Your First Birdie

[cksurfdude]

I do remember my first birdie - and how improbable it was!!

It was my first, maybe second season playing golf and I was at one of our local scruffy munis with my good buddy Phil. The memory is a little bittersweet 'cuz Phil … now gone … and I used to surf and windsurf … and, of course, drink beer … together and he got me started in this wacky game.

Anyway… first hole and my first shot does not go OB right like many of my tee shots then did … it hung to the left and the inside of the slight dogleg left and ended up on the edge of the fairway.

Huh.

I grab some random club … having no idea about distances nor that thing I know understand to be called “distance control” … and take a swipe at the ball … to watch it fly towards the green and bounce and roll on to it.

Huh #2.

So I grab the old smooth faced Ray Cook blade putter that was my Mother’s and … now remember: new golfer, zero concept of “break”, zero concept of “distance control” … and I’m standing can’t remember exactly cudda been 8 to 10 feet cudda been twice that … and I hopefully push the golf ball in the direction of the hole.

It’s tracking … it’s tracking … it’s curving … why is it doing that?? … it’s in the hole!

Huh #3.

The other guys are all excited and shouting, and I’m standing there actually thinking how literally improbable those three shots - back to back - were!

[Gisclairj]

And it was it that moment you became hooked and thought, man this is any easy game…

[cksurfdude]

HAH!!!
Actually it may have even been during my first season while on the range … you know when you actually catch one and watch it fly and think… wow that was fun!

But, no, I didn’t think this game was easy!

(…incredibly and irritatingly frustrating for many years - yeah - until I have finally figured out and internalized that this game is hard …)

[Kaplack]

My first a birdie was on about the 6th hole I ever played!
It was on a 400 yard par 4; I hit a 4 iron to 10 feet!

I had seen enough golf on TV to know those two shot to get me 10 feet from the hole was probably not going to happen too often and I was right!
Thankfully I drained the putt and it took some time to make my second!

[BlackForestGuy]

Sure do remember my first Birdie, mainly because it was just this May, just after starting out with the game and passing my course allowance test (yes, you need to pass a test with a Pro to be able to play a course here)

Was out on my local course for a short 5-hole-round after work, and totally lucked out on the short Par 4 #3: hit a good drive for 196 yards, then asked my 6 year old, who was with me, if I should try going for the green over the water and he’s like “sure thing, Dad!!” - so I grab the 9 iron, and truly manage a nice and high approach just onto the fringe. I high five my boy, we go to the green, somehow all stars align, and my chip from 33 feet rolls right into the cup.

I dropped my club, started running around like a madman, hands in the air and all, and told my son I’m gonna quit the game, as it won’t get any better than this. Luckily at like 7pm there was no one around to see me

Total and utter beginner’s luck…of course I made double bogey on the next hole

Here’s the tracking from my Arccos:

[Craigers]

I’m trying to remember my first birdie… but I remember my first par!

I grew up in Danville, CA on a golf course (Blackhawk) and lived on a par 3… we’d go play it on occassion, and I remember at like age 8 I finally made a par on it.

My first eagle was at Sleepy Hollow outside of Dallas, TX… knocked in my second shot from 150 yards, with my golf coach watching.

Birdie, though, I don’t remember… I either got lucky as a kid living on a golf course (we moved when I was 13) or it would have been in Dallas during my mediocre high school career as a golfer.

[papageorgio]

If you play a club regularly, a fun thing to do is to set a card aside and fill out when you make Your first birdie on each hole.

Just joined a new club and I have birdied 4 of the holes. So I write down the number, circle it, then on the row below I write the date.

The goal is 18 birdies and then it’s time to grab another card!

[papageorgio]

Not my first, but most memorable and was very early on.

I was 14 or 15 and #1 at the muny is a 90 degree dogleg right. 175ish to the corner and then 150 home from there.

I hit a 4 iron and don’t quite get clear of the tree on the corner.

Attempt to punch and lay the sod over it, but the ball rolls forward about 15 yds to give me a clear look.

Hit a 7 iron from 145 that took two skips and disappeared for a 3!

Still the only time I have holed out outside of 50 yds.

[Gisclairj]

I really like that idea. That is pretty fun. When you birdie all of the holes, you then know it’s mental of you don’t score well.

[C-Dubb]

I will never forget it, I had been playing golf since November 2018, it was January 11, 2019 at lunch time I was playing at the First Tee of Augusta. The first hole was a par 3 and kid at the front desk was giving me tips before I went out to play, and the one that stood out was to tee the ball up. I tried it, swung my 7i which felt effortless, uphill, less than a foot from the hole…i’ve been hooked ever since.

[jon]

I’m not sure I remember my first birdie, but I remember the first green I ever hit in regulation. My friends and I learned how to play on a short town course. The second hole was a downhill short par 3 with an enormous green. I’ll never forget the first time I hit it we all started jumping down in celebration!!!

[Big]

I remember my first under par hole. I think it was my second season. The number 1 hole was a par 5. The front nine was fairly new, so all of the grass around the hole hadn’t grown in. Lost my ball right (which was normal), onto a patch of dirt. I grabbed my 3 iron, not really expecting anything, and picked it clean. It flew straight at the green. When I get there, it’s 6 feet away. I was so excited that I waited for my playing partners, because I needed witnesses, lol. When they finally got there I went ahead and knocked it in. I was over the moon. That was approaching 20 seasons ago.

[Matt]

I’ve only hit 2-3 birdies so far as this is my first year/season. I don’t remember which one came first but they were both at the same par 3 course (Pine Crest in Vancouver, WA). One of them was on the first hole (approx. 75 yards) and the other was on the second hole (approx. 85 yards). These are the only GIRs I’ve had so far too.

The first hole was probably between 12-15 feet and the second was inside of 10 feet. They both had slight breaks in it. I know I fist-pumped after the birdie on the first hole because I read the break/speed just right, which excited me just as much as the birdie.

I don’t remember my first par, but my favorite par came from the Black Friday “Green” tournament I played a couple weeks ago. The guy I was paired up with just started playing in March (like I did) so our expectations were low/reasonable.

After a couple blow up holes, we were on pace to finish at +18 (bogey per hole) which we were both happy about. On the last hole I chipped my second shot to 10-15 feet away. There was a slight shelf/hill that broke to the left. I told my partner that I thought our starting line needed to be 6"-9" inches to the right and I noticed that one of the guys we were playing with made a look as if he didn’t believe me. But I went with that line and put the right amount of speed on it. There’s just something about watching a putt roll and break on the line you envisioned and toppling into the cup. That putt kept us at +18 for the tourney, which we were both stoked on.

[Murv]

I just discovered this thread. I am age 77. Been playing since about age 12. Grew up on a 5200 par 65 course. No par 5’s. Probably my second year playing I chipped one in for a bird on # 6. I called my mom to come and pick me up and told her what I had done. She says
“That’s fine son, but don’t bring that thing home”.