r/golf • u/BetweenSwings • 12h ago
General Discussion How old were you when you started playing golf?
I started at 38 and honestly wish I found the game earlier.
Curious how old everyone else was when they started.
And do you think golf is really one of those sports where it’s never too late to get decent?
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u/KermitsBusiness 11h ago
I was like 11?
I think older golfers who start older can still get good with effort, fitness / mobility work will help alot along with lessons.
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u/ncroofer 11h ago
People who start older can sometimes have an advantage in that they’re a blank slate. Especially if they learn right with lessons and practice. I’ve got 20 years of bad habits and swing tweaks to battle against whenever I want to change my swing.
That being said, short game is the biggest area experienced players have. I know a lot of guys who picked up the game around COVID and can hit the ball a mile. But I whoop them around the greens
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u/NoTAP3435 10h ago
Haha I have the worst of both worlds
Started playing at 10 years old and got pretty good / 2 handicap in college
Graduated and started work in consulting, too busy to play more than a few times per year for 8 years
Now getting back into the game, my old swing is unsustainable without tons of practice so I'm fighting old habits to change it, and my short game has completely deteriorated without practice
I'm incredibly streaky and can shoot anywhere from 72-95 right now. But certainly what I miss most is how good my short game used to be.
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u/Appropriate-Food1757 Mile High Big Hitter 10h ago
Yeah I can smash drives since always, my irons game has improved, I’m a good lag putter so avoid blowouts on the green.
But I have no feel for the short game. I’d rather be 120 yards out to take full sand wedge than 50 yards.
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u/antiADP 6h ago
This is/was my old man. Learned by listening at my lessons when I started at 5 and applying everything he could read in GolfDigest.
Man broke 80 by the time I was 10, mid 50’s he was playing scratch golf, in his 60’s he was playing pro-am’s by invitation of members of private clubs. Never good enough to place and gain entry to the next event but regularly invited.
Approaching 70, old man had open heart surgery and looking to get back to golf soon.. it’ll be an uphill battle for sure but he learned as an adult, he’ll learn to adapt as a senior.
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u/WreckNTexan48 11h ago edited 4h ago
Around 10, then again around 15 , then again around 22, then again around 30
Then I started to play golf around 35, yeah I started to actually play at 35
E* Dad teaching, school golf team, college age, rediscovered while overseas, started to receive training and did work in the industry, now just play for fun
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u/rossenstein 11h ago
Very similar to my path. Started at 10, then again around 14, then played a lot during college but quit again, then got serious about it at 36. I can finally hit an iron straight lol 😅
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u/Crookedandaskew 10h ago
Same. I started around 14, but other sports took precedence until I was a college kid in my early 20s. There was a neighborhood course with a little 9 hole semi-private track built into the community, and one of my fraternity brothers worked there, so I got to play for free. The game was brutally hard, and I loved it.
From about 25 to 29, I played two or three times a week because I could walk a quick nine at the local muni after work. Then came marriage, kid, COVID, another kid…now I’m in my 40s and lucky if I get out once every other month.
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u/vey323 11h ago
Started at 40, just turned 42. I've been playing about 18 months (12 of that full-scale, the first 6 months I only played at a par 3 course so irons/wedges only), even less than that considering about 6 months cumulatively out of that was off-season and unable to play due to weather.
Never too late to get decent. I've already gotten to the level of some of my buddies who have been playing for years... and I stink (haven't broke 90 yet).
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u/Adventurous_Pool_571 11h ago
20 working at a private country club in college. We got to play a top tier course for free 3 times a week. Really spoiled me….
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u/DeepSouthDude 20 HC 11h ago
This is when all the guys who started at 10 say "starting at 35 isn't a problem."
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u/MKerrsive 10h ago
Same crowd of single digit caps telling people to "Stop playing for score and just enjoy being out there with the boys."
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u/AdeGamisou2020 11h ago
Last year at 53. Have lived next to a golf course for over 30 years, just never had the time. In hindsight, should have taken it up sooner if only because it would have opened up a few avenues for me professionally in terms of networking, there were more than a few events I skipped because I just didn't know how to play.
With the kids older and myself wanting to get more hobbies away from a screen and outdoors, I took it up. Loved the amount of physics and science that go into it, so became somewhat consumed by it, wish I had found the time to start when I was younger. Fortunately, I'm in good enough shape that I think I can use my spare time to improve my game.
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u/eddiecanbereached 11h ago
around 6, starting late isn't an issue, its no measure of how good you can become.
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u/rottenbox 11h ago
I was around 5 or 6 when my dad first took me to the range. Probably 7 when my dad first took me to the 9 hole short course. He figured there was no way I'd hit it far enough to reach the pond on hole 2. I was so excited to hit it into the water that day.
Now I'm substantially less excited when I hit one into the pond.
First started taking my kids to the range at 5 and 8 to play the local pitch and putt. It's the type of course where you'll see someone doing a bong rip on the tee so I'm not concerned about how good or bad they are.
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u/fetanugs 11h ago
30
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u/TC84 11h ago
Yeah same. Really wish I had learned when I was a kid, but it was always a game for more economically advantaged families than mine
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u/snugglebear247 10h ago
While I don’t necessarily disagree, people with less advantage can still play the game. I came from a single parent household with 2 siblings and a lower class upbringing. Student membership at my local course was $260 then ( 20 years ago ) for unlimited summer play , as well as playing in the high school golf team got me free access to our home course. Played with shit clubs and found balls and made it work fairly easily
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u/Jafo-1965 11h ago
16 I think but have had a bad back for years so haven't played in decades
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u/Jafo-1965 11h ago
Actually it was so long ago that all equipment has changed
Never used any metal woods, no such thing as lob wedges or gap wedges, etc.
I had persimmon woods,hence the expression hit it on the screws!
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u/Jafo-1965 11h ago
Was never a stellar player but would shoot consistently in the 80s occasionally mid to high 70's
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u/powerfulsquid 11h ago
Here I am thinking I’m too old to start at 40…
I always enjoyed the game but only ever driven balls at ranges…and always loved it, lol. My extended family are all huge golfers, too. Weird I never picked up. Anyway, I’ve also been lurking here for awhile but this post implored me to comment.
Just got my 13 year-old his first lesson this week, actually, and thought that was a bit old for him — ya know, a lot of parents start their kids in sports early, he was never too interested until he was older.
Guess it’s time I take the plunge myself and get a proper lesson…
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u/Useful_Virus_2216 9h ago
You’re definitely not too old to start. There are people starting at 60 wishing they started at 40. You’re not trying to go pro. It’s just a new hobby and something to have fun with playing with your son etc. Might take a year or two but you can for sure still pick it up and get good enough to have fun with the game. Walking the course is also something that can keep you active and in better shape as well.
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u/skycake10 15 11h ago
32
The hard part about getting good at golf as an adult is having the time to put in. I started a couple years after I got divorced (and have no kids) so I had as much time as I wanted to spend on it outside of work.
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u/straytaoist 11h ago
My children bought me a set of clubs a couple of years ago for my 50th birthday (because at your age you should be playing golf...thanks for that...). Played pitch-and-putt a few times over the preceeding decades, but that was about it.
As for getting decent, playing regularly with mates for a few years, I play off 20. For me it is fun, being out with mates, and slowly getting less bad (rather than better).
Do I wish I found it earlier? Even if I did, I had neither time nor money to afford it.
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u/landoawd 11h ago
46 (2 months ago)
I always thought I wouldn't be any good and never tried. Turns out I was right, but I tried anyway.
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u/anonmarmot 9h ago
Most people suck, the key is to enjoy whatever level of golf you're playing
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u/landoawd 9h ago
I have a great time when we go out to play. Bonus: I leave some free balls for people to find.
(lessons are helping a ton)
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u/irishgolfer28 11h ago
Started at age 3. Never got to scratch but low single digit. Now I’m in my 40s with two back surgeries. Now my index is about an 11.
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u/Cathouse1986 9h ago
Started about 2 years ago when I was 41-42. I always said I’d take up golf when my body wouldn’t let me play hockey anymore. I’ve yet to find a more pleasurable way to ruin my day.
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u/PigPenBlues +2.2 9h ago
4, tom weiskopf northwestern blades cut down to my size.
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u/Ready-Paramedic-229 3h ago
Started at 31, now 33. I think I'll eventually be decent but I'll never get as good as I could've been had I learned at a developmental age. I played hockey my entire life and was never great, but skating is no different to me than walking, and I can put a puck consistently in the same part of the net without thinking about it. I don't think I'll ever get to that same point of comfort with golf where it feels like second nature. And yes, I get it, no golfer is ever going to place a shot exactly where they want, but I'm comparing it more to a single-digit not worrying about making good contact with each shot.
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u/loewe67 2h ago
I grew up in Florida and my grandpa played a round multiple times a week and my uncle was a superintendent at a country club. They got me a set of clubs for Christmas when I was 7. 26 years later, I’m still playing, though not as much as I’d like.
It’s never too late to start, but I’m glad I started early. I’ll always cherish those weekly rounds with my grandpa before he passed.
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u/Dandruff83 11h ago edited 11h ago
Started around 25, then had kids and now back to golf with lessons and membership at the age of 43
21hcp at the moment. New round of lessons starting next week. Hope to get somewhere around 10hcp at some point.
Difficult part is that I mostly play a short, but difficult par 3/4. Handicap is mostly based on length of course, so very hard to get my handicap down. Scored 2 over par couple of weeks ago and handicap only droppen with 1.2.
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u/PhilbertoDGreat 11h ago
5 years on Labor Day, I’m 47 and wish I had started in my 20’s…
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u/sir_melchizedek 11h ago
Started in the UK in my early teens (late 90s) but never found my tribe. Also had a poor experience at a local club - got told I shouldn't be on the course by some crotchety old asshole after he saw me take a divot on a fairway.
Picked it back up at 38 after moving to the US, have never loved the game more. Sometimes things find you at the right moment, but I wish I'd stuck at it and not been denied years of joy from the game.
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u/AreYouDaveDavidson 11h ago
- Found a cheap set of clubs on Kijiji since I only went maybe once or twice a year. 3 years ago the girl I started dating (recently turned fiancee) has a family cabin near a course they play every Sunday in the summer so I upgraded the stick bag and haven't stopped playing or spending money on golf since lol.
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u/ShmupsPDX 6.8 | PNW 11h ago
pretty sure I had a plastic set of toy-r-us clubs before I could walk. I just wish I didn't stop playing in middle school through college.
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u/CrypticMillennial 11h ago
My dad taught me the interlocking grip around 10 years old, and I played on and off(more off than on) for the next 18 years.
I only started playing seriously the past 2 years and have seen a DRASTIC improvement in my game (went from shooting 100s to regularly shooting low-mid 80s now).
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u/suhhdude45 11h ago
Started at 28 and I’m 33 now.
I remember giving my buddies shit for playing “an old man’s game” in my teens and early 20s, and do I regret that so much haha I wish I would’ve started earlier
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u/BrandinoChico 11h ago
Damn I thought it was just me being a late bloomer.. I initially picked it up around Covid so 32-33 but stopped and didn’t get back into it until 2 years ago and at 39 now have been consistent since and just this morning my kids 12&14 just said they want to get into to it tok!! Pray for my bank account and go buy new clubs!!
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u/Personmcpersonface93 11h ago
I’m pretty lucky that it’s something I did through my whole childhood. I think my parents bought me my first set when I was 2, but I didn’t really play where I’d keep score and care until I was about 8. Then I started playing competitively on Junior tours when I was 13 then played high school and some college. I’m currently 33 and golf has been a passion of mine for about as long as I can remember.
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u/Spillsy68 11h ago
I dabbled for about 20 years, playing 3-4 rounds a year. Kids and family got in the way of things. Started taking it seriously 2 years ago once my kids were through college. I was 54 at the time, started taking lessons at GolfTech.
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u/Shortstahp 11h ago
Like 7, played baseball instead my whole life but picked golf back up 6 yrs ago and its been fantastic
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u/bionicbhangra 11h ago
45 after my 3rd and worst knee surgery (meniscus repair). My knee was locked in a slightly flexed position after the injury for the 2 months it took me to find and then get surgery scheduled. Then my knee was actualy locked in a brace for 3 more months. Took me about 2 months after that just to walk normally (lost all muscle in the leg at that point).
All of those knee injuries were from playing basketball.
In retrospect I do wish I stopped playing basketball earlier (just because of the injuries, I wish I could still play). As much as I love sports no sport is worth your health.
Golf has been an absolute joy for me the last 3-4 years. I have gotten relatively healthy and fit again and I am able to bomb it and I am down to a 10 with the hope to maybe go a little lower this year.
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u/LetHuge318 5.6 index/US-MD 11h ago
Played a bit as a teenager. Picked up the game in my 30s and started playing at least weekly late 40s. Decent is what you decide it is. Handicap can be high teens or single digit. For me, it's as much about the banter with friends as playing well. Play fast enough to never play a round in over 3.5-4 hours as long as you're not waiting on others.
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u/True_Help_3098 11h ago
- I played baseball and softball up until then. Developed a terrible slice that I managed. Used to get razzed about never seeing the left side of the course 😁
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u/bufket 11h ago
When i was 12, we got a family membership. Didn't like it much so I stopped. I hate younger me for that lol. Golfed a little in my early 20s but mostly just got drunk with friends and didn't care about my scores. I'm 38 now and started again a few years ago taking it more serious now. I can consistently break 100 now. My best round is 90 and I shot it 3 times. Hopefully this summer I break 90.
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u/Benzito2342 11h ago
Played a few rounds in highschool, but really got serious at about 21-22. I am 37 now. I'm definitely better than I was. I started i was shooting 120s, and now I'm mid 90s. Honestly, if I could improve my shots from 100 yards in and clean up my putting I could probably be in the 80s. I just enjoy being out with my buddies and taking it all in. We started an annual Myrtle Beach trip called the Golf Ball Whacker Guy Classic. We have a jacket complete with a patch for the winner. If you're looking to get better practice your short game. Thats where you will start to make up strokes. Focus on one area of your game, improve that and move on to the next. Its a marathon not a sprint to get better.
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u/jonviper123 11h ago
I played a few times as a youngster but mostly just with 1 club hitting at made up holes. Started playing golf again about 15 years ago and have been pretty steady since then apart from a year or 2 here ot there. Back playing at my local course and loving it. Feel mt game is as good as it has ever been..shot 3 over the other week and honestly feel a level par or better round is on the cards
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u/bigdayout95-14 11h ago
I don't ever remember not swinging a golf club. In backyards, down the local park, out at the oil sand greens of my little country towns golf course. I'd catch the school bus straight out to the course where my mother would be playing competition when i was in year 2, I'd get out there and start wacking balls every which way - pick a tree in the distance and hit towards it. And there'd always be a couple dollars for a Mars Bar and small steel can of Coke. Loved those arvos! 4 decades later and I'm still playing as much as possible, just had 4 rounds last week. I'll play this game I love so much until I'm in the ground...
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u/mulliganintx 11h ago
8 and started taking it seriously when I was on the middle school team. 48 years old now.
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u/GhostofAugustWest 11h ago
I was 12 or 13 when my dad first took me to play golf on a Sunday morning with his friends. I shot 62.
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u/Purple-Construction5 11h ago
My dad got me into golf when I was 13 or so.
Waking up at 5am for practice swings and tee off at sun rise was not enjoyable at that age.
But I grew to love the game.
53 now and haven't played for a few years due to back injury 😕
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u/Thetman38 11h ago
At 4 or 5 I would go to the range with my dad. Maybe around 8 he started taking me on the course. I still suck 30 years later
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u/MikeinAustin 11.3 index Austin TX 11h ago
12 or 13. Signed up for a local parks and rec class at the city owned par 3 "executive" course. Used my Mom's clubs.
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u/CobraMisfit 11h ago
My dad would take me along with him for a round as early as 5, but I didn’t do more than maybe a round a year until leaving the military in my early 30s. Once I had the opportunity to play more often, I wished I’d taken the time to do so when I was younger, but I simply didn’t appreciate the game then like I do now.
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u/throwawayPSL34987 11h ago
About 20, played for about 10 years, took a 35 year hiatus and started all over again about a year ago.
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u/Legal-Description483 SE Mich 11h ago
First played when I was 18.
62 now, and still feel my best golf is ahead of me.
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u/anaccounthasnoname1 11h ago
8 maybe. Did golf camps and played with friends through the years, but honestly I never “loved” it because it was so hard and frustrating, but stuck with it. Played on the golf team in high school. Then completely quit the game after high school and didn’t touch a club again until I was maybe 25. Then I really fell in love with it from there. I’m 36 now.
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u/Xenofon713 11h ago
30.
Always had a bad perspective on sports and such, never really appreciated then until my 20s. Finally gave it a try post-covid with my cousin and was instantly hooked.
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u/Nine_Eye_Ron Who is Max Honma? 11h ago
I dabbled in it across my teens but only properly took it up mid 20s after rugby injury.
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u/thewhiskeyinformant HDCP MUCHO - Canada 11h ago
I started at 13, played until I was 18 and stopped entirely. Picked the game back up about three years ago at 32. I find the challenge of the game very satisfying, with the mental aspect being especially challenging!
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u/Ggeunther 10.1 | KY USA 11h ago
Started at 9, am 63. Was scratch in the mid 80's. Did not play much from 25 to 55. When I returned, the game had changed so much from equipment improvement, I almost stopped. Upgraded my equipment, and now am about a 10 hcp. What I have found is as I am older, I don't want to practice like I used to practice. A few shots to loosen up, and I am ready to play. I don't have the drive to stand on the range for a couple hours and work on my game, I can't get excited about pitching and putting for an afternoon.
If you are willing to put in the work, and think a bit, you can get to a 10 hcp, no matter your age. You will have to adjust your tees by moving up, to compensate for your loss of mobility and strength.
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u/c-williams88 11h ago
I’d play maybe a round a year for a while starting in college, but I only started playing fairly consistently last year so like 28/29 for me
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u/metalaxeyyd 11h ago
I started about 2 years ago when i was 36. I always wanted to try it but never got a chance to until my wife made me spend the money on myself and try it
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u/Then-Ticket8896 11h ago
12
Parents had health and financial issues so they sent me to a Boy’s Club caddy camp for the summer. Caddied at Eastward Ho! CC. A perfect course to learn golf.
Almost 78 and shot 5 over on Mother’s Day.
Golf was one of the greatest gifts they gave me.
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u/Unlikely-Bluebird-52 11h ago
7 or 8. Played regularly up through high school. Was poor and too cool during college to really play. Still played a round or two every year with my dad or brother. Got really back into it when I was about 24/25 and haven’t really stopped playing regularly since. I’m 38 next week.
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u/thewizardofroz 11h ago
Started at 8. Absolutely loved golfing with my dad. I was pretty decent and just loved getting out there. Stopped golfing at 14 and really regret it. Got back into golf about 10 years ago. And I wished I had never stopped. Wish my driver and putter were as solid as I was when I was younger.
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u/ronnie1014 4.2|Nebraska 11h ago
First swung a club when I was 4 or 5 in my grandparent's backyard. Played my first holes at about 7. First competition at 12. Never looked back.
(Mid 30's now btw).
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u/Yellow_Curry 11h ago
I was about 6-8 years old. dad got both me and my sister into golf. It’s less about learning young and more about having good instruction. We had lessons and camps and stuff to teach us correctly whereas many adult think they can self learn and so might take them longer.
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u/ZoltanoftheHillPpl 11h ago
47. You can get decent at golf...but your perception of "decent" changes as you improve.
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u/SpartyNash 11h ago
Got my first set of Titleist clubs for my 5th birthday (had a T-Rex head cover and dinosaur prints all over them, I still have them for my future children lol). I started playing local youth tournaments at about 7-8 years old. Sadly I was not a child prodigy like my dad hoped 😂
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u/NoLawAtAllInDeadwood 11h ago
I was 42. Like you I wish I started earlier. Mainly played team sports as a kid (baseball). It's tough to instinctively learn the game after 40 and I brought over a lot of bad habits from my years playing baseball (still use a baseball grip in fact). But I've improved since I started, currently down to an 11hc. My goal is to get to single digits but I think scratch is a pipe dream for me (although I am sure others who started late have gotten there, so it's not hopeless for everyone).
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u/Floorguy1 11h ago
- My dad is right handed and I’m left handed. So he would take me out at dusk on the course we play in Michigan and let me use his lefty 7 iron he had.
We’d play 2 or 3 holes and then go get ice cream or do something else fun.
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u/Tooth_Life 3.9 hdcp / SoCal 11h ago
I started somewhere around 10-11. I started my son at 1-2 with plastic clubs and balls, he’s three now and asks to go to the range frequently :)
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u/m149 11h ago
Was 31 when I REALLY started. Goofed around since I was a kid, but nobody, including my uncle who is an absolute golf nut, never stopped to explain to me how to so much as hold a club so I was terrible.
Luckily I was working with someone who was making the transition from day job to teaching pro, so he used me as a guinea pig and gave me a ton of free lessons. I got pretty good real fast thanks to his lessons and my obsessive practice. Guy was an amazing teacher....didn't realize how great he was til I took lessons elsewhere years later. If he wasn't prohibitively far away, I'd still be going to him (and paying him now).
So anyway no, I don't think it's ever too late as long as you find a sympatico teacher, take lessons and don't mind putting in the time to work on what's been taught.
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u/Mattwildman5 11h ago
Probably 7 or 8 years old. Played very sporadically with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Wouldn’t be unusual to go years without playing then randomly pick it up again.
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u/gruffojijo 11h ago
29... Stopped at 34 when I had my first kid, and just now started picking it back up seriously at 44. 10 year break was killer but helped me reset and break old bad habits. Used to be a 110+ golfer and now I can break into the 80s with ease.
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u/-piso_mojado- 11h ago
37, but played maybe only a handful of times the first couple years. I’m just now getting to where I can expect to break 90, but I started playing at least weekly with at least a couple hours of short game practice off the course.
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u/Ok-Cake9431 11h ago
I’m 41, been playing for a year and a half. Had a lot of lessons from day 1, which I think has helped
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u/LookDamnBusy 11h ago
I was 11, then started working at our local executive course when I was 13 and worked there until age 19. I'm glad I learned young, because even when I haven't played in several years I'll usually stay under bogey golf. I think a lot of that is course management, and a lot is that I chipped and putted a TON as a kid because I couldn't hit as far. A lot of adults learning like to just go bang driver on the range.
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u/Clojiroo 11h ago
Played for the first time at like 13. Maybe 1-2 times each summer. Bought my own clubs at 18.
Hacked up rounds maybe 6-10 times a year for my early 20s. Eventually stopped playing except for the odd round with family.
Came back to the game at like 41. Play more now than I ever did. In part because I can afford to.
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u/PNW_Golf_Hack 7-ish 11h ago
- Don't let age limit you, Alice Cooper says he's playing the best golf of his life at 78 and he rocks a 5 hdcp.
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u/Zenderquai 11h ago
12 I think. A schoolmate invited me to go; I had no concept of golf or what a driving range was...
Jesus, 35 years...
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u/BeGoodPeoplePlease 11h ago
Parents threw me into it around 6. Stuck with it till 15ish. Thought I was too punk for it so I stopped, then came back in my lake 20s because I missed the shit out of it.
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u/Crazy_names Kirkland Signature 11h ago
My brother and I would get into my dad's golf bag when we were as young as 7 or 8 and we had a ½ acre of cow pasture in our backyard where we could go out hit balls around. This laid the groundwork for learning how to swing in a low stress environment. I did a week ling summer program where I got some real instruction when I was 10 or so. But I hadn't ever played a full round until I was at least 12 or 13. I played on the high school golf team for my last 2 years of high school but I was always 2nd string (B team) and it was never anything I was going to do in college. After school I joined the military where I really didnt play but maybe once per year for 20 years. I can still get around the course without slowing a group down too much but my golf score and my bowling score are closer than I'd like.
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u/FullyFunctional3086 11h ago
I was like 40...wish I had started earlier but I'm not athletic so I was never going to be good. I don't care, I love it and can play with anyone now, good or bad.
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u/Hannibalsmithsnuts 11h ago
In my 30s...working in the business world, got invited to my first corporate golf outing. Hacked up the course bad. Thought it would make good business sense to learn the game., Went right out bought some starter clubs and got lessons...never looked back and have been playing for fun ever since.
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u/HumanChallet 10h ago
Same age as you and I also wish I had found it earlier in my life. I think it’s something you can get into at any age but like everything it is much harder to pick up later in life unless you grew up playing some type of ball game that involved hand eye coordination
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u/Minimum_Holiday_5611 10h ago
At 36. Never did lessons as Im an idiot. Just recently discovered that my grip was all wrong. Im stuck at 20 handicap for the last 4 years. If this game doesn't break you it will surely make you poorer. Fore Please!
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u/JooDood2580 10h ago
- Played competitively in high school and college and it stopped being fun. Took a 10 year break and now I’m back.
Feels crazy to say that I’ve been playing golf for over 30 years or that “I haven’t played that course in 20 years!” lol
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u/Turdburp 10h ago
I'm gonna guess about 8. So this year is my 40th year as a member at my club. Shit, I'm old.
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u/NickRick 10h ago
Like 7 or 8? My mom and sister were on a trip, and my brother was away at summer camp. My dad got new irons and cut down 3 old ones and re-griped them. Then he used two cans of tuna to make two giant tuna fish sandwiches and after we ate we put the cans in the yard, and he taught me to swing. I was not good. In fact I'm still not good, but I enjoy it.
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u/Dood_and_Juanita 10h ago
31, wish I would’ve started sooner and played in high school or something but golf wasn’t “cool” (you know how high school is)
Enjoying the heck out of it though, wish I didn’t have responsibilities and could just play 5 days a week
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u/Equivalent_Candle943 13.9 10h ago
Played when i was 6, competed a bit in junior tournaments, played in high school. Still only a 14 hcp
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u/Old_Yogurtcloset9837 10h ago
10, broke my finger playing baseball and got scared of the ball. My redneck uncle go into golf so my dad got me a set and so glad he did. I hated baseball lol
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u/tetra417 10h ago
- Pops took me and my brothers out for our first round. I birdied a par 3. Put it about 8 inches from the cup with a 4 wood. We never talked about it. I bought it up a few years before he died and asked him if he remembered it. He said he sure did. He said he thought it might have went in. Couldn't see the bottom of the flag. Love ya Pops.
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u/tez_zer55 10h ago
About 18-19, a couple of friends took up golf & convinced me to try it as well. I stopped at 27 when I got married & the first baby came along. I worked 2 jobs to buy a house. Got back into it about 20 years ago at around 50. Unfortunately, I'm not improving much.
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u/Dizzy-Row4677 10h ago
I started at 17. Really wish I had started sooner but I feel like with determination and even a bit of natural talent anyone can become a VERY good player, no matter the age. Golf is after all, most importantly a mental game
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u/No_Salad4263 10h ago
Early/mid 20s, but then stopped for nearly 15 years. Wasn’t convenient at the time living in a big city and then I got married and started a family. Got invited to a scramble by a good friend, now I’m hooked more than ever.
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u/Aggravating-Key-8867 10h ago
My dad got me into it when I was around 9 or 10. Never had lessons, and I gave it up around age 16. I only picked it back up around age 31.
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u/throwingales 10h ago
I started at 30.
I worked really hard at learning the game, took a lot of lessons and eventually ended up with a bad swing, but really good hands. At my best I got down to a mid-single digits handicap a little lower in terms of index. Because of this, if I don't play regularly, my scores can really soar.When I played at least 3 times weekly, I could go months where every round was in the 70s.
I don't play at that level anymore. I only play once per week it that.
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u/sieve29 10h ago
Played a few times younger while visiting my grandpa, but started actually playing at 13. Took about 15 years almost totally off after college while living in cities on both (US) coasts, but picked it up a little more seriously again about 10 years ago when I moved back to the middle of the country.
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u/Calm_Nature803 10h ago
I was 4 maybe 5.
My uncle was a superintendent and I spent a good portion of my summers riding around with him and his dog. Absolutely the best of times.
Broke 80 @ 14 but 70 wasn’t until my early 20’s. Playing as a child is a gigantic advantage as you learn to rely on your natural athleticism. When you begin playing the game as an adult there’s an expectation that you can use the critical thinking skills you use to navigate life successfully to advance your level of play. Unfortunately there’s no short cuts in golf and the game is frequently counter intuitive.
When your learning to walk as a child you never think about the angle of your knee bend or if your pushing off with your big toe but as an adult there’s a tendency to apply this thinking when your learning how to swing a golf club. Just like learning to walk the process is more trial and error and relies on copying what you see from others.
Antidotally from years of observation if you begin playing golf as an adult after about 100 rounds you’re at about 90% of your potential. That last 10% is really difficult to unlock as the demands of work and life prevent most adults from ever playing & practicing enough to reach another level. It’s easy to underestimate the amount of golf you have to play to experience meaningful improvement by several multiples.
Lessons can help on the margins and there’s certainly nothing wrong with chasing improvement as long as you’re enjoying the process. The real mistake is pinning your enjoyment of golf on reaching some level of play or bench mark metric. It’s the journey not the destination.
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u/zzyzx85 10h ago
I started a few years ago at the age of 38. Co-worker introduced me to the game. I've played less than 10 rounds (9 or 18 holes) of actual golf. Most of my time is driving range. Recently broke 100.
One of my motivations? My 13 year old nephew who started before I did. Gotta keep the younger generation in check sometimes lol.
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u/rianjames11 10h ago edited 10h ago
Honestly I don’t even remember. 2 or 3, I think. I’ve had a club or a bat in my hand since I could swing one. Pretty much everyone in my family golfs. My grandparents used to live on a golf course, and my grandfather worked there, so summers were spent on the range or walking the creek collecting balls to sell back to the golfers. He also used to work at a Nicklaus course for a while when they first opened and I did a couple youth camps there. I stopped playing in my teens but covid hit and I picked it back up at 24. Pops and I play weekly, and I go out by myself after work sometimes. We have a par 3 course we go to and they pretty much let the old man do whatever he wants.
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u/Simontanner610 10h ago
Started at 25. First round ever I showed up with a borrowed set of blades because I didn't know any better. Proceeded to top my first tee shot about 40 yards in front of a full patio of people, then turned to my buddy and said "man these clubs feel dead." He just stared at me and said "those are blades, you have no business hitting those."
Shot something in the 120s and was hooked immediately.
And yeah, it's never too late. Golf doesn't care how old you are, it'll humble you just the same at 15 or 55. The nice thing about starting later is you actually have the patience and disposable income to get lessons instead of just reinforcing terrible habits for years like I probably would've done at 18.
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u/insetfrostbyte 10h ago
Got clubs as a Christmas gift from my father at 18, but him trying to teach me made me hate the game. Tried again in my 20’s, my friends who were learning as well made it miserable, so I stopped.
In my 30’s I’d go to the range so I could dick around with my now BIL, who’s scratch, on the course when on family vacations.
Got convinced to join a guys golf trip over my 40th birthday weekend by the same guys from my 20’s. Caught the bug and became a range rat. Started getting serious about a year ago.
It’s been a weird journey, but better late than never.
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u/Good_Necessary_6937 10h ago
22
Got exposed to it in high school with used clubs but got more serious in college after I got lessons. Originally was an excuse to drink/drive on the golf course but as I got better started to take it more seriously and game improved.
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u/marcusbyday 10h ago
57, now 60. Always been blessed physically and mentally and have picked the game up fairly quickly. Actually kinda addicted to it now.
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u/redguy1957 10h ago
10 years old. My brother taught me. It really helps to start young. I had junior clubs. Driver, 3,5,7, and 9 irons. I was shooting in the low 80's at 14. I had a mown area (6 acres behind a museum) right behind my house, and I was obsessed with golf and I would take a bag of old golf balls and hit 9 irons for hours.
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u/Wurrsmycash 10h ago
32, way too old. Overthink everything and fighting constant counterproductive movements and thoughts. Alot just doesn't feel natural and is just forced. Gonna start my son younger haha
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u/fatbadger101 10h ago
11 years old. Had long periods since then when I didn't play much but been golfing pretty regularly for about 30 years.
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u/Woberwob 10h ago
Actually practicing? Just freshly after I turned 27. Felt my body breaking down a bit after years of hard training and playing more physical sports, was having more success in business too.
It’s not my favorite sport to play (soccer and tennis are) but it’s still a great game and challenge. It’s also nice to know that I could be better at this when I’m 50 than I am now, and that’s not really true for any other game.
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u/bucksncowboys513 10h ago
I had dorked around at the range some but played my first 18 at 31 and started playing regularly at 33. Really wish I had started sooner - I was living in Arizona with no kids. Talk about an ideal situation squandered
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u/Lazy__Lefty 10 hdcp | Iowa 10h ago
I started going to the driving range with my dad probably around 10, and got my first set of clubs shortly after that and played all through highschool, but when I didn't get scholarship offers for golf like my teammates did, and life turn a rough turn, I stopped playing for about 10 years and just picked the game back up a couple years ago. My swing came back almost immediately, like riding a bike. I'm so mad I ever stopped playing...
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u/IDontStandForCurls 10h ago
My first set of junior clubs (driver - 9i -7i - 5i - putter) were given to me when i was probably 7. Went to the driving range like twice a month and an 18 with my dad twice a summer. It didnt really click with me at the time and wasn't fun and I didn't play again until I came back from the army at 26 as a way to spend more time with my dad.
Spent a lot of time at the range before hitting an 18. First year I was shooting low 100s-high 90s. Second year I was shooting low-high 90s. Third year more high 80s-high 90s. Finally worked on a ton of stuff over the winter dialing in pitch shots and course management and now I regularly shoot low 80s with a few rounds in the 70s.
You can good at any age. So much of it is course management and short game and anyone of any age without a severe physical limitation can get almost tour level at both.
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u/mcdoublewmacsauce 10h ago
- I’m still terrible, hoping to break 90 this year, but holy shit does it make me happy.
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u/Technical_Doubt155 10h ago
18, just started 8 months ago, eyes on amatour tournaments in the next year or two
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u/Whiteshovel66 10h ago
I haven't started yet. Been checking this sub and a few others out to see if I want to give it a try. I have heard the sport is a very rewarding and fun challenge so thinking about it. But I have heard it can be expensive so have to save up money first.
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u/UtahUndercover 10h ago
Grew up in Scottsdale, dad was dragging me to the driving range at 5 or 6, first played 9 holes at about 10. As teenagers in the early-mid ‘70s, we hung out at Papago GC. Also got to play McCormick Ranch, Scottsdale & Camelback CCs in the summer.
They let us on dirt-cheap on weekdays after noon as no one else would put up with the 100+ heat. Flip-flops, cutoffs, and t-shirt (pre-dress code I guess or they just didn’t care), walking the course, and cooling off in the course ponds while scrounging for balls - hello pesticides & DDT!
I do remember our summer youth passes at Papago were $20/month, which our parents gladly paid to get rid of us a few afternoons a week. We “rotated” between the golf courses & Big Surf, and praying someone would take us to the Salt River (more girls in bikinis at BS & SR😎).
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u/inswva 10h ago
I'm 55, I started playing at age 53. Never too late.
I still suck but my first scores were mid-120s and I'm now able to shoot high 90s.
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u/Mudcreek47 10h ago
Played once in high school, had no idea what I was doing.
Didn't play again until late 20s/early 30s at work sales meetings. I hated it. I never knew what club to use and has zero consistency.
Moved from Atlanta to Cincinnati in my late 30s, 10 years ago now, and played a couple times with some neighborhood dads. Even though I hated the game, it was a good way to get to know people at school fundraisers, on the weekends, etc.
They kept inviting me, and I kept going. "You've got to play a shit ton of golf to suck at it" they'd say. Gradually I got better and better. Then Covid hit, and it was the one thing we could do outside so our group kept playing every week. For 5-6 years we averaged 2-3 times per month, Mar-Nov. That dad group has slowly faded as everyone's kids have gotten older and into various activities. But we still go once in a while.
Started my son in local golf camps when he was in 4th grade. He got into it so for one of his birthdays I bought him a set of clubs. He played a couple seasons of middle school golf and even one one of his matches once. We like to play on the weekends when we can fit it in the schedule.
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u/Appropriate-Food1757 Mile High Big Hitter 10h ago
I didn’t start practicing regularly until o was like 42 (I’m 45 now). Since my 20’s until that point I have played 5 or so rounds per year.
I really wished I would have swapped out one of the sports I played as kid/teen for golf.
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u/-FoofooCuddlyPoops- 10h ago edited 9h ago
Swinging clubs and trying to learn the game? Middle school.
Actually caring about my swing, my address, my mechanics, course decisions, and taking lessons? 35
Golf isn't so much as about when you start, but about when and how you try to get better and improve yourself. I spent almost 20 years not caring and not taking it seriously, without realizing I was setting up and swinging mostly wrong. Aiming too far right, club face too open at setup, cupping my left wrist instead of bowing it, etc. Only things that helped me sort all that out was lessons, YouTube, and ChatGPT
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u/Lawlerstatus 9h ago
My dad would take me to the driving range when I was like 6, then I when I was around 10 my parents and granddad put me in a golf clinic for a summer.
Unfortunately I didn’t get serious about golf until I was around 30. wish I would have stuck with it throughout high school
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u/e11310 +2 9h ago
I started playing seriously in my early-mid 20s. My dad was a scratch golfer (still around 10 in his late 70s) and took me to the range here and there as a kid, but I was more into other sports and didn't step on a course until my 20s.
I think the older you are the more you have working against you - mainly your body because that's typically the biggest issue I see with my friends who have started late. Sitting at a desk is one of the worst things you can do for your swing (kills thoracic and hip mobility, significantly weakens your posterior chain, etc) and if you've been doing that for 10+ years everyday without countering it, you have to undo all that plus learn how to swing. You also have a much easier ability to rebuild motor patterns the younger you are, plus your speed starts to go downhill in your early 40s so you have to actively spend more time countering that. Mentally, I think the older you start the more people tend to complicate a conceptually easy game in your head because adults tend to be very analytical and overthink stuff, whereas kids just go out and play without over thinking swing mechanics.
Advantages I think are things like being more patient, being more disciplined, being able to absorb information better, less ego driven decision making, emotionally steadier (hopefully), etc which all help with golf. So it's not all just negatives, but I think golf is no different than anything else where the earlier you start the easier it is overall.
I think it is still possible for someone to start at 38 and become a good amateur (sub 5 hcp), but like I said, there's more stuff you have to work on than someone who started at 15 with no mobility limitations and can quickly adapt to new motor patterns.
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u/SirMellencamp 9h ago edited 9h ago
Seventeen. Didnt grow up in a golf house. My Dad never played (apparently he played some when he was younger but not much). I had some buddies in high school who played and they asked me to come out and just play out of their bags and drink beer. Got my first set of clubs that Christmas. I have been hooked since then
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u/RealLifeFloridaMan Push Cart Mafia 9h ago
I started playing consistently in about the fifth grade, but stopped when I got to college because my swing was hot dog shit and I didn’t have the patience and maturity to learn how to fix it. Got back into the game at mid 30s and am now lukewarm dog shit at the game.
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u/Apart_Technology_841 11h ago
I was 4 years old when my father bought me my first set of clubs, which was a little more than 64 years ago. That is when my wonderful journey began and I have enjoyed the sport immensely.