Come on guys. Everybody had to start somewhere. Think back to your first time on a course.If you were fortunate to play with someone who was patient and somewhat encouraging it may be the reason you were not discouraged and still play the game. Be gracious and do the best of the situation. You may start someone on a lifetime of playing golf.

joe jones wrote:

Come on guys. Everybody had to start somewhere. Think back to your first time on a course.If you were fortunate to play with someone who was patient and somewhat encouraging it may be the reason you were not discouraged and still play the game. Be gracious and do the best of the situation. You may start someone on a lifetime of playing golf.

Well aren't you a bright little ray of sunshine, eh?

Sorry, we only allow cynics and sarcasm-filled jerks in this thread

Don't focus on score, either. Yours or his.

joe jones wrote:

Everybody had to start somewhere. Think back to your first time on a course.

After a week of training (4 hrs/day) on the driving range and practice green, 3 holes with a pro. That was quite enough, thank you very much.

joe jones wrote:

Everybody had to start somewhere.

Agree. However, the place to start is a group lesson on the basics as well as a few sessions at the range. I don't think anyone should start their golfing experience on a course.

All the more reason to do a scramble. You hit, he dribbles about 20 yards. You pick up his ball on the way by to your landing spot, and you hit it to the green, he dribbles another 20 yarder. You pick up his ball again and he hasn't wasted your time and patience. He makes the putt for birdie after your miserable attempt, and now everybody is happy.

Tomorrow we're playing with someone who has only played 1 time before.

I assume and hope they're been to the range some too, but I think I'm going to take the SCRAMBLE mentality if it gets out of hand.

We're first group out, so we have to keep ahead, so we'll see.


Steve i'll let you know how it goes, and maybe you can escape if its that bad.

How many oobers have gone to the range first, took group lessons, started on a par 3 course before they ventured out the first time. Not many I would guess. The first time my wife played on a full size course was at a company tournament with the President of her company and his wife. All three were non golfers. It was a command performance. We had the whole course tied up but nobody could complain because the Boss was paying for everything. . We quit after 9 holes and 3 hours of torture. My wife shot 196 for the 9 holes and counted every stroke,She was exhausted. God bless her. The video loop they played at the cocktail party of everyone teeing off on # one was hilarious.My wife was the star of the event and took all of the ribbing with great humor. Needless to say she has never set foot on a golf course since and hates it when I bring the story up. However, I never said a harsh word during the 3 hours.The point is...I doubt any experience you ever have with a beginner will come close to that day.Relax and do it.

If you look back and see a golfer with hands on hips and steam coming off his head, waiting while your newbie partner swings wildly and dribbles the ball 12 yards at a time, you might want to have him pick up and move on. That golfer behind might be ME!

joe jones wrote:

How many oobers have gone to the range first, took group lessons, started on a par 3 course before they ventured out the first time. Not many I would guess. The first time my wife played on a full size course was at a company tournament with the President of her company and his wife. All three were non golfers. It was a command performance. We had the whole course tied up but nobody could complain because the Boss was paying for everything. . We quit after 9 holes and 3 hours of torture. My wife shot 196 for the 9 holes and counted every stroke,She was exhausted. God bless her. The video loop they played at the cocktail party of everyone teeing off on # one was hilarious.My wife was the star of the event and took all of the ribbing with great humor. Needless to say she has never set foot on a golf course since and hates it when I bring the story up. However, I never said a harsh word during the 3 hours.The point is...I doubt any experience you ever have with a beginner will come close to that day.Relax and do it.

Joe I think you are off the mark and your anecdote only confirms it. Bringing a total newbie onto a full length course is folly. It's rude to the other golfers on the course and let's not forget stressful for the newbie. Golf is not an activity to be jumped headfirst into without learning some basics. You seem to imply that learning the basics is some sort of punishment and that we ought to spare the new people from it.

I think you missed the part about FREE GOLF,FREE DRINKS & FREE DINNER . Agreed ,under normal circumstances you are correct. Maybe what I did that day helped me stay married for 48 years and had something to do with my wife being named employee of the year. By the way, her Boss has a 5,000 sq ft. house on a lake in Florida and now plays to a 8 handicap. Just maybe that day had something to do with it.

Find a course that's not busy and play with the option of bailing out after 9. I've only been playing a year this month and started on a lark with some friends and some borrowed clubs. We only played 12 holes because one from our group had to head home.

There was no way I would have even bothered if some suggested that I spend money on multiple lessons before I set foot on the course.

Beginner doesn't mean slow, most likely he won't be spending a lot of time setting up shots and lining up puts. Even if he hacks it 20ft... How long does it take to walk 20 ft and hit it again?

Definitely hit a bucket of balls before the round and go easy on it becoming a golf lesson. Show him some basic etiquette, the basic rules, and some basic on grip and swing and let him try.

joe jones wrote:

How many oobers have gone to the range first, took group lessons, started on a par 3 course before they ventured out the first time. Not many I would guess.

You can count me as one of the "not many," if you skip the group lessons. After 1 round at an exective par 3, I tried a full par 72, amd that was a mistake. I recognized the mistake, and returned to the par 3 for a few more rounds, and made more range trips before I tried another full length course.

Well, today is the day we're playing. BUT, the good news is that now that I've talked to the guy (they've been at our house since Monday) I've found that he actually HAS played golf "once or twice" and has been to the range several times beyond that with friends. So, he does at least know which end of the club to hold. This will still be something of a teaching session, I suspect, but it won't be as bad as I thought it would be.

We're playing at 2pm at a course that doesn't usually get busy. Should be fine.

I've found that whenever I encounter a person like this, he turns out to be a better golfer than I am...