New member saying hello. Some history and a question : When to join a club

[sajkox]

Hi all

Its my first post here so let me start with a bit of personal golf history before I get to the question:

I came to UK few years ago to study and after studies decided to stay a little longer
In my home country golf is almost non existent (3k players total !) so except for mini golf I have never had a chance to play it.

One sunny day when we were having barbecue in Camperdown Park (Dundee) I noticed there was P&P so decided to try it. Fallen in love with the game on that day I wanted to play almost every day afterwards but it turned out it was only opened weekends - soon, I was advised to buy my own putter and pitch to play weekdays for free. And so it goes for the next 3 years...

In August this year one of my work colleagues found out I enjoy golf, he took me to driving range and shown me how to swing properly - not that I was able to execute it afterwards, but it did make me slightly better and got me hooked for the game (like for real, lets just accept the fact that P&P is not really golf yet).

As I was fully aware my game is not good enough for full course, I started playing local 9-hole course for £6/round. After 2 months I realised I've already spent over £200 just to play it and so maybe its time to get some membership.

City Council has two courses here in Dundee and yearly subscription for both is only £290 - once I learned that you don't need to wait for new golf season to sub I did it. But I wasn't aware that joining the club is yet another thing.

Now down to the question:

One of the clubs offered me to join them till the end of the season at reduced costs, but having 4 rounds behind me I averaged for 36.5 (48, 34, 34, 30). Considering max handicap you can get is 28 - does it make sense for me to join the club ? I mean I would love to play some comps as playing alone isn't that fun but I don't want to be that guy that makes game slow.


Thank you and sorry for quite a long introduction to the question

 

[steve7]

Welcome to the forum,great advice given on here.

 

[Heidi]

welcome!
join!
you wont regret it!
anyway - its winter and nobody will post a great round - so dont feel bad about not playing to 28

enjoy your golf!!

 

[Wolfman]

Handicap of 37, please confirm are you a junior or lady ?

If neither you would start on 28 handicap after the usual procedure

Personally i would not worry about handicaps and comps but go to a pay and play golf course near to you and soon you will find people to join in with ( very important )

You need to get used to playing with others to learn the etiquette of the game and the feeling of playing for real


Next thing i would do is after you have settled in to the game look to buy better clubs second hand and have a group of lessons


Playing 18 holes you should be aiming to score lower than 100 if you can to start with

Welcome to the most frustrating game in the world

 

[Heidi]

Handicap of 37, please confirm are you a junior or lady ?

If neither you would start on 28 handicap after the usual procedure

Personally i would not worry about handicaps and comps but go to a pay and play golf course near to you and soon you will find people to join in with ( very important )

You need to get used to playing with others to learn the etiquette of the game and the feeling of playing for real


Next thing i would do is after you have settled in to the game look to buy better clubs second hand and have a group of lessons


Playing 18 holes you should be aiming to score lower than 100 if you can to start with

Welcome to the most frustrating game in the world

Woolfie - the man said he knew he could only get 28...read the post

 

[Wolfman]

Thanks Heidi

it didnt appear that abvious to me as i have known juniors thinking they start at 28, and females too

Lets just assume he is male and not a junior !

 

[HomerJSimpson]

My advice would be to perhaps consolidate over the winter and get some lessons with a PGA pro and work hard on the drills and tips he gives you. Continue to play a little (perhaps the P&P) to see how it stacks up for real and then look to join somewhere next season

 

[macca64]

where you from?

 

[HotDogAssassin]

Hello, Good Evening and Welcome

 

[GreiginFife]

where you from?

I would guess Dundee...

 

[ScienceBoy]

where you from?

Dundee... read the post homer!

 

[macca64]

dundee... Read the post homer!

where did he move to uk from,blimey!

 

[pbrown7582]

Hello welcome and enjoy!!!

Join the club play lots and your score will come down,
Don't worry about starting out and struggling a little we all start out like that at some point!

 

[macca64]

I would guess Dundee...

yeah well done !

 

[sajkox]

Thanks for warm welcome.

Maybe I didn't write it down in the best fashion, but the situation is that I have paid fees to play the course(s) whole year - I just don't belong to any club (weird huh ?).
I'm neither junior nor a lady
The 30 that I scored today was below 100 (99 to be exact) and I actually expect it to go down so prob my initial handicap might be around 28. I think I should also mention that I have never played full course before those 4 rounds so maybe it will get better once I get used to it (I had average of +10 on 9-hole course)

I'm from Poland where, according to what I've read, you need to be registered to play and all registered players are listed here: http://pzgolf.pl/zawodnicy/ (6 hc enough to be in top 100 )

I do have a lesson booked up in St Andrews due to groupon deal there was recently: £45 for 2 1/2 hrs. I think is not bad but normal prices I've seen are £30 for half hour lesson - sounds too expensive to do it often :/

I believe clubs I got just now should be ok to get it down to 20, so I'm not planning to upgrade until I either find a good deal or get max out of em. First of all I believe I need to get consistent with my good shots, once I get there I will consider club upgrade (although I've read somewhere here someone managed to get down to 15 with Dunlops 65i !).

 

[sajkox]

Edit: With one exception though - putter. I really want a better one.
With woods and irons I believe its technique that I need to work on but with putter ... I've tried some oddysey ones in DW shop and they felt so much better. I think its down to better weight distribution or sth, also the head felt definitely heavier.

 

[Captainron]

Glad to have you along. Your love for game should carry you far. I would, as Homer says, use this winter to get your game in order so that you can join in the spring and save money then. the reality of it is that winter will cause alot of the courses in your area to close so you might not get loads of opportunities to play. You are blessed with some great courses around there and you should get onto them when (if) the weather improves.

 

[Blowtorch]

Hey, Welcome.
Am a new member also. Good fun this forum.
Can't help with your question though. I am not a member anywhere. Have been playing on & off for years & still
struggle to play to anywhere near 18. Played at Blackmoor for H4H recently, off 18 & ended up with 22 points!!
Ah well, theres always next time!!

 

[sajkox]

Just had another round today. Was terribly slow so I invited 2 gents behind me to join me while we were waiting on the tee.

Two things I noticed:
1. I'm playing better when playing with someone
2. 3 wood is so much further and straighter than driver

Finished round +30 today again, but yesterday it was 15/15 and today 18/12. Back 9 used 3 wood instead of driver so improvement in scores might be significant if I do that throughout the round.

Think I'll actually join the club to play with others and see the handicap going down (will happen sooner or later)

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Dundee... read the post homer!

Read the threads. I didn't ask the question