Beginning Is Half the Battle

In the few weeks since my initial “Good To Be Back” post, I was ecstatic to receive some story ideas from various readers. Though I never really requested it, if there’s a golf topic on your mind or a story you’d like me to dive into, pass your thoughts along to [email protected].

One of those story ideas was golf for beginners. I was asked how people should approach starting their golf career, a question for which there is really no correct answer.

Plain and simple, the game can be intimidating. Too many times I walked up the ninth fairway without a ball in play, swearing I’ll never play this silly game again. Likewise, too many times friends and girlfriends have given me the excuse: I will get too frustrated. Clearly, getting a beginner and their clubs on the course is half the battle.

It’s true, though. If there’s a more frustrating game, or a game with more potential to frustrate, I haven’t played it. But as evidenced by the good times and good people littering golf courses all over the county, plenty of that frustration can be avoided.

My advice? Find the right place. Long before you find the right swing or right way to get up-and-down from 100 yards, you’ll need a course that fits you. Although I’m no prodigy success story, I toiled as a young golfer on the wrong course, paired with the wrong intentions.

I was a slicing maniac, pumping drives at the practice range, with distance as my main priority. Oh, to be young and foolish again. Whilst young and foolish, I was trying to play from the men’s tees (which were far too long) with my peers who were on the high school golf team while I tried hitting line drives and home runs on the baseball diamond.

The point is, I should have been splitting the game into sections, working on certain parts of the frustrating game in certain areas, like hitting short iron shots on the practice range and visiting Sturgeon Bay’s par-3 course 27 Pines more often than the fairways at Cherry Hills.

Indeed, it can be easy to forget about the shortest course in Door County situated just minutes off Highway 42 beyond the highway bridge. It may not be the prettiest or well-maintained course on the peninsula, but it might be perfect for the beginner who’s just trying to hit it straight rather than focus on making birdies.

When the opportunity to play a longer, challenging course or with a more advanced foursome of players, there’s inherent value to a beginner, but to do so on a regular basis while trying to learn the game is like running a weekly 10k without running shoes. It won’t really pay off.

So that’s one unfortunate and eventually rewarding aspect of golf, each track is different and some can do more harm than good at the outset. Finding the right place is the perfect starting seed to a good golf game.

A course like Stonehedge in Egg Harbor might be that perfect spot. It’s short (no par-5s) and sweet (the nine holes give off a petite feel, and the price, starting at $16, will never hurt your wallet).

Better yet, it’s just down the street from The Orchards, so when that beginner’s game comes around, just walk a couple hundred yards to where the big boys play.