Daily Diary: Learn to Golf (Lesson 1)

There’s one thing I’ve been dying to learn how to do my whole life… play golf.

My father and brothers LOVE to play golf, and I’ve always been intrigued and interested about learning the game. Not to mention, I’ve always wanted to learn to play golf because it seems like the perfect sports game to do with a group of people and just have a wonderful day playing away.

Well… my learning to play golf dream is coming true!

I have partnered up with the PGA of America and am finally getting the opportunity to fulfill this dream, yes… even pregnant! I had to get approval from my doctor to start lessons, but he told me back in April that I was “good to go!”

I’m taking lessons in Rhode Island with Susan Bond, a PGA of America Professional… and she is AMAZING. What I love about Susan is that she’s passionate about the game, she’s a patient instructor (I’m not that good!) and she’s really into teaching skills and making sure I’ve got it. She’s not out there to just toss a bunch of stuff at me and hope I “get it”… she’s there – helping, showing and working with me for the full hour lesson, it’s refreshing and VERY helpful. I’m literally someone who NEVER picked up a golf club in my life – I’m literally starting from scratch – so she definitely has her work cut out for her!

My first lesson took place 3 weeks ago.

I was going to hold off writing about my 5 lesson series, but yesterday afternoon I practiced on my own in my backyard (my husband was shocked), and I thought it would be more helpful to break everything down by lesson. Susan also encouraged me to bring along a golf-buddy, so I brought my mother. She said that most people like to golf with someone they know, especially beginners, and she was absolutely correct. Having my mom there with me, learning at the same time, it helped my confidence and made the lesson a lot less intimidating.

On our 1st lesson we learned Putting and Chipping.

PUTTING:

The putting, I LOVED and immediately “got” right away. I loved how putting is very similar to playing mini-golf, you just need to have control and know how to aim and remember to stand correctly and not try and smash the ball to the hole.

Here are the skills Susan told us to remember about putting:

I’ve had a ton of fun practicing putting in my backyard. I can’t believe I’m saying this… but I actually think I got it. And yes, even with a pregnant belly – I can do it!

CHIPPING:

Chipping, this was something I had NEVER heard of before! Chipping is literally putting with a club. I was worried it was going to be very difficult, but Susan made it very easy to learn. My first reaction was to make the ball get some air, but that’s not what you want to do with chipping. It took me a little time to “get” it down, but I finally was able to control my need to smash it. LOL… !

Susan gave us a wonderful way to remember how to do chipping…

These 2 skills were perfect to learn on my first golf lesson.

I have to be honest, I was worried that I would leave my first lesson feeling defeated or very overwhelmed, thankfully… I didn’t feel either. I felt enthused. I felt excited. I felt ready to learn more!

Next post up – my 2nd LESSON! 🙂

And don’t forget… you can Learn to Play Golf, too! Here is where you can go for information: PlayGolfofAmerica.com.