What's on your mind? How did you get introduced to the game?

Many of us who play golf regularly these days have forgotten how we got started in the game.  To whit, we've forgotten what will bring more people into the game.  Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we.  


Like many I was introduced to the game as a youngster.  My older brothers and sisters had some exposure to the game and like any other hand-me-down I gave it a whirl. I loved it from the start.  I banged a whiffle ball around the yard just taking one swing after another.  Summer lessons through the PGA Junior Medalist program and great (and patient) teachers such as Charlie Epps.  Weekend rounds with my brothers and my dad were a treat.  In the summer I was dropped off at one of a couple of public facilities where I played and practiced until I was worn out in the Texas sun.  I entered competitions for juniors through the Houston Junior Golf Association as I matured and played competitively through high school and college and beyond.  


What I am most grateful for is having the ability to so much as play the game on an actual course.  My parents were great at encouraging me to participate in something that interested me as much as golf did and then providing the resources to play the game.  Just as important was to have courses that were willing to allow a junior golfer to play.  Granted one of the courses was a par 3 course and I'd loop that course four or five times before finally succumbing to the summer heat.  The others were regulation courses that, as far as I could tell, didn't mind having kids around.  


I'll never forget standing on the first tee at Memorial Park GC in Houston one Saturday morning with the tee practically surrounded by patiently waiting golfers.  I could tell there were glares and grumbles amongst them that this man and his three little ones were somewhere where they don't belong.  Crack!  Crack!  Crack!  Three balls go sailing down the fairway and the grumblings turned quickly to muttered statements of surprise amongst themselves.  I'm not sure who walked off the first tee with more pride - me or my father. (I think my dad, under incredible pressure mind you, was the only one who duffed it off the tee.  He looked up.)


Not every junior is prepared for the first tee at a regulation course without having first taken some lessons from a PGA Professional, a parent, or other mentor.  The rules and etiquette of the game are important as well.  None of this however prepares the child (or adult for that matter) for the pressures of a regulation golf course that is not openly supportive of the newcomer - of any age.


I'd like to change that and provide a facility where there is an overabundance of learning opportunities by PGA Professionals, more than ample practice facilities, and most of all a golf experience that welcomes the beginner golfer.  Somewhere along the lines we've lost touch with the beginner and/or average golfer.  Courses are designed for scratch golfers with cavernous bunkers, water everywhere, difficult swails and greens that are unmanageable by few beyond the professional ranks.  The average player, much less the beginner can't handle 200 yard par 3s, 390 par 4s, and 500 yard par 5s.  It's a fact.


Despite what you may think you're average drive is probably 10% less than whatever it is you quote.  Golfers always tend to exaggerate.  What do you think the average 25 handicap male hits the ball off the tee.  200 yards?  That's probably what many would say.  I'd claim maybe 180.  Many of those drives are duffed or hit sideways mind you.  Ladies?  The average lady (about a 28 handicap) hits it 135 yards off the tee.  Now factor in the beginner men and ladies, and juniors.  Courses need to be shorter and more enjoyable.  Wouldn't it be nice to hit 7 iron into a green like the pros?  So that means you have to be able to hit your 180 yard drive within about 110 yards of the green.  Do the math.  That's a hole that is only 290 yards.  Why shouldn't the average player have a course that permits them to scare par on many holes?  Wouldn't that be more fun?  When did we lose the "fun" part of golf?


Tell me about your start in the game.  What is your most vivid memory?  Wouldn't a course conducive to the talent of the average golfer be more fun to play?