact consistently, you'll be just fine.

I am horribly inaccurrate with the driver and a typical conversation on the second tee box when playing with 3 random players would be like:

1: you're up
me: nah, I had an 8.
2: what do you mean, thought that was a par?
me: nope. hit my first 2 tee shots OB.
3: ah, those are just mulligans. its the first hole.
me: hits OB again

repeat like every hole as these guys hack it around and never count penalties and only count it as one stroke when it takes then 3 to get out of the bunker. Also basically never take more than 2 putts even though they hit 2 and then picked up the ball 5 feet away because "it was good."

I agree, Larry has a very slim chance of breaking 100 at a legit course after 4 weeks. I never disagreed with this.

My main group I play with takes golf very serious and we count every stroke. (we all started around the same time, and lay bets on pretty much every round we play. it gets heated sometimes, but we're all like brothers. well one of them is my brother).

Yea, my plan is not to break 100 instantly, it is to be able to have fun with my friends who shoot between low 80's-110. I will probably be as good as a couple of them (meaning terrible) after the 4 hours, but ideally I would like to be able to at the end of the year be able to shoot under 100 and then maybe next year be able to go to events for golf and use it as a professional networking tool.

As far as etiquette, I am not concerned with that, while knowing it is very important. I expect my friends will tell me how I should act and be very helpful/ honest with things I might not know to do. Some of them regularly shoot low 80s or better and participate in a lot of tournaments and we've known each other for a long time so they will keep me in line.

Whatever works for you, champ.

On a course with a slope rating under 130 I'm prob 10-20% to break 80 the way I'm playing right now. Tough course and I have no chance. Depends mostly on how small/tough the greens are as my short game needs the most work.

I definitely scored myself 100% accurately when I was a beginner. I learned the rules and played by them. They're there for a reason. I also prbably spent 2000 hours with a club in my hand before ever playing at a real course though (non-par 3).

CalledDownLight
Plays by the rules

too easy.

People who are good at putting piss me off. Yeah you can dribble the ball around with your stupid looking flatstick, good for you. GOLF is about swigging beer and smashing it off the tee. Gotta let the big dog eat.

Agree with mjw that proper setup is most of the battle. I was playing like **** my first 5-6 rounds this year, changed a couple things with my setup/posture/grip, and I've been making very consistent contact with every club. I don't have many swing thoughts during the swing. It's mostly about getting the right setup, then making sure I stop at the top instead of looping, and I hit the ball pretty well.