I’m bringing my father in law to play golf on Sunday. He hasn’t played since he was a kid probably 30 plus years ago. I don’t want to be over bearing and try to help too much but I don’t want him to struggle if I can help it. Any tips if you’ve have had similar situations? I was planning on playing from the gold tees so we won’t be as slow.
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Don’t give him tips unless he asks. Focus on saying nice things about his daughter.
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Tell him beforehand an after round meal is on you, so regardless of how it goes he’s got a free full belly to look forward to.
And don’t play instructor the whole round. If he asks, help. If not, let him play it out. If he’s struggling and pissed, the anger sharks won’t let him rationalize that you’re just trying to help.
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If he hasn’t swung a club in 30 years, heading straight to the course is going to be pretty rough. Getting to the range the day before or something might help set some expectations.
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When I take my wife to play with me (she’s played 6 times total) I just tell her to have fun. Hit from where I hit in the fairway. Don’t worry about what I’m doing and play mini golf on the greens. I’m not sure your father-in-law will be that easy to convince, he might be overly competitive. But just make sure nothing is a big deal and let him know you’re just out there to spend time with him.
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Nothing takes the sting out of a potentially rough day on the course faster than best ball.
When I finally got back to playing post-ankle break, I knew I was going to struggle.
I love the women I play with, they suggested playing best ball for a couple of league nights until my swing started coming back. Totally took the pressure off, and we played a couple of games to keep it interesting.
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So my goal this year was introduce or reintroduce someone to the game. Couple weeks ago I invited two of my neighbors to my club. One had played in two scrambles and the other played sparsely 7-10 years ago.
First get them comfortable. Introduce them to everyone. Second play a forward tee with them. Third tell them it’s a rule that you pick up on a hole 3 shots over par. First it saves embarrassment. Second it helps to play fast. At my club any round over 3:40 is malpractice and members will hold you to it. Fourth help them navigate lost balls, drops, etc. Finally, offer words of praise anytime you can, laugh and have fun. The time spent is more important than what’s carded.
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Love it.
I have a few buddies who are terrible (30 + handicaps). I always tell them “I am happy to take you out anytime you want to play, but we have to do a few things for pace of play”
- if they scuff/duff or fail to advance the ball off the tee box, they are automatically shambling with me
- max double bogey
- tee it up outside of 150
I always keep their score stableford (I write down their scores, but I keep the focus on how many pars / bogeys they make). It really helps the atmosphere IMO. If they play their own ball for an entire hole and make bogey that’s a win and I make sure to celebrate w em.
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Want to give an update we went and it was freezing raining but the course was empty and we had a blast.