Now that I had my clubs and courses planned out, I was ready to take the first swing.
Let me clarify and point out that although I decided against taking lessons (likely a bad decision down the road after I develop horrible habits), I read every free instruction source that I could get my hands on. My 3 favorites were abcofgolf, about.com, and Golf for Dummies (which I found as an e-book).
From my reading, I realized that going straight out for 18 holes would be a bad idea. So instead, I chose to go to the driving range. Good idea right? Too bad I messed it up in practice. Not wanting to "waste" my time, I decided to get the large bucket. This ended up being about 150 balls which resulted in me just swinging carelessly to get through what I paid for and not taking the time to truly practice my swing. Not to mention I was incredibly sore the next day.
This would have all been worth it if I could have perfected my swing, but of course that didn't happen. I did discover that I have a strong consistent hook which gave me something to work on. After a couple of swings, I also discovered my "natural swing". A passage in the book The Legend of Bagger Vance makes the premise that the first time you pick up a club, you discover your "authentic swing," the one you'll have for the rest of your life. You can refine it, improve it, and do things with your equipment, physical conditioning, etc but that swing is stamped into your DNA. My swing involves a far-reaching back swing that likely stems from my days playing baseball in high school. Regardless of where it came from, it just felt right and I started to finally make a connection with the ball and hit consistently.
After a day at the range, I was too exhausted to work on chipping or putting so I decided to head back home. I figured my short game was good enough from what I could remember and what I really needed help on was my driving. Little did I know how wrong I was...
With all of my golf tools ready, I was eager to play. However, I didn't want to offset the money I had just saved from shopping smart by paying over-charged course or range fees. I knew that I wanted to stay away from country clubs and private courses for now, but where did that leave me? Were there differences between non-country club courses?
The short answer, is yes! As I researched, I discovered two main categories of public courses; municipal courses and simply public courses. Municipal courses may charge more for people who do not live in the area that the course "serves", but I haven't found this to be true yet.
My next step was to create an Excel spreadsheet that listed out each course and some defining details. I included the normal price, any reductions in price, phone number/physical address, if they offered memberships for high-usage, the course rating, etc.
I highly recommend doing this. My sheet has allowed me to compare the prices at every public/muni course in Austin and get the most for my money.
As of now, I have found that Harvey Penick has the best practice facilities but Riverside GC gives you the most for your money (they were one of the only courses that offered a student discount).
Knowing where to get the best deal, I was finally ready to pick up the club.
Golf can be an expensive game and that has always been one of the reasons keeping me from picking it up. Fortunately, I had a set of clubs already with a bag. Unfortunately, my bag was 2-3 decades old and weighted around 30 lbs without clubs. (I later found out this was an old cart bag).
After several hours spent online at websites such as a-b-c- of golf or about.com, I made the following shopping list along with the prices that I was willing to pay.
Carry bag -under $20
Hybrid fairway wood -under $30
MOI putter -around $50
2 piece low-spin golf balls -under $20
Lob wedge -under $15
Divot tool, towel, ball markers, and head cover -low cost (was not sure, these were all typically cheap)
I felt that these were all reasonable prices if I was willing to do the work of searching until I found each in good shape. For about a week and a half, I kept up with the latest postings on CraigsList looking for a bag. I was ready to expand the price I was willing to pay to about $50 but simply didn't have the money.
Then I got lucky. Living in a larger city certainly has its benefits and I was able to find 2 second-hand golf stores (PlayItAgain Sports and Instant Replay). Both were within 10 minutes of my work so when I got off early one day, I decided to drive by and check them out.
I ended up paying $15 for a used bag in fair condition (dirty but the pockets and legs are in great condition). I got a 21-degree hybrid for just under $20, a package of TaylorMade XD balls for $18 at Target, and a lob wedge for $5.99. I also picked up the towel, etc. fairly cheap, though it was all new.
I decided to hold off on the putter since I didn't have the money and I had a putter anyway. It is definitely going on my Christmas list though.
So for right around $65, I was ready to play. The only question, was where?
This is the first post of my new blog, "Point of Relief." In this post, I will explain why I am writing and a little bit about myself. Future posts will chronicle my process as a beginning golfer with a college-student budget and various tips, hints, and tricks that I pick up along the way. I also hope to do course reviews as I explore courses in the region.
How did all of this begin?
That is a really good question.
I have never really played golf. Besides hitting at the driving range with some friends once or twice, I have only attempted to play an actual game of golf once. My dad and I got asked to leave the course because we were playing so slow and they had a tournament about to begin. The course officials were very nice and even gave us a free voucher to play again... but we never used it.
Fast forward 5 years. I am now a Senior at The University of Texas at Austin. In my entire college career, I have been to the driving range once and returned with my pride hurt and a handful of blisters.
So why pick the game back up?
In the past few months, a lot of things have happened.
I have decided to go law school.
I now live by myself.
I want to cut down on drinking because A.) I want to avoid the pitfalls of dealing with the stress of law school by drinking and B.) I live by myself and also want to avoid problems arising from that.
I have 8 months between when I graduate in December and when I will start law school next Fall.
My girlfriend moved to attend grad school across the state.
With all of these happening within a short time of one another, I found myself in a new situation. I finally decided that the best thing to do was to take up a new hobby. I found a quote on a law school message board that said "in law school you have to decide which kind of lawyer you will be; the drinking kind or the golfing kind." Because I had already decided against the drinking kind (see reasons above), I decided to give golf a shot.
With just the clubs given to me by my grandfather before he passed away, I set out to not only learn the game of golf, but to enjoy it as well.
I am chronicling the entire process through this blog so that others can see the entire process and reach their own "Point of Relief".