CapCity12thMan said:

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Quote:

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I say you could break 110 which is good enough to play.

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now way in hell

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Yeah I started seriously golfing last year in June. I shot a 97 in November after practicing for about 4-5 hours per week and playing about 11 rounds of 18 holes over that whole time.

Got out there last weekend at greatwood in ass conditions (cold and windy) and shot a 107.

Point is the two month thing to be decent is pretty impossible even committing a bunch of time.

I had to do something similar years ago. Think I maybe had 6 weeks go from zero to whatever the next level is called. My company was going to organize a golf tournament to celebrate the completion of a huge project and I was going to be one of the team captains. I actually ended up being able to play somewhat competently after completing the following steps:

• Buy a set of clubs - had no idea what I needed, but got a decent beginner set; definitely not name brand and pretty good advertising that I was not going to be the best golfer in our foursome
• Lessons - went to the nearest golf course and explained what I needed and the time frame and they hooked me up with a trainer and I did maybe 6 - 8 lessons? Focus was on swing and how to adjust the swing for the different clubs
• Driving range - went as often as I could and since it was needed for work I was able to get the pass from home, would basically just hit balls using one club until I was reasonably consistent before moving to the next and then back to the first to make sure I could adjust my swing/stance on the fly
• About 10 days before the tournament I realized I should probably try using a tee and that was a struggle, but I found something that worked; was not comfortable using the driver, but that 5 wood was gold for me (and still is to this day) - both from the tees and the grass
• Figured someone else would know the rules so I didn't study up on that at all; good golfers both love the rules and sharing those at every opportunity that arises and getting a ruling/reading was never an issue

So how did I do after 6 weeks of a moderately intense golf training? I would love to say I could hold my own against the 3 others in my foursome, but that wouldn't be an honest reckoning. I was not good, but not bad enough where I felt I should've stayed home. Hit enough decent shots - direction, elevation, distance - from both the tees and fairways. Short game was awful, though, so I had to figure out how to get the ball on the green without using a full swing.

My recommendation - if you can hit some decent shots - would be to ask if you can play a best ball game while your friends do their thing. That way you get to hit all the shots without holding up play and when you do make good contact try a shot with your ball and see how many decent shots you can string together on a hole. Trying to play your own ball the whole time will probably be pretty miserable.

And I don't mean to belittle short game practice, but this game doesn't really begin until you can get yourself off the tee and in the semi-vicinity of greens in regulation on a somewhat consistent basis. Learn to keep the ball in play and advance it solid distances, then short game starts to matter a bit.

Trinity Ag said:

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Yesterday said:

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2 months? 2-3 range visits and one course play a week? Athletic? I say you could break 110 which is good enough to play.

Do this. It's a smaller portion of the ultimate practice routine but will make you playable in short order. You have to complete the drill at hand before you can move on.

15 three foot putts in a row. Miss any one and start over.
15 20 foot putts in a row that stop within three feet. Miss any and start over.
15 30 yard chip shots that land on the green. Miss any (you get the idea.
6 60 yard wedge shot land 3 out of 6 on green.
6 100 yard wedge shots. Land 2 out of 6 on green.
10 150 yard iron shots. Land 3 out of 10 on green.

Driver
Swing 50% speed and hit an imaginary fairway(mark your left and right limits on the range) 5 out of 10 times. Once you can hit 7 out of 10 up your speed.


If you follow this routine, and it will be a struggle bus the first 3-5 times, you will be amazed at what you can do on the course.

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LoL.

I've been playing golf for 30+ years and am a 8 handicap, and I could probably spend eight hours and not manage this.

It sounds like great practice for a scratch golfer.

Telling a guy who's never played to try any of that is crazy.

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You're not an 8 if you can't do this in a couple of hours max. I could do it in 30 minutes and I'm a 5. It's supposed to be hard, real hard for his skill level. And I wouldn't expect him to finish the first two weeks or 8 tries at it. By the end of 8 weeks or 32 attempts he'll be much improved.

It's also an actual routine with proven results. Albeit a much watered down routine. The actual routine took me a couple of hours when I was a 1 capper.

Could he still shoot a 130 and be terrible? Sure, no doubt. But I think it's better to practice with a purpose than. "Focus on getting the ball airborne."

Lots of good responses.

I don't think you can become decent in two months unless you're a freak. You will suck, bad. But that's ok.

Get lessons, and learn proper etiquette. Lots have hit on this already, but when you're a beginner like that, your main job is go have fun, but don't hold the group up in any way. Be someone that your friends will enjoy being around even as your are bad at golf. So learn the basics of how to keep up (lots have been mentioned here already). And then with your instructor, let them know your situation and let them know that you just want to first and foremost learn to make contact in a way that could let you functionally hang out on a course with actual golfers. Learn a basic driver swing, a basic iron swing, and a basic chipping motion. If you're in a bad spot on the course, move the ball to a good spot. Then after the trip, keep learning how to actually play golf and actually hone in a real golf swing.

DannyDuberstein said:

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The best advice is to get a handful of beginner lessons and focus where the pro advises. No drills are worth anything if not done with the right grip, stance, ball position, etc. Proper full swing setup with crisp contact with is a great early focus area early. Nothing else matters without that

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I won't disagree with this. I'm just thinking 8 weeks and how to get the best out of it. Give me a baseball grip and wrong ball stance but can hit the green in 4 and 2 putt. End of the day you have to play golf and not golf swing.

I have this conversation or argument with my golfing group all the time. They take lessons. They buy the new equipment(which I'm fine with as far as keeping you interested) but they shoot the same score.

I was a 9 when I started the ultimate practice routine. I got down to a 1 in 6 months. It's the only thing that ever made a big dent that was worth the effort.

I guess, but to me, getting the most out of 8 weeks means having someone help make sure you don't completely waste practice time by doing clueless **** . Not to mention, if he does get the golf bug, always best to have started with the right foundation vs unlearning bad habits which is hard as hell in this game. That's probably why some of your golf group doesn't get any better with lessons. Once you ingrain bad habits, it's like herpes

DannyDuberstein said:

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I guess, but to me, getting the most out of 8 weeks means having someone help make sure you don't completely waste practice time by doing clueless **** . Not to mention, if he does get the golf bug, always best to have started with the right foundation vs unlearning bad habits which is hard as hell in this game.

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Fair enough.

Yesterday said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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The best advice is to get a handful of beginner lessons and focus where the pro advises. No drills are worth anything if not done with the right grip, stance, ball position, etc. Proper full swing setup with crisp contact with is a great early focus area early. Nothing else matters without that

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I won't disagree with this. I'm just thinking 8 weeks and how to get the best out of it. Give me a baseball grip and wrong ball stance but can hit the green in 4 and 2 putt. End of the day you have to play golf and not golf swing.

I have this conversation or argument with my golfing group all the time. They take lessons. They buy the new equipment(which I'm fine with as far as keeping you interested) but they shoot the same score.

I was a 9 when I started the ultimate practice routine. I got down to a 1 in 6 months. It's the only thing that ever made a big dent that was worth the effort.

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OP said he has never played. Bold to assume he could get through your watered down program in 8 weeks and be better than at least getting a lesson or two on the basics.

OP, don't listen to Yesterdays advice if you've never played. You're sure to have a bad time practicing with that method and will likely give up or decide you hate golf. Go get a few lessons so you can at least understand some basics. After you play a few times and at least understand different clubs and swings then you can work on Yesterdays program. With no foundation a lot of those drills are going to be a sure struggle.

I'm not saying that method isn't impossible to self teach but in an 8 week window that's a lot for anyone to grasp.

Yesterday said:

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Trinity Ag said:

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Yesterday said:

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2 months? 2-3 range visits and one course play a week? Athletic? I say you could break 110 which is good enough to play.

Do this. It's a smaller portion of the ultimate practice routine but will make you playable in short order. You have to complete the drill at hand before you can move on.

15 three foot putts in a row. Miss any one and start over.
15 20 foot putts in a row that stop within three feet. Miss any and start over.
15 30 yard chip shots that land on the green. Miss any (you get the idea.
6 60 yard wedge shot land 3 out of 6 on green.
6 100 yard wedge shots. Land 2 out of 6 on green.
10 150 yard iron shots. Land 3 out of 10 on green.

Driver
Swing 50% speed and hit an imaginary fairway(mark your left and right limits on the range) 5 out of 10 times. Once you can hit 7 out of 10 up your speed.


If you follow this routine, and it will be a struggle bus the first 3-5 times, you will be amazed at what you can do on the course.

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LoL.

I've been playing golf for 30+ years and am a 8 handicap, and I could probably spend eight hours and not manage this.

It sounds like great practice for a scratch golfer.

Telling a guy who's never played to try any of that is crazy.

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You're not an 8 if you can't do this in a couple of hours max. I could do it in 30 minutes and I'm a 5. It's supposed to be hard, real hard for his skill level. And I wouldn't expect him to finish the first two weeks or 8 tries at it. By the end of 8 weeks or 32 attempts he'll be much improved.

It's also an actual routine with proven results. Albeit a much watered down routine. The actual routine took me a couple of hours when I was a 1 capper.

Could he still shoot a 130 and be terrible? Sure, no doubt. But I think it's better to practice with a purpose than. "Focus on getting the ball airborne."

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LoL - I have been bouncing between 8.1 and 8.5.

I also have horrific chipping yips. I could manage most of those drills -- but I could probably not manage the chipping if you gave me a week, which was the part I highlighted.

But the point is that a pure newby doesn't have a CHANCE of doing any of that.

Trinity Ag said:

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Yesterday said:

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Trinity Ag said:

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Yesterday said:

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2 months? 2-3 range visits and one course play a week? Athletic? I say you could break 110 which is good enough to play.

Do this. It's a smaller portion of the ultimate practice routine but will make you playable in short order. You have to complete the drill at hand before you can move on.

15 three foot putts in a row. Miss any one and start over.
15 20 foot putts in a row that stop within three feet. Miss any and start over.
15 30 yard chip shots that land on the green. Miss any (you get the idea.
6 60 yard wedge shot land 3 out of 6 on green.
6 100 yard wedge shots. Land 2 out of 6 on green.
10 150 yard iron shots. Land 3 out of 10 on green.

Driver
Swing 50% speed and hit an imaginary fairway(mark your left and right limits on the range) 5 out of 10 times. Once you can hit 7 out of 10 up your speed.


If you follow this routine, and it will be a struggle bus the first 3-5 times, you will be amazed at what you can do on the course.

---

LoL.

I've been playing golf for 30+ years and am a 8 handicap, and I could probably spend eight hours and not manage this.

It sounds like great practice for a scratch golfer.

Telling a guy who's never played to try any of that is crazy.

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You're not an 8 if you can't do this in a couple of hours max. I could do it in 30 minutes and I'm a 5. It's supposed to be hard, real hard for his skill level. And I wouldn't expect him to finish the first two weeks or 8 tries at it. By the end of 8 weeks or 32 attempts he'll be much improved.

It's also an actual routine with proven results. Albeit a much watered down routine. The actual routine took me a couple of hours when I was a 1 capper.

Could he still shoot a 130 and be terrible? Sure, no doubt. But I think it's better to practice with a purpose than. "Focus on getting the ball airborne."

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LoL - I have been bouncing between 8.1 and 8.5.

I also have horrific chipping yips. I could manage most of those drills -- but I could probably not manage the chipping if you gave me a week, which was the part I highlighted.

But the point is that a pure newby doesn't have a CHANCE of doing any of that.

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You'd be surprised. Try it.

G Martin 87 said:

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Do this:

• Set low expectations. Don't worry about "breaking" anything. Your goal is to have a great time and be a good playing partner.
• Since you don't play now, be aware of basic golf etiquette: play ready golf, fix your ball marks, rake traps, etc.
• Be quick to pick up to keep the group moving, but don't shortchange your experience. Everybody will expect you to be terrible. Be a good sport and don't get down on yourself.
• Buy the cheapest balls you can. Do not waste your money on premium balls at this stage.
• Practice 3-4 clubs and that's all. Putter, PW, 7i, and driver. You don't have enough time to get familiar with anything else. Bring only those clubs on the trip.
• Tee up every shot except chips and putts. Nobody will care, and you'll have much more success making contact instead of hitting fat or thin.

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I agree with the above.... especially the bolded part. And I probably would replace the driver with a 3 or 4 wood. I'd start with trying to get something airborne and reasonably straight off the tee box. If you can't do that within the first month or so... I'd probably plan on riding in the cart and hammering beers while they play.

Like some have said - if you dont* want to wreck your buddies' time, spend more time on pace of play and etiquette.

I can just imagine I'm about to career it on a bucket list golf course and some idiot friend takes a giant divot out of the sixteenth green.

Go play some but worry more about etiquette and enjoying yourself… it doesn't matter what you shoot.

I just came back from a 4-day golf trip to Phoenix. If it is a true desert course(s) you're going to be playing, I can't imagine that it will be fun for the other guys to play with someone who has only played for 8 weeks. Most of the tee shots have some sort of carry over scrub (even if it's only 50 yards or so). That's not even mentioning spraying it left and right. You might lose your two dozen balls in one round.

I agree with some of the others that it's going to be more fun for the whole group if you're a good ride-along, drinking, photo buddy. Everybody will remember you as a great guy then, not the guy they had to drag around the course for 5 hours.

Yep that's a good point…it's not the local muni. I lose 3x as many balls in the desert and I'm an 11 handicap. He's going to be worm burning the driver for a while and if you can't make it over the near tee scrub, will be miserable for all

It's not hard - hit the worm burner and go drop next to the dude in your cart. Hit the next shot. Or don't, but pickup and drop again. He's not going to "play golf" he's going to play around at golf. If everyone is cool, it'll be fun. It is vacation golf with buds after all.

CapCityAg89 said:

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It's not hard - hit the worm burner and go drop next to the dude in your cart. Hit the next shot. Or don't, but pickup and drop again. He's not going to "play golf" he's going to play around at golf. If everyone is cool, it'll be fun. It is vacation golf with buds after all.

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I'll pass on something like that. That just doesn't sound like fun to me. I'll let him play with you in the group behind me and have fun with him at drinks and dinner later.

Id suggest practicing hammering fireball shots with beer chasers as that will be the most fulfilling part of your rounds after two months of "practice." Id chip and putt and drink your face off and hit a couple here and there for shiets and grins.

Two months is more than enough time to get competent enough that you can have fun with your boys at a bachelor party. Just don't let your ego get in the way. Go to have fun first, and bad golf just becomes a funny story y'all tell later after the face.

First and foremost just have fun.

Second, pick up and drop with whoever you're playing with so that you can keep playing fast.

Third, if you can learn to hit one club even slightly competently between now and then make it your driver. That's not the way to learn how to play golf, but that's not the mission right now. If you can get off the tee box you will have a lot more fun.

Fourth, take lessons.

Do you know the handicaps of the group? If they are low single digit, they probably don't want you in the group even if you are picking up etc. Also kills any $$ game.

Might i suggest this option


Be the driver of the cart and photo guy for a round at a regular course and then try to get in a round at a par 3 course attached to a regualr course and play that

you can manage a par three course with a few lessons and practice chipping and putting trips

You wont hold them back as much as you would on a regular course


Just a thought...if it works out continue to work on your game more and more so that if you go on future trips you can participate in everything

Ok, it's been 16 days. What did the OP do?... Is there an attempt being made ?

whisperingbill said:

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Ok, it's been 16 days. What did the OP do?... Is there an attempt being made ?

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He is still at the range - going on 400 hours of nonstop practice and instruction.

CapCityAg89 said:

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AustinCountyAg said:

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Don't get too worked up about it, golf is hard. Main thing when playing in AZ is play fast and enjoy it. The courses are great out there. Drink beer, play fast, and have fun. Dont be they guy who gets in a pissy mood if your struggling making good contact, esp since you hardly play golf.

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I'm a 15 and this is 100% my philosophy.

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read this as...

"I'm 15 and this is 100% my philosophy"

TheOC16 said:

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In two months I'm going with my best friends to Phoenix for a bachelor party. The main reason they chose Phoenix is because they love golf and apparently there is a nice golf course there.

I have never played - in two months time, could I get to a level where I don't frustrate them/myself/other golfers and can make it from the beginning to the end of the hole in a reasonable amount of time? I know I won't be good but if I could consistently make contact with the ball and be able to hit it somewhat straight I'd be happy. (The couple times I've played Top Golf would make that seem like a lofty goal…)

I have a flexible work schedule and a set of golf clubs - I could reasonably go to a course or range 2-3 times a week. I am also a decent athlete. Is it worth trying, or should I just stick to driving the cart when we get to Phoenix?

If it's worth trying, what should I focus on and how should I practice? Just play a bunch of rounds on the course? Just stick to driving practice? Some combination? Video myself and compare against YouTube videos?

Any thoughts/advice/training regimens would be appreciated.

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So I would like to amend my earlier advice based on the fact that I had a friend return from just such a trip. The group played TPC Scottsdale, among others, and the fee for that one was like $600 before the caddie tip. Let me just say that I'd be pissed to go up thinking it's just an easy weekend with the bros and then the first 18 out of the shoot runs me $700 when I'm going to shoot 150 and be humiliated.

justcallmeharry said:

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whisperingbill said:

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Ok, it's been 16 days. What did the OP do?... Is there an attempt being made ?

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He is still at the range - going on 400 hours of nonstop practice and instruction.

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Haha, yes I've been procrastinating checking back in for a while now. Honestly when it got to about a page of replies I put a pause on the reading - because I wanted to pick a strategy and work on implementing it without getting to bogged down in the differing recommendations. And also because I knew that I'd want to respond meticulously and that it would take some time (insert "I'm happy for you/or sorry that happened" meme for the incoming long post).

So here goes, here's my report:

THE INITIAL THOUGHT PROCESS
First things first - thank you all very much for your feedback. It seems like the initial responses were pretty split between the camp of "yes it can be done, it's just going to take a ridiculous amount of work you may not be willing to put in" and "don't even try, drive the cart and drink beer." Honestly that's exactly the question I was asking, so I went back and forth debating whether to try or not. In the end though, I thought aggiepaintrain had the solution:

aggiepaintrain said:

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Go get some lessons, if you can get the ball airborne and straight with a 5,7,9 iron consistently with distance then have a go. If you can't, then I'd just be a designated cart driver and have fun watching your friends.

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I had a couple months to see what happened - if it wasn't going where I wanted it to, then at least I could say I tried golf and it wasn't for me. But a couple of y'all saw something bigger at stake than just one trip, and I think that could be important:

AggieDruggist89 said:

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Don't take 20 practice swings. Once you get set up, just hit ball instead of standing there for 5 minutes fidgeting.

Better yet, save you some money and you probably shouldn't play.

Don't go on a golf trip if you're not a golfer.

But this is what will happen. Those best friends of yours who golf will most likely remain lifelong golf buddies and take wonderful golf trips together. If you learn to golf, you will participate. If you don't, most likely you will not spend as much time together in the future.

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THE FRAME OF REFERENCE

98Ag99Grad said:

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Your friends know you can't play right?

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There was a lot of commenting that I was just going to waste everyone's time, that I was going to frustrate myself and my friends, that I would ruin a good golf outing. But here's the thing you've got to keep in mind: my friends know I have never golfed, yet they keep encouraging me to play. So however you want to look at it; it's one of those kinds of trips. While yes, they are excited to play golf in Arizona, at the nicest course they've played at - the outing is more about us hanging out and having fun than it is about golf.

I don't know their handicaps or how to quantify their skill level. I will say though that I watched three of the guys who will be on this trip play a week before I created the thread: two of them are good, I don't know if I have the potential to ever be at that level no matter how much I practice. But one of them is not good. And he's kind of what made me even think to give this a try. As hard as I imagined golf to be, I still felt like I could probably get to his level pretty quickly if I put in enough reps.

THE PLAN
A lot of suggestions to get a coach, and I'd have been looking for one even without the advice. Unfortunately I was very much delayed in getting started with a coach - I contacted two different coaches; one was delayed due to medical status and the other was terrible with getting back to me to look at the schedule like he said he would. Finally I was able to get something worked out with one of them, but it cost me two weeks.

During this two weeks I actually did go out to a range with two different friends (not ones going on the trip) and hit some balls. Between some YouTube videos, these two friends tips/suggestions, and some tweaking of my form: I was terrible. Honestly after those two sessions (and getting progressively worse) I was pretty much ready to quit and take Willy Wonka's advice. However, I did eventually get the initial lesson with the golf coach scheduled last week and I figured I'd at least go to one less.

THE LESSON
As I just mentioned, before that lesson I was pretty sure I was going to quit and never pick up a golf club again.

After that lesson I'm afraid that I might eventually become a golfer (I always kind of made fun of golf...)
And I might actually be able to pull off this thing in 52 days.

At the lesson he had me swing a few times (all shots either went at a 45 degree angle to the right or barely rolled off the mat) and then he made a few slight corrections to my stance and then spent the next good while just talking. About the mechanics of golf and the swing. Just some low level stuff, but stuff I hadn't heard or hadn't fully clicked with. After he talked for about 10 minutes he asked me to get back up there and swing. Somehow I hit by far the best shot I'd ever hit - straight down the range in the air over 100 yards. I was legitimately shocked and he said "okay your lesson is done, now you can golf in Arizona without embarrassing yourself." (Tongue-in-cheek of course)

As we went on I regressed from that first shot as we went back to fixing other things, but even so, probably 95% of the shots I hit were better than anything I'd done in the prior two range sessions. And I wound up hitting some better shots than that first one by the end of the lesson.

THE AFTERMATH
Since then, I haven't missed a day of going to the range and hitting a big bucket of balls. I'm still pushing most of my shots to the right, but not nearly as bad as I used to and I'm consistently getting the balls in the air. Heck, I may hit nothing but a 7 iron from tee box to the hole, but I think I can play in Arizona.

My plan is to try to go to the range 5+ days a week, and have one lesson a week (next one is Friday) until this coach suggests something else. I don't know how to drive, I don't know how to putt, I don't know how to chip. Who knows - maybe those things will overload my brain and I'll regress and decide not to play after all. Maybe I can do without them. But at the very least I might have a new hobby after this bachelor party, whether I wind up playing on that trip or not.

TheOC16 said:

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justcallmeharry said:

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whisperingbill said:

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Ok, it's been 16 days. What did the OP do?... Is there an attempt being made ?

---

He is still at the range - going on 400 hours of nonstop practice and instruction.

---

Haha, yes I've been procrastinating checking back in for a while now. Honestly when it got to about a page of replies I put a pause on the reading - because I wanted to pick a strategy and work on implementing it without getting to bogged down in the differing recommendations. And also because I knew that I'd want to respond meticulously and that it would take some time (insert "I'm happy for you/or sorry that happened" meme for the incoming long post).

So here goes, here's my report:

THE INITIAL THOUGHT PROCESS
First things first - thank you all very much for your feedback. It seems like the initial responses were pretty split between the camp of "yes it can be done, it's just going to take a ridiculous amount of work you may not be willing to put in" and "don't even try, drive the cart and drink beer." Honestly that's exactly the question I was asking, so I went back and forth debating whether to try or not. In the end though, I thought aggiepaintrain had the solution:

aggiepaintrain said:

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Go get some lessons, if you can get the ball airborne and straight with a 5,7,9 iron consistently with distance then have a go. If you can't, then I'd just be a designated cart driver and have fun watching your friends.

---

I had a couple months to see what happened - if it wasn't going where I wanted it to, then at least I could say I tried golf and it wasn't for me. But a couple of y'all saw something bigger at stake than just one trip, and I think that could be important:

AggieDruggist89 said:

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Don't take 20 practice swings. Once you get set up, just hit ball instead of standing there for 5 minutes fidgeting.

Better yet, save you some money and you probably shouldn't play.

Don't go on a golf trip if you're not a golfer.

But this is what will happen. Those best friends of yours who golf will most likely remain lifelong golf buddies and take wonderful golf trips together. If you learn to golf, you will participate. If you don't, most likely you will not spend as much time together in the future.

---

THE FRAME OF REFERENCE

98Ag99Grad said:

---

Your friends know you can't play right?

---

There was a lot of commenting that I was just going to waste everyone's time, that I was going to frustrate myself and my friends, that I would ruin a good golf outing. But here's the thing you've got to keep in mind: my friends know I have never golfed, yet they keep encouraging me to play. So however you want to look at it; it's one of those kinds of trips. While yes, they are excited to play golf in Arizona, at the nicest course they've played at - the outing is more about us hanging out and having fun than it is about golf.

I don't know their handicaps or how to quantify their skill level. I will say though that I watched three of the guys who will be on this trip play a week before I created the thread: two of them are good, I don't know if I have the potential to ever be at that level no matter how much I practice. But one of them is not good. And he's kind of what made me even think to give this a try. As hard as I imagined golf to be, I still felt like I could probably get to his level pretty quickly if I put in enough reps.

THE PLAN
A lot of suggestions to get a coach, and I'd have been looking for one even without the advice. Unfortunately I was very much delayed in getting started with a coach - I contacted two different coaches; one was delayed due to medical status and the other was terrible with getting back to me to look at the schedule like he said he would. Finally I was able to get something worked out with one of them, but it cost me two weeks.

During this two weeks I actually did go out to a range with two different friends (not ones going on the trip) and hit some balls. Between some YouTube videos, these two friends tips/suggestions, and some tweaking of my form: I was terrible. Honestly after those two sessions (and getting progressively worse) I was pretty much ready to quit and take Willy Wonka's advice. However, I did eventually get the initial lesson with the golf coach scheduled last week and I figured I'd at least go to one less.

THE LESSON
As I just mentioned, before that lesson I was pretty sure I was going to quit and never pick up a golf club again.

After that lesson I'm afraid that I might eventually become a golfer (I always kind of made fun of golf...)
And I might actually be able to pull off this thing in 52 days.

At the lesson he had me swing a few times (all shots either went at a 45 degree angle to the right or barely rolled off the mat) and then he made a few slight corrections to my stance and then spent the next good while just talking. About the mechanics of golf and the swing. Just some low level stuff, but stuff I hadn't heard or hadn't fully clicked with. After he talked for about 10 minutes he asked me to get back up there and swing. Somehow I hit by far the best shot I'd ever hit - straight down the range in the air over 100 yards. I was legitimately shocked and he said "okay your lesson is done, now you can golf in Arizona without embarrassing yourself." (Tongue-in-cheek of course)

As we went on I regressed from that first shot as we went back to fixing other things, but even so, probably 95% of the shots I hit were better than anything I'd done in the prior two range sessions. And I wound up hitting some better shots than that first one by the end of the lesson.

THE AFTERMATH
Since then, I haven't missed a day of going to the range and hitting a big bucket of balls. I'm still pushing most of my shots to the right, but not nearly as bad as I used to and I'm consistently getting the balls in the air. Heck, I may hit nothing but a 7 iron from tee box to the hole, but I think I can play in Arizona.

My plan is to try to go to the range 5+ days a week, and have one lesson a week (next one is Friday) until this coach suggests something else. I don't know how to drive, I don't know how to putt, I don't know how to chip. Who knows - maybe those things will overload my brain and I'll regress and decide not to play after all. Maybe I can do without them. But at the very least I might have a new hobby after this bachelor party, whether I wind up playing on that trip or not.

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I hope you make great progress with your game. My advice would be to not focus on the Driver. A 3,5, or even a 7 wood might serve you just as well. Some new players actually hit those clubs further than the "Driver."

Practice putting and chipping.

Good Luck!

I congratulate you on making an earnest attempt. But I still think your first outing on a desert course is going to be a disaster, and I just can't imagine it being fun for the guys you play with. Maybe it's just me.

Drive the cart, drink/buy beer, flirt with the cart girl, look for balls in the desert, take a bunch of pics.