How old?

Yerman

Yerman

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Past 40 when I first picked up a club and have steadily if slowly improved but was wondering if others starting when past their prime got to an age when they found they couldn't get any more improvement?
Though for anyone, when were you at your best and what went first? distance? accuracy? knees?
 
Started at 10 and was in my prime between 16 and 17 when I tried to turn pro. After that the game went south, I found beer and women and I never got close to recapturing that form. I gave up for ages and even though I feel I have the potential to still play to a modest handicap of 10-12 I'm struggling to score when it matters.

Illnesses have made the game harder in terms of fatigue during a round but apart from that the body is holding up even if the mind sometimes loses the plot.
 
Not sure when I first had a few goes with a club, but when I started with a serious intent it was 19.

My best period with a very comfortable 6 h/c (often playing better) was in my late 20s to mid 30s. I have had a couple of short breaks over the years but noticed things going a miss around 40+ age but still believe some of it down to lack of regular play, then there was a noticable loss of certain skills and consistancy when I got MS at the age of 46, had a break again then came back learning a lot of things again from a different direction though.
 
I was 15 when I first picked up a golf club, 16 when I first played on a course and started playing seriously about 6 months after this.
 
First started knocking about a 9 holer when I was 22. Started properly when I was 30. In my prime at 34-37. Then a combination of knees, ankles, knees again, fatherhood and finally knees once more took their toll.

Getting back to where I should be. At best was at 8. Restarted at 13. Currently at 10.
 
Started when I was about 22, way too late IMO. After about 4 years I got down to 5 on the old HC system, a system where you only need to put in one good score and you were cut big time.

Gave up for about 15 years and now I’m knocking on the “category one door” at 5.5 I’ll soon be 57 years old and I’m playing the best golf of my life. I’m still learning, I still get coaching and I’m hitting the ball, and sinking putts, as good as I’ve ever done.

To answer your question, if you practice enough you can get to a reasonably good standard. 40 is not too old to become a really good golfer.
 
Past 40 when I first picked up a club and have steadily if slowly improved but was wondering if others starting when past their prime got to an age when they found they couldn't get any more improvement?
Though for anyone, when were you at your best and what went first? distance? accuracy? knees?
Click to expand...

Obv there's Old Dog syndrome to factor in to it, but I read somewhere ( here maybe ) that everyone struggles to improve much after 3 years of effort.

For me.

Started as a teenager, got better, but my handicap stagnated at 17, although I could play an occasional round to single figures. Gave up for a few years. Came back aged about 30. Physically still pretty much as capable as when I was younger, but stronger mentally. Got down to 13 within the 3 year period. Stagnated again, gave up again.

Am restarting again again this year aged 45. Physically less flexible now. The eyesight has gone, so putting is tougher too. The brain is still there somewhere, but the priority to be the best I can isn't quite as strong. My target this time is to be good enough to be able to play with anyone without embarassing myself - I'm aiming for 18, and I'll see how it goes from there ( assuming I can get even that far, it's no certainty ).

I don't think distance will be too much of a problem if I can get a modern driver at some point. I've played with enough old boys over the years to know that accuracy is never going to be a problem. The problem ( in the nicest possible way ) is HID. I never had one of those before, and whilst I love her to bits, it is a tad tricky to get away for too long as and when I want to.

Oh, and when I practise putting, I get backache after about 15 minutes. :o
 
First picked up a club when I was about 30 and played regularly for about 15 years, got my handicap down to 10. Gave up playing regularly in 2000 when a divorce saw me moving down to the coast, took up motorbiking again and golf took a bit of a back seat really. Confined to playing Society golf and friendly knocks with my mates, sometimes only playing about 6 or 7 times a year. Have recently got back into it more seriously, and have joined a local club. My intention was to try to get my handicap down to 9 if I could but recent games have convinced me that at 53 I'm not as fit as I once was so I can't see myself getting any lower than my current 12 handicap. I was at my best in my late thirties when my handicap came down quite rapidly from 23 to 10. My knees (during a round) and ankles (after a round) are giving me soooo much jip it's unbelievable. I could hardly walk when I got out of the car from Leatherhead yesterday!! 36 holes kill me now. I would rather play 18 "quality" holes than 36 "mediocre/crap"...
 
First picked up a club when I was about 12-13 when my Dad used to take me to a local pitch and putt each weekend during the summer.

Played in a few company society days when I was about 30. Someone lent me some clubs and just hacked my way round. :)

I started playing 'properly' when I hit 40 last September.

Steadily improving all the time. About to put my first 3 cards in for my first H\C. :D
 
I've been playing a while I guess

IMG2b.jpg
 
Started playing properly at about 25, first handicap 18, got down to 11 quickly. Moved courses a few times and didn't enjoy the game for about a year. Didn't pick up a club for 8 months then started back slowly about 3 years ago. Had a quick video swing check to straightening a few things out. Now back loving it and playing off 6. Want to get lower!! (Grand old age of 35 now)
 
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