My wife's "long lost cousin" is coming to visit next week ... for the entire week. She and her 3-year-old came to visit last year for a handful of days, and we had a good time with her even though I'm not so up for living with a 3-year-old anymore. This trip, however, she's not only bringing her son but also her husband, who we've never met. To ease my suffering of having strange people in my house for a week, my wife suggested I take the husband out for a round of golf. When she texted her cousin about it, the reply was that he's never played golf before but is up for trying it.



Now, if you check my scores, you'll see I'm improving but I'm still learning this game myself. How on Earth am I supposed to take a complete beginner (and total stranger, by the way) out and help him learn? For my first round, a buddy of mine took me out, showed me the basic swing, and then tossed me a few crumbs of advice at me as we played. At the time, he was only a little better than I am right now. Is this the route to go?

Don't do it. But...

... if you are desperate to play, maybe take him to a driving range first. Evaluate his athletic ability and demeanor. If you think he can manage to get around a course without creating problems, go play the next day. There are some people that just should not take up the game of golf and you don't want to be stuck with them for 2-5 hours.

What bkuehn1952 says... spot-on. Certainly don't do 18 holes, 9 max and even then only on very quiet times. Start out at a PAR3 executive course maybe or, even better, a pitch 'n putt.

Restrict him to 7 iron / wedge / putter and make sure you teach him some basic golf-etiquette in advance.

or just drink heavily.

Maybe you should go ahead and have that root canal dental work done that day. It will be less painful.

Good points all. I'm told he's an athletic guy, and I don't think we'll be going out until the third or fourth day of their seven-day visit, so I should be able to gauge at least a little bit whether his demeanor is such that he'll be able to handle golf. If I'm not sure about it, we'll plan to do no more than nine holes. I suspect I'll push for 18, though, for selfish reasons. This is about the only way I'll be able to play golf for the next few weeks

I already have a plan for the golf course. The only par 3 or exec. course is almost an hour away, so that's out as far as I'm concerned. I've picked a course that's the easiest par-72 layout in the area (rating: 66 / slope: 110ish) and shouldn't be crowded on a weekday afternoon. It also has a pretty decent driving range, and they have loaner clubs he can use.

merlin3driver wrote:

Maybe you should go ahead and have that root canal dental work done that day. It will be less painful.

HA!

Once you are on the course, if he is having trouble off the tee (lost ball after lost ball), suggest he play a drop from where your tee shot is, rather than spending time searching for his ball.

I've done this a couple times with friends, and it seems to work out fairly well. He would hit his tee shot, and maybe a second. If neither is playable/findable, he drops near where my tee shot ended up and plays out the hole from there.

What I have done in the past, with a newbie, is play a scramble with them. Tell him "It's me and you against the golf course" That way you can move right along, and they can get a feel for how it's supposed to go. He may even make a shot or two that turns out better than yours.

merlin3driver wrote:

What I have done in the past, with a newbie, is play a scramble with them. Tell him "It's me and you against the golf course" That way you can move right along, and they can get a feel for how it's supposed to go. He may even make a shot or two that turns out better than yours.

That's actually an excellent idea if you do go and play 18. I'll have to keep that in my vault. I would also recommend going to the easiest, scrappiest course in your area.

mjaber wrote:

Once you are on the course, if he is having trouble off the tee (lost ball after lost ball), suggest he play a drop from where your tee shot is, rather than spending time searching for his ball. I've done this a couple times with friends, and it seems to work out fairly well. He would hit his tee shot, and maybe a second. If neither is playable/findable, he drops near where my tee shot ended up and plays out the hole from there.

Very good idea. This assumes, of course, that MY tee shot is playable/findable, but I see your point.

I've already pulled 12 of my higher quality shag balls out for him to use, so he doesn't have to buy and lose brand new balls. I'm not losing anything, because if a ball is in my shag bag that means I'm not interested in using it for anything but backyard practice.

merlin3driver wrote:

What I have done in the past, with a newbie, is play a scramble with them. Tell him "It's me and you against the golf course" That way you can move right along, and they can get a feel for how it's supposed to go. He may even make a shot or two that turns out better than yours.

Exactly! Great advice. When I take my wife or the grandkids golfing we always play a 2 or 3 person scramble.

don't do it....

but if he insists....possibly a scramble......

Or, as a wise man once said, drink heavily. Anything to get out of a house containing a 3 year old.

merlin3driver wrote:

Anything to get out of a house containing a 3 year old.

What he said. This is why I'm not 100% dreading it. No matter how bad this could potentially be, it can't be worse than the alternative.