I started as a tennis player at age 13. When I went to high school, the #2 player on the tennis team was a golfer and went on to play D1 at Ohio State. He would take a beating from me in tennis and take me out and give it back to me in golf. The good thing was that I became his project and his first student and he taught me everything he learned from Jack Grout.
I went off to college and wasn't good enough to play tennis at the D1 school I attended but was too good for nearly anyone else to make playing fun. I still say I could've beaten the 9-12 guys on the team but wasn't anywhere near good enough to beat the top few; another story for another day.
Golf is a sport you can play by yourself. It can be fun and exciting; especially, if you are improving or having firsts; birdies, eagles, pars, best scores, etc. It is tough to learn but in the end I believe it to be an easier game than tennis because the ball doesn't move and you have no opponent hitting the ball at or away from you. It is all you. Go out and just have fun. Only take advice from those that really know what they are doing i.e really good golfers. I learned from my friend, playing experience and some books; Ben Hogan: Five Fundamentals, Jack Nicklaus: Golf My Way, & Bobby Jones: On Golf are the only three I read.
To be good, you have to put in the practice. If you learn the fundamentals, you'll have them for a lifetime and can play or not play and do just fine. My dislikes of the game are as the others have said; money, time, money, time, etc.
I barely have enough time to play tennis. I'm still trying to play better tennis.
I have met players who were pretty good who taught themselves to play by watching youtube videos. They were impressively good. Back in the day, I was told you were in the top 10% of the world if you could score in the 80s.
An ex-girlfriend of mine had a brother who has never shot above 88 in his life. That was his first ever score. 5-6 years later he shot in the low 60s when he was playing college golf. The kid is/was a natural. Besides him, most new players shoot around 120 +/- 10 their first time playing 18 holes or 60 +/- for 9 holes.
Since others are boasting/lying about their golf scores, I'll not bother. Here is a link to a video of me playing the other day in a scramble in my walking cast/boot. Oddly enough, I think it could be modified to be a nice teaching device for a new golfer. This was not my best shot or swing of the day. I was a little too fast going back and I didn't start the downswing as smoothly as I should've as a result. It still turned out to be a good shot and was very playable. That's the best part of golf; all good shots don't go in and all bad shots don't miss and each shot is the end and the beginning of a different challenge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qecF_MkhNXw&feature=plcp
Nice swing BTW.
