An Uplifting Experience First-Time Player Discovers The Thrill Of Air Time On The Range
The closest I had ever come to playing golf was attempting to hit balls in a baseball field with my high school tennis coach a few times last fall.
So the first thing I told golf instructor Patti Marquis when we met was that there was a chance I wouldn’t even make contact with the ball.
Marquis wouldn’t hear of it.
“Usually I can get anyone to hit it,” Marquis said without hesitation.
The teaching professional at Painted Hills Golf Course knows how to make a rookie golfer feel at ease, telling me that she instructs about five women a day who have never hit a golf ball in their life.
Man, did I feel better.
“I think there are a ton of women out there who want to do this in a bad way, but are scared to death and don’t know where to start,” Marquis said. “A lot of times you get beginners hooked up with other women so they can have some other friends in the same boat.”
Marquis prefers coaching golf newcomers. In fact, she would rather teach a beginner than a veteran.
“Usually if people say ‘I’ve never hit one before in my life’ I’m like ‘Yeah,”’ she said. “That’s the easiest. If they say ‘I’ve been golfing 40 years and need a tune-up,’ I’m like ‘Oh.”’
Marquis penciled me into her schedule for a recent 7 a.m. lesson. She provided everything and advised me to dress in loose clothing and tennis shoes.
When I arrived, she asked me why I wanted to take up golf. I told her that I’m a tennis player, but want a new challenge. Golf looks difficult and fun.
Marquis went over the very basics of the sport, from the number of clubs allowed in the bag (14), to the differences between irons and woods. She explained birdies, bogeys, eagles and par.
We headed to the driving range. I would be hitting with a 7-iron.
The three most important things to remember: the overlapping grip, the posture with a slight bend at the hips and the ball in the middle of the stance, and that the left hand (for lefties, it’s your right) would be used to generate club speed and get the ball airborne.
Airborne.
That word sounded so good to me. I just wanted to see my ball go up in the air.
After a few whiffs, I had a good streak, in which five or so flew up in the air.
Most women are “shovers,” Marquis said, but she tries to transform them into swingers.
“People will say you lifted your head up because that’s what they see,” Marquis said. “But that’s not the cause of the problem. The cause is the right hand shoving and making the head come up.”
I finally made good contact with a ball. I led with my left hand on the swing and didn’t shove. My body rotation was just right and the shoulder turn exact.
And I didn’t use a death grip, as Marquis had been describing my tight hold on the club.
It was effortless, as Marquis said it’s supposed to be. The hit sparked this compliment: “That was just a swing and the ball happened to get in the way.”
Yeah!
I hit about half a bucket of balls before we went inside the clubhouse to chat.
After the initial lesson, Marquis sent me off with her own mini laminated book called “Golf Made Easy.”
She encouraged me to schedule another lesson for the next week and to practice once or twice in between. She even offered an old club for backyard hitting.
As I was driving back to work, something Mollie Thola told me came to mind. You can hit tons of horrible shots in golf, but one good shot will bring you back, said Thola, the assistant pro at MeadowWood Golf Course.
But Mollie. What if you don’t hit a single good shot?
“There’ll be days like that,” she said. “It’s a love-hate relationship. You can love this game one shot and hate it the next.”
For now, I’m loving it.
But I haven’t learned anything about chipping, pitching or putting.
Yet.
CLUB SHOPPING Most area courses have someone on staff who handles fitting, said Patti Marquis, teaching professional at Painted Hills Golf Course. If money is a concern, Marquis recommends a starter set with half the number of clubs, typically including a 3-iron, 5-iron, 7-iron, 9-iron, putter, 3-wood and 5-wood.