Never too old to learn NEW TRICKS
Golf is an interesting sport, to say the least. It can seem like a simple, even easy sport for the normal onlooker. I mean, hit a white ball into a hole. How hard can it be? Well, it can be very hard…as I, Anton Willemse, learnt in my first few months of trying to play.
I’ve been writing for Jnr Golfer for close to a year now, and I’ve never played golf, at least I’ve never played a full round of golf. I do the “Test Drive” segment. I handle most of the vehicle reviews as a motoring journalist. However, as a writer and a journalist, you always want your content to be authentic and honest. So I thought, how can I write vehicle reviews for golfers if I’ve never played. Surely, I have to get into that mindset of a golfer so I can provide meaningful and relevant information for my audience. So it was settled I was going to start golfing. How difficult can it be? As it turned out quite tricky.
My first day as a golfer
One Sunday, after just returning to home after a work trip to Mozambique, my one mate JP phoned me. I mentioned to him that I wanted to start golfing, and he said that while I was gone, he had started, and I thought, yes, that’s perfect. I told my father that JP and I were heading to the range. My father, although not much of a golfer anymore, used to play a lot. He was never a pro, but at least he knew the sport, unlike me, who knew nothing at the time. And he warned me, telling me that going to the range as somebody who’s never played is a recipe for disaster. So I promptly ignored him, grabbed his old set and headed to the range.
So we arrive at our local range eager to get started. Now JP has had a single lesson from a family friend. JP showed me the ropes and I’m thinking I got this. let’s set the stage, I’m at the range with my dad’s ancient mixed set of Ram G-forces and Spalding Alliances. I also found my dad’s old glove, which is oversized. Nonetheless, I’m extremely confident and optimistic. I lined up for my first stroke, and by sheer stupid luck, I smashed it down range. I didn’t even know the distance or if it was the correct flight for the club I was using. I just knew it was straight, and it wasn’t rolling like a field hockey ball. So after that shot, I became a bit cocky, and my unfounded confidence inflated. I thought the 49 balls left in my bucket would all be perfect shots. “I might even try the driver”, I thought to myself. When I say my first shot was a miracle, I mean it because the rest of the session went as badly as one could imagine. At the time, I had not swung a golf club. I didn’t really know how to stand, use my legs, or properly hold the club itself.
The rest of the day was awful. At best, the furthest a ball went was maybe 10m/11 yards. And that was if I managed to hit the ball because most of the time, I was hitting divots way before the ball, missing it entirely or topping it for a few yards. It was one of the most embarrassing half an hour of my life. JP and I then headed to the bar so I could lick my wounds and forget about my golf prospects. But I knew deep down that despite all the embarrassment and missed shots that I was bitten, I wanted to do it again and learn how to play golf.
Learning the basics
Immediately when I got back from my first horrible session at the range at consulted my father. After, he gave me a quick I told you so he started by helping me get started. Now the first thing me and my father did was cleaned his old clubs. Every seasoned golfer will know that caring for your golf clubs is an easy but essential thing to do, and it can have a really positive effect on your game. And it is easy to neglect, especially if you’re just starting because if you’re me, you probably will not care for your clubs at the start. After all, it will most likely be a set of old incomplete hand-me-downs. No matter if you have a set of R18 000 clubs or an R600 set of hand-me-downs. Your ability to golf will be precisely the same as when you start. If you’re not respecting or caring for those hand-me-downs it will hurt your game. The second thing me and my dad did was we headed to the pro shop. The first thing on our shopping list was a glove that properly fits my hand, and the second was a net or a few synthetic softballs. I was a bit thin on cash then, so I opted for the synthetic softballs. The main idea behind the synthetic softballs was so that I could practice and learn at home rather than going to the range each day and just wasting time. The synthetic softballs allowed me to get the basics down for my swing before returning to the range.
Once I got somewhat of a swing together, I built up the confidence to head back to the range. This time I phoned up JP to head back to the range alongside me. This time I only took three of my irons, my 7, my 9 and my 8, because those were the only clubs I felt comfortable using in public. At least to this day, I feel comfortable using my irons and rarely practice with my woods and driver. I remember on that day; I was just really focused and took a lot of time on each stroke. And Jp was my polar opposite that day, on his birthday. He just struggled to get the hang of it that particular day, and he was kind of not bad with his driver, so he decided to drive for the rest of the session. So, I just heard behind me shot after shot a “ping” followed by a whistle. I thought this must be cheering Jp up until I heard a weird type of whistle, a less consistent one, and I turned to JP to see him holding nothing but the shaft. So, the odd whistle was obviously the driver’s head going down range. I had never seen something as funny as that in my life, and it made me realise just how social and fun golf can be but how frustrating it can be.
What’s next?
So I’ve been going to the range maybe once a week for nearly 5 months now, but ever since I sorted out my swing, I’m still inconsistent across the board. I’ve not yet developed the confidence to play a full round of golf. I still use the set I started with, and I feel it doesn’t limit my skill because I don’t really have any skills yet. So this coming month, I’m looking to take my first lessons to build my consistency and confidence. I also want to learn more about golf and the skill of golfing in general. I feel I can’t do much more on my own to improve my swing, and many people who are better at golf have told me that it’s better to go for lessons, so I’m eager to do that.
