63 - Advice From The Young At Heart...

I’m surprised at the number of my friends who play golf. Not the friends I see every week but the people who I catch up with every once in a while who I’ve lost touch with slightly. A case in point is one of my oldest mates who, when he isn’t charging around the Iraqi desert with the British Army, is an avid hacker. I wouldn’t have put him down as a golfist but he is mad for the game, apparently driving his lovely wife to distraction in the process.

I was talking to another mate in the pub before the match the other day and it turns out he is another secret golfer too. At his peak he was playing off 6 but admits he doesn’t play as much these days as it is difficult to carry his clubs on his motorbike! Never the less he is going away with a group of mates this spring for a few days of golf and ale. I’m impressed with the pull of the game.

One thing all of them have in common is the ability to reel off a multitude of tips to help me improve from ‘Utter Golf Clown’ to the heady heights of ‘Just Rubbish’. I’ve heard hundreds now with most contradicting another. “You need to buy the best clubs you can to help you improve”, “It doesn’t matter what clubs you use, you need to master what you have”, “Better balls will produce better results”, “Better balls are only good if you have the technique to use them properly” etc. My head is usually spinning after 5 minutes.

What I have started to do is give tips I hear time and time again more credence. Things like “Make sure you buy decent shoes” and “Buy a hybrid instead of struggling with your 3 Iron” are mentioned time and time again so I’ve taken the plunge and haven’t looked back. The one thing that has been mentioned by virtually EVERY golfer I have spoken to is to invest in some lessons now before I get into bad habits which could ruin my game for years to come.

Just before Christmas I was lucky enough to get a free lesson from Jason who is the Pro at Widnes Golf Course. He went through my game and changed the majority of it for the better. Although I’m still on the wrong side of awful I could see an improvement almost immediately. With more lessons and some graft he thought I could improve significantly. Now I’ve never been scared to roll my sleeves up when it comes to golf so it might be time to apply some inspiration to my perspiration.

When I started playing golf a whopping 5 months ago I honestly thought that paying for lessons was an admission of failure. If I couldn’t work it out myself I should bother playing. Now I know that I’m not likely to get my PGA Tour Card via raw talent alone it looks like I need to bite the bullet and pay for some professional help. I’m desperate to be a better player and I honestly think it wouldn’t take long for me to start moving in the right direction given some coaching.

I’m seriously considering buying a block of lessons when I find the right person and place. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve had a lesson with Jason at Widnes and it was great. He was professional and patient when required but also had a laugh with me walking up the fairways. I’ve seen lessons advertised at the driving range in Aintree but I would prefer some of the practice to be done actually on a course as there is a world of difference between the two environments.

If anyone out there can recommend a decent coach in the Liverpool area I’d be very interested to hear from you. I might phone Jason and see if he can sort me out although he is the Pro at a private course so I might be out of luck. More news on the lessons when I have it…