re: Is it possible to start golfing as an adult?

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Is it possible to start golfing as an adult?

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Definitely.

I have a buddy that just started a few months ago and he's 45 or so.

One thing I'd recommend outside of lessons is to stay on the driving range for a little while before you ever play on a course. Like as long as you possibly can before the itch becomes too bad. It's not nearly as fun on the range, but even more frustrating is paying $60 to be out on the course shanking and topping the ball for 4 hours.

I get exactly what you are saying.

I'm 37 and started playing alittle over a year ago. I went to the driving range for 6 months before going an playing my first time cause I was so worried that I was terrible.

First thing I learned was that even the pro's on tv hit crappy shots and the overwhelming majority of people at the local golf course suck also. Everyone is also very understanding because no matter how good they are, at one point they sucked also.

Buy a cheap used set of clubs (doesn't have to be a full set even, I started with irons from 1990 and still had fun and got better with them) and go to the driving range til you are capable of getting the ball in the air sometimes, and then go play and have fun.

Lessons can be very helpful, but costly. If price is an issue, I'd suggest taking a lesson every 2 or 3 weeks and then working on what you learned a few days a week between lessons. If you have a lesson, then another lesson a week later where he tells you about the same problems, you've essentially wasted money.

A coworker of mine picked it up at 52. Retired at 58 and plays basically full time now. Apparently he whips everyone

I started 3 years ago as a 28 year old and am starting to knock on the door of a single digit handicap (currently 12). Consistently shoot in the mid-high 80s with some 82-83 lows. I have a very demanding job so I don’t get to play as much as I’d like, but you can definitely learn it as an adult. Sure, I’m not a scratch golfer but I feel good about how far I’ve come in the amount of time I’ve played.

I think for me the best thing I’ve done is to just chip around in my backyard a few times a week. I’ve also read books (Harvey Pennick’s red book, Ben Hogan’s 5 lessons, and Dave Pelz’s short game Bible are my favorites with the latter being my favorite). I think you could get to around an 18hc just winging it and playing, but if you want to push scores further down you’ll need to lean into it.

TL;DR: you can be a serviceable golfer (~18ish hc) if you just try to play 3-4 times a month but going further will take some commitment.

Have you gotten a lesson for your irons or had a fitting? It coukd easily be a setup issue or a lie angle issue w your irons.

Go for it.
I'm late 40's and I started around the beginning of the year.
I've taken 3-4 lessons.
For the past month, I have been at the range 4-5 days a week.
I've only played in 4 games at this point, but played nine holes a couple of days ago and I didn't lose a ball. Very proud of that. It's incredibly frustrating, but I've got the bug in a huge way. Just know you are gonna suck, and be ok with it.
My BIL is a golf fanatic and he told me one thing that has and will stick with me. To summarize: You could play with the best or worst players/presidents/CEO's/dignitaries, whoever, nobody cares how bad you play as long as you don't play slow. It's a ton of fun, go for it, but temper your expectations for yourself initially and just have a great time.