Learning Golf at Disney using DVC Perks

[McCrae]

My teenage DS and I have never played golf and are both interested in trying the game out.

We are looking for some advice and hope you guys can help?

Is Disney a good place to learn the game?

For complete beginners what would be the best way for us to start?

Are the Golf lessons at Disney good?

Does it make sense taking out the DVC golf membership?

Anyone know of any special golf packages for beginners?

Can we rent clubs?

What course should we try .... do we need to be good to play at them?

 

[loveswdw]

My DH loves to golf at Disney! As far as beginners go, I know that DVC offers a members golf clinic. Here's the details from the website:

Member Golf Clinic
Hone your game with help from professional staff at Disney's Lake Buena Vista Golf Club for just $15 per student (all equipment provided). On Thursdays the focus is on the full swing, and Friday's focus is the short game. Clinic time both days is from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. All skill levels are welcome! For more information or to sign up, please call (407) 827-4204. Maximum of 12 students (minimum age of student is 12 years old). Inclement weather may cause clinic to be cancelled. Discount is offered to Members and up to three guests.


This might be a good way for you to start to just see if golf would be something you are interested in playing. They also offer a DVC member golf package but unless you play a lot of golf I don't think its that good of a deal.
DH played Magnolia and Lake Buena Vista last trip and actually preferred LBV.

 

[crisi]

Disney courses aren't the best way to learn. Learn locally, at a par 3 executive course. And before you do that, spend time on the range. Disney courses are fairly expensive and cater to people who go on vacation to golf. People learning to golf slow down play and annoy people who golf. I've been golfing for 15 years, and I'd golf Disney courses with trepidation - I'm not that good a golfer.

Disney does rent clubs, they are pretty expensive rentals (very good clubs).

If you want to learn to golf at Disney, play Oak Trail - which is their nine hole family course for casual golfers and included in the pluses on the MYW tickets.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The price on the member clinic is not likely to be beat at other places and I'd say it sounds like a good way to get an introduction to golf while you're on vacation.

If you want to get out and try and course after the clinics then definitely make it the Oak Trail. I'd guess that you could also arrange for a playing lesson where the pro would go on the round with you.

 

[Deb & Bill]

They will pair you up with another party of two and if you don't know how to play, the other two will be pretty upset. Better to learn at home, get a decent game there and then sign up for the member clinic. The clinic assumes that you know how to play and want to get better.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The clinic assumes that you know how to play and want to get better.

I'm confused by this comment. It says all skill levels welcome.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I'm confused by this comment. It says all skill levels welcome.

I don't think they mean "no skill at all" in that definition. It says "hone your game" and that should mean you already have a game of some type.

The OP should just sign up for lessons at home and get some experience before playing at Disney. It's pretty expensive to golf at Disney.

 

[crisi]

Golf isn't something you pick up in an hour lesson. You will not be prepared for any course other than Oak Trail after an hour...

And sharing a clinic (which is what you are doing) for an experienced golfer with someone who needs to learn how to hold a club is really not fair to anyone else in the clinic.

 

[drusba]

Unless the clinic is for pure beginners, you will be in a class where it is assumed you are already know basics and can actually hit a ball. With Disney, you are talking about doing one or at most two group clinics while there. If you are a pure beginner, you need someone, like a golf pro at a local golf course, who will spend the time with you personally to learn such things as how to grip a club, how to swing, how to putt, how to chip, and for a pure beginniner that itself takes numerous lessons and many hours of hitting balls at a golf range and on and around a practice green. This is not like you can take one or two lessons and then walk on a golf course and easily play a round. Every movement in golf is unnatural and you need many hours of repitition of doing the swing, putt etc. before you can even play a round of golf. And if you did just go out as pure beginner and tried to play a round of golf, you will be spending hours just getting from tee to green and the people behind you will be asking for your execution because you are taking so long and holding up everybody behind you. A beginner progresses from basic lessons, then slowly to actually being able to hit a ball with any distance and in the approximate right direction, to then playing a few holes, and then eventually being able to play 9 holes and eventually 18. And that is a progression that takes many weeks (if you are practicing almost every day) or months (if practicing only on weekends). You cannot expect to have that progression by getting a couple of lessons while on vacation at Disney.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Are the clinics all that popular and filled? I would have highly doubted it.

For the OP - you could arrange for a lesson from a pro while you are at Disney. Only you can decide if the expense is a concern or not but personally I could see it as something fun to do while on vacation. The lesson would take place at the driving range and/or around a chipping and putting green. It's the best way to begin golfing and get an idea if you have a desire to learn more.

 

[donutz022]

golf is an expensive game. after you buy the clubs shoes clothing then comes greens fees. my advice is go to your local driving range and hit some balls, you will know if you like it or not. if you think its a game for you take lessons immediately so you dont develop bad habits. then take your game to the course because if you step on a golf course with no clue what your doing your gonna have angry golfers and the course rangers on your back.

 

[JimMIA]

My teenage DS and I have never played golf and are both interested in trying the game out.

We are looking for some advice and hope you guys can help?

A good place to start would be by driving nails into your fingertips. Concrete nails are preferred because they have blunt ends and hurt more and do a lot more damage.

When you exhaust all your fingernails, start on your kneecaps.

Is Disney a good place to learn the game?

No. You need to be able to play the game before you go to Disney. Also, you will need a year or more of continuity with a pro to develop to the point where you can play without injuring or embarrassing yourself.

For complete beginners what would be the best way for us to start?

At home, as others have suggested. Clinics are good, but to start out, you need a few private lessons first.

Are the Golf lessons at Disney good?

Sure...all golf lessons are good. But you need continuity. Golf is not like a resort SCUBA course.

Does it make sense taking out the DVC golf membership?

Not until you are capable of playing a full 18 holes in under 5 hours. Prior to that, you are just a target...and I'm not joking.

What course should we try .... do we need to be good to play at them?

Not good, but you need to be proficient enough that you are not in other players' way. That's a couple of years off when you first start -- and I have a friend who's been playing for 20 years and never got there. I love the guy like a brother, but I won't play with him at a "real" golf course.

 

[crisi]

The clinics are $75, club rental is another $40. That's pretty pricey - at least by local standards here. Oak Trail is much cheaper and meant to be a beginners/family course. (I suspect Jim would take his friend there, the one that he wouldn't be seen with on a 'real' course.)

Golf is a great game, one that you can play most of your life and worth the effort to learn. But Disney is not the best place to learn. And Disney's regulation courses are not for beginners. Even if you were going to play Oak Trail, it would be worth it to take a lesson or three from a pro near home and visit a range a few times before getting on Oak Trail. In part because you could then see that pro again at home and build a learning relationship.

The reason people are coming down so hard on this idea is that when you play golf, you need to share the course with the people in front and behind you. 18 holes should take five hours....but a beginner on a tough regulation course can take nearly seven. That means everyone coming behind them will take seven, which means that the folks with late tee times won't even finish in daylight. That isn't fair to the other people on the course. If you were to play one of Disney's regulation courses, you'd have to learn some ettiquette to not slow people down - like picking up your ball after you get a few strokes over par. Since putting into the hole is the fun part (and the sound the ball makes going into the cup becomes your reward), picking up after six or seven shots really doesn't make it rewarding for YOU either.

 

[Simba's Mom]

They will pair you up with another party of two and if you don't know how to play, the other two will be pretty upset. Better to learn at home, get a decent game there and then sign up for the member clinic. The clinic assumes that you know how to play and want to get better.

If you're paired with others who are better golfers, they're not always upset. DH is a pretty good golfer (scratch or 1 handicap usually). However, at WDW he's often paired with beginners/experienced golfers alike. Generally everyone's got the same attitude-"We're at WDW, let's have fun!" That being said, please do yourself a favor and take the advice of other posters here-try an executive par 3, maybe Oak Trail (DS's first ever try at golf was there), go to a driving range. It's hard to relax around strangers when you're beginning. Then you'll enjoy the Disney courses more after you've done all those things at home.

 

[nickspace]

Hit the driving range a home a few times before you play Disney and don't let the golf snobs intimidate you. You will find that most golfers are easy going and only a few are difficult. If you run into one stand up for yourself and they will back down.

 

[nickspace]

I stood up to a golf snob at Hilton Head and he quickly changed his tune. He told us we were slowing down the course and wanted us to speed up our game. I told him that we were playing at a fine pace and for the amount of money i was paying we were not going to rush our game.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I stood up to a golf snob at Hilton Head and he quickly changed his tune. He told us we were slowing down the course and wanted us to speed up our game. I told him that we were playing at a fine pace and for the amount of money i was paying we were not going to rush our game.

If you had a gap between you and the group ahead of you, you were not playing at a fine pace. You should have let the next group play through. You might want to brush up on golf etiquette.

If you were slowing up play, you were in the wrong. The other golfer was just trying to get you to either speed up or let them play through.

From the USGA website:
Pace of Play

Play at Good Pace and Keep Up

Players should play at a good pace. The Committee may establish pace of play guidelines that all players should follow.

It is a group's responsibility to keep up with the group in front. If it loses a clear hole and it is delaying the group behind, it should invite the group behind to play through, irrespective of the number of players in that group.

You sound like an entitled DVC member to me.

 

[hbehrman]

I am around a 25 handicap (my own cal using USGA formula), and consider myself a serious golfer who has been playing recreationally (9 holes or more every week) over 10 years and I play by the rules (no gimmes, no mulligans) and walk religiously. I have broken 90 twice. I played regularly with scratch and single digit handicappers. For all the above the MOST important rule is "Keep up with pace of play".

I would suggest:

1) A group lesson at a local course with other beginners;
2) If you like it read the USGA rules of golf and play by it;
3) Get a series of private lessons by a good professional at a course with a grass range and get fitted for clubs;
4) With the fitting information look for a used set of clubs;
5) Practice weekly at the range on grass (not mats) (maybe twice per week), chipping and putting more often;
6) Play 9 holes, executive course, or a par 3 course once a week;
7) Don't even think about using a driver until you can hit a 3 wood straight over 210 yards.

That's just to start.

Playing regularly and practicing correctly is important starting out. Remember it is more about swinging correctly than hitting the ball. If you do the former the latter will come.

The most important thing is to find a good instructor as there are those out there that can screw your swing up (happened to me) and it can take years to correct it. Practice, practice, practice. When you can shoot in the 90's consistently by the rules you can play with anyone as long as you maintain pace of play. Most people that I have met on public courses shoot over 100, though that is not the handicap they will tell you they have.

However on private or resort courses the players there have skill most of the time because they have invested the time and effort to play well. Until you play in the 90's don't even think about it (unless you are invited to be in a best ball tourney and you have a smokin' short game and putt the lights out).

 

[McCrae]

As a family vacation destination I would have guessed that golf lessons would be available for complete beginners.....

I think their probably will be, i will just need to make some calls.

Thanks for all of your responses and advice.... some of the responses were a bit heavy.


People need to remember it's only a game and are getting way too excited!
HELLO this is Disney we are talking about!!

Maybe I should wait until I have had more than one lesson before I try out for the Open!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

As a family vacation destination I would have guessed that golf lessons would be available for complete beginners.....

I think they probably will be, i will just need to make some calls.

Thanks for all of your responses and advice.... some of the responses were a bit heavy.


People need to remember it's only a game and are getting way too excited!
HELLO this is Disney we are talking about!!

Maybe I should wait until I have had more than one lesson before I try out for the Open!

I'm glad to hear that you didn't let the thread scare you away from trying the game and that you picked out the information that can let you start learning.

And you make the best point of all - golf is a game. Play on public courses means that everyone needs to learn how to work with people of different levels. For beginners learning basic etiquette will take you a long way towards better enjoyment of the game. The same thing works applies to more advanced players also.