But for five decades I played golf once, sometimes twice a week. I played on a variety of courses in the Phoenix area.
I was terrible for years. Never took any lessons. Went to the driving range and banged buckets of balls for practice. But I was still a mid-90's player. Bogey golf.
That was until I played a round with a college buddy who was a scratch golfer. He was a pro for a few years.
Watching him strike the ball effortlessly with a smooth, consistent swing, was game altering for my own game.
For years I thought the idea was to hit the ball with the club.
In playing with my friend that day, I realized the idea was not necessarily to hit the ball but to swing the club. The ball would just be there in the way.
Learning and executing that one difference from how I had played the game before was transformative.
With some pointers from my friend and a new-found enthusiasm for the game, my handicap dropped 12 strokes in a year and I made my first hole-in-one.
My swing thought was simple from then on. "Don't try to hit the ball. Just swing the club."
Now 60, and after eye surgery last year I just can't see the ball like you should. Many adjustments and different clubs, but the bottom line is I just can't connect with the ball like I used to. But I'm having fun and that's the lesson I learned from my dear old dad.
Fresh air, a beautiful place to spend some time, no worries.
I've never taken a lesson, but I really like your. "Don't try to hit the ball. Just swing the club."
I developed a swing “out of the dirt” when I was a teenager. I won my college championship twice with that swing, playing near scratch golf. After college, for the rest of my playing days, I tried to learn a “real” swing, reading every golf book I could get my hands on and taking lessons from pros. I never again could play anywhere near as good as I did in college.