[dcdunk3]

how long have you played?

i am 19 and have been playing for a year and a half. i started my senior year in high school because of a bad baseball coach. i guess baseball helped me with my swing and now i am a 5 handicap

[callawayfan]

for about 5 years, im 16

[longballjs]

21 years. Im 25, got my first real cut down 7 iron and 5 wood when I was 3, and when I was 4 started hitting up the range with pops

[dcdunk3]

thats cool. one of my matches in my senior year was with a freshman from another high school. he was a scratch golfer and had only been playing for a year. its amazing how some people just seem to have the talent.

[scotchblade]

Since 1971 with a eight year break in the late 90s.

Never had a hole in one or a double eagle.

Never made it to scratch, a four is as low as I could go.

Best scores are a pair of 70s on a muni type layout.

Most birdie in one round, six, including the last four holes at the Olympic Club Lake Course, of all places.

Greatest course ever played, Cypress Point.

Still trying to improve, but it's getting harder, especially with the loss of flexibility that comes with age.

[northgolf]

41 years including a 10 year hiatus (1997 - 2007)
I'm 49.

Never had a hole in one or a double eagle.

Haven't made it to scratch yet (4 was the lowest).

Best score was a 65 on a public course.

Best course played - Pinehurst #2

Playing to a 12 and dropping.

[Veritas]

Got a later start than some. I'm 27 and this is my third season playing. I wish I had taken the game up sooner, but I am addicted at this point.

[mat562]

24 years now. Crikey.

[fccgolfer]

Just under 2 years

[shankapotamus]

July 4th marks 50 years of playing golf for me. I even got in a round during my vacation
year in 'Nam', 1968.

[bjdrivers]

Since 1994. So that's, 15 years? I'm 35. 6 Handicap. I remember watching Phil Mickelson hole out a PW that year in the President's Cup and that hooked me & made me want to start playing.

[BugsyinNC]

Since 1974, with some breaks while in the Navy. Now 48, solid 9 handicap, playing best golf of my life.

[TMaddict]

28 years old. Been playing for 11 years..

My next door buddy was a japanese junior champ. Taught me everything about the game.

Handicap is almost fixed at 5.

If i try not to whack the ball so damn hard and try to land it on the fairway more, i might drop down to 2 or 3, but i play this game to relieve my stress, so be it.

[fore_life]

started playing when I was 11(im 27 now), played consistantly for about 5 years, then stopped for about 9 or 10 years and started playing last summer. I actually am playing better than I ever did as a kid, and had my handicap as low as a 5 last summer but now am at an 8 due to some bad scores at courses with low ratings/slopes

[tbowles411]

Since 2003 at 33. Not any better, but I still love it. I'm a golf geek. I'm all about the technical side of equipment. That's where I get my joy from...including that "shot that keeps you coming back."

[rascre]

I'm 25 and have been playing for 17 years.

[otto6457]

42 years. Started when I was 8. My dad would take me along when he played. He cut down a 9 iron for me. He wouldn't let me tee off but when he got close to the green he would let me drop next to his ball and we played in from there. First one in the hole won that hole. It was so long ago the course we played still had sand greens. We had to rake our footprints when we finished.

I played in high school and two years of college golf. Took 12 years off when my daughters turned out to be big time soccer players. Too busy traveling every weekend watching them play.

Currently playing to about a 3. It's funny...but I'm longer now than I was in college but the putter is bewitched with evil spirits.

[Watch]

Nine to 10 years, altogether, with about a 17-year break in the middle. Golf would have been better for me than all that beer during the long break. It would have probably been cheaper, too.

I've never shot par on a course, but I've had some really exceptional beer.

[A4A4A4]

I started playing golf when I was 9 (I'm 17 now). Interestingly enough, I got a hole in one on the 13th hole, of the second round of golf I had ever played in my life, haven't got one since and I'm now a 5 handicap.

[CobraSpeed]

Started at 12 and now I am 27, so 15 years.

[OnOff]

This is my tenth year.

I'm twenty-four.

I'm currently a 7hcp but have been as low as 5. Sad because I was a 10 after just a year.

[OnOff]

dcdunk3, on May 5 2009, 03:49 PM, said:

thats cool. one of my matches in my senior year was with a freshman from another high school. he was a scratch golfer and had only been playing for a year. its amazing how some people just seem to have the talent.

*cough* Bullsh*t *cough*

That would be worthy of publication in GD.

EVERY high school golfer is full of crap.

If that kid is really scratch then there is no way he did it in a year. If he has only been playing for a year then there is no way he is scratch.

[OnOff]

bjdrivers, on May 5 2009, 04:53 PM, said:

Since 1994. So that's, 15 years? I'm 35. 6 Handicap. I remember watching Phil Mickelson hole out a PW that year in the President's Cup and that hooked me & made me want to start playing.

Phil and Payne's battle at the 1999 US Open got me started.

[Golffabrik]

37 years. I started in Italy (Army brat) as a kid and had to do a year as caddy before they let me on the course alone. I've had 3 aces and when I was playing my best Golf carried a +2 index...which almost seduced me to try the big time. Glad I didn't as in retrospect I wasn't nearly good enough. Have not been a double digit Handicapper since I was 15, and hopefully I'm going to die on the course, with my buddies looking down at me.

Sorry for the ancient history.

[dcdunk3]

OnOff, on May 5 2009, 10:27 PM, said:

dcdunk3, on May 5 2009, 03:49 PM, said:

thats cool. one of my matches in my senior year was with a freshman from another high school. he was a scratch golfer and had only been playing for a year. its amazing how some people just seem to have the talent.

*cough* Bullsh*t *cough*

That would be worthy of publication in GD.

EVERY high school golfer is full of crap.

If that kid is really scratch then there is no way he did it in a year. If he has only been playing for a year then there is no way he is scratch.

he was telling the truth. i actually knew the kid from baseball and we were family friends. you are right though, every high school golfer is full of crap.

[OnOff]

dcdunk3, on May 5 2009, 10:34 PM, said:

OnOff, on May 5 2009, 10:27 PM, said:

dcdunk3, on May 5 2009, 03:49 PM, said:

thats cool. one of my matches in my senior year was with a freshman from another high school. he was a scratch golfer and had only been playing for a year. its amazing how some people just seem to have the talent.

*cough* Bullsh*t *cough*

That would be worthy of publication in GD.

EVERY high school golfer is full of crap.

If that kid is really scratch then there is no way he did it in a year. If he has only been playing for a year then there is no way he is scratch.

he was telling the truth. i actually knew the kid from baseball and we were family friends. you are right though, every high school golfer is full of crap.

I still find it extremely hard to believe..... please prove me wrong.

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

Almost 25 years.....man how time flies.....

[seypat]

I'm 44 years young. Have been playing for around 36-37 years. On my 4th set of irons and 2nd metal driver. And yes, I still yearn for the balata and persimmon of my youth. Good times. I guess that makes me a codger at only 44.

[littlepingman]

I'm 27 and have been playing for 17 years.

[84425]

I started age 13 in 1988. I'm now 34, so that is 21 years.
However I hardly played from '97/'98 to '08.

Played my best golf when I was 17/18. Unfortunately I've never been able to putt so my lowest hcp was 5 when I was 17.

[uga_fan]

I just started last week. I never picked up a club before that, but I was messing around with a friend in the PGA Superstore and found out that I have a swing speed of 145mph. I figured, what the heck, I will give this a try. I am now a 3 hcp. What an easy game. Did I mention I am gaming the Hammer with zolex technology? Stupid long....POW!!!

[silver77]

3 yrs now....my boss got me into the game and got me out of work many afternoons

[Ham Solo]

Been playing for 21 years with a 4 year break and a 2 year break in between.

[mitchleary]

Starting my third year.

[CVGolfer]

Started played at 25, now 52, so I guess that means this is my 28th year.

Been a 2.4 as recently as last year, not having a good year so far so I need to get on top of it before I groove it.

[seanh]

31 years old, been playing for 20 years.

[dlygrisse]

mat562, on May 5 2009, 06:21 PM, said:

24 years now. Crikey.

Double Crikey, 24 years for me as well, started playing my freshman year in college when I figured out I was done playing competitive team sports. Bought a starter set from a buddy that consisted of Wilson Custom Blades 3,5,7,9 iron and a laminated Driver and 3wood. Came in a red Ben Hogan vinyl bag and a Wilson center shafted putter. Think I paid $50, I then realized I needed a SW so I bought a Nortwestern punch dot faced wedge at KMart. Public golf for me back then was $6 on weekdays and $7 on weekends, would often walk 36 a day.

[oaklandgolfer]

I turn 30 this year and have been playing since I was 3. So that will make this my 27th year of playing golf. Just my opinion, but my 0 handicap is 100% the result of starting at an early age.

Hence the reason my 4 year old daughter has started playing and my 2 year old son will be starting next year. No I don't have aspirations of them making it on tour, but a college scholarship to a small school would help with the bills in 15 years.

It worked for me, why not for them.

[mikpga]

Been playing for 31 years now...

[joeykent]

First clubs at 3
First Full set at 6 years old
First Birdie on a par 4 at 7 1/2
Quit playing from 12-17-Worst decision of my life....
Now 19 and carry a solid 7 cap