Welcome!

Welcome to Golf Newbies - a blogsite for those just beginning to explore the joys, frustrations, and challenges that is golf. To be honest, I've never hosted a blog site, not even sure what it is. I rarely even post on discussion forums, but I've become so obsessed with the game of golf since my re-introduction two months ago, that I needed a place to "think aloud."

Here's my golf story...I took an introductory golf course in college and made an A. I enjoyed the class, and the A was quite a success since I'm not at all athletically included. I chalked it up to the fact that maybe the lesbian professor had a crush on me; it certainly wasn't a result of my skill. Anyway, life - marriage, children, career, grad school - became my day-to-day obsessions and golf was quickly forgotten.

Fast forward twenty years...at 41, I find that the kids are older and more independent, the career is on auto-pilot, the marriage is stable but maybe a little too easy and familiar, grad school is almost done as I defend my doctoral dissertation in the fall.

Re-enter golf! One evening this spring, I was home by myself and bored. I was puttering around outside and picked up an old 5 wood that the kids had been playing with. In my boredom, I began swatting at pinecones that had fallen along the roadside. It felt REALLY GOOD! Sure, I would occassionally connect and send one flying, but the feel of swinging, the anticipation of the connection, the solid thwap when a pinecone went sailing! I had a new hobby!

This became my nightly entertainment - pinecone golf. Over the next couple of weeks, the members of my family joined me in this embarassing, but addicting, obsession. On Mother's Day, the family decided I should go legit. They bought me a cheap set of clubs and lined up some lessons for me. What a grand idea!

Since then, golf has become an all-consuming family activity. But when I look at my current circumstances, golf is a perfect fit! It is a way for me to stay connected and involved with my (hopefully) maturing teenaged sons, a way for my husband and me to get to know each other again, a way for me to continue to learn and grow, and it keeps me busy and active.

I would love to hear your golf story.