Yeah, I know right. For about 32 years, everytime I heard that word, I thought eww boring. Who wants to play that? Or worse, who wants to watch it. I have become one of those people. Yep, you read that right. I am now a golfer. An avid golfer, at that.

It all started when I was in Puerto Rico on vacation with my godfather. I went with (keep up) him, one of his sons, his son’s girlfriend, his son’s best friend, godfather’s girlfriend, and her entire family, including her ex-husband’s daughter. I mean alot of people. I think I counted 37 people, including myself and we came from all over the globe. Italy, New York, NC, and DC to name just a few. Crazy. While in Puerto Rico, my godfather went off to play with some family members. Afterwards, he recommended I learn to play so that we could play and bond. I thought about it and decided yeah, why not?

So I do what I always do, I do my research. I searched used golf clubs on craigslist, Facebook marketplace, ebay. You name it, I’ve searched it. My only problem was figuring out if i was right handed or left handed. I’m left-handed. I can hear you now saying “if your left-handed, then you need left-handed.” But alas, that’s not always true. Phil Mickelson is right-handed, however he plays with left-handed clubs. Yep. He grew up mirroring his father’s right-handed swing.

After doing my research, I knew exactly what clubs I wanted. They were available in both left and right hand and they were brand new. The day after I arrived back in NC, I went to Golf Galaxy and got a helpful person who helped me figure out that I needed left-handed clubs. Its a funny story actually. I go in and say that I want to purchase some golf clubs but that I was unsure of the hand orientation I needed. He handed me a right-handed putter and told me to putt the ball in a way that was most comfortable to me. I putted backwards. So left-handed it is.

I decided on the Top-Flite XL Women’s Set in Pink and Grey. Its a complete 12 piece golf set. The set was the previous years set, so I got it for a steal. It was on sale for $89.00. I also got 20% off since I was a first time shopper and free shipping. I got it all for less than $90. And they said golf is expensive.

The set comes with 12 pieces. Its engineered to outfit us female golfers with everything needed for us to have on course success. The driver is a 460 Ti composite driver. It features a low Center of Gravity. It allows for maximum distance and forgiveness, something us beginning women need. It also has a low profile 3 wood, and a 5 hybrid. The set comes with 4 irons 6-9, a pitching wedge, and a putter. To round out the set, is a stand bag and two headcovers for the driver and the 3 wood. The shafts of each club is made of graphite, which allows for more forgiveness.

When I first received the box, I was like a kid at Christmas. I was so ready to open the box, but I just let the box sit there as I looked at it and studied it for a few days. I finally opened the box and marveled at the set. It was time to break the set in. I did a bit more research and found a driving range close to my house that was cheap and convenient. 180 balls for $10. Umm yeah. I went with a coworker and a family friend. We were there for 2.5 hours and hit over 700 balls between the 3 of us. Crazy. My co-worker and I were garbage. The family friend was smashing bombs. I was trying to hit decent shots, but was failing miserably. After the outing, I vowed to get better.

The next day, Sunday, was a different story. My body was screaming for mercy. For 4 days, I alternated between taking Aleve and ibuprofen. Nothing worked. I see now that golf is going to be a brutal sport on my muscles.

My thoughts so far, Golf is not easy. It is a mental clusterf**k. Neither my mind nor my body was prepared for this. My goal: to get better. To be specific, my goal is to be consistent with my hitting, starting with my driver.

More to come. Stay Tuned.