Family Outings: Beginning golfers find a stroke of togetherness on family nights

It never occurred to me it could be so hard to hit a stationary ball. I can swing a bat and hit a softball. How hard could it be to hit a ball that's sitting on the ground?

But during a recent golf lesson with my two sons, I missed the ball at least a third of the time. I'd let the club sail down in that big arc my instructor wanted, but the club head would swoosh over the ball and leave me feeling foolish.

All I can say is those PGA pros at Hazeltine National Golf Club this week make it look too easy.

I had never been golfing, and neither had my two sons — not unless you count a few rounds of miniature golf. With all the hoopla surrounding the PGA tournament, I thought we should give it a try.

I quickly figured out that complete beginners like us have no place on a golf course. So, I signed up for a lesson with Ken Manthis, the operations manager and PGA pro at Brightwood Hills Golf Course in New Brighton. I knew one lesson wouldn't get us very far, but it would give my family a taste.

Most children learn to golf from a parent who already knows the game or through group classes, summer camps and junior leagues that get them playing with kids their own age. A friend of mine who is an avid golfer signed up his kids for lessons at Victory Links at the National Youth Golf Center in Blaine.

Adult beginners generally sign up for private lessons or group classes. But occasionally, a beginner parent and child sign up for lessons together like we

did.

"I've had several parents who say (they) want to learn something alongside the kids," said pro Angie Ause at Highland National Golf Course in St. Paul. "It worked pretty well, as long as the parents were OK with doing some of the kid activities."

But sometimes an overinvolved parent can make a kid nervous.

"I usually like to have them separated," said Jim Manthis, a longtime pro, respected instructor at the University of Minnesota and Ken's father. "It can inhibit the kids if

Mom or Dad is watching them. So sometimes, I shoo the parents away. I'll be giving the kid instructions, and I'll say, 'Now look, you're paying me to do the teaching. Why don't you go get a cup of coffee.' "

I don't think it inhibited my kids to have me around. I was so much worse than they were that I was an inspiration.

UP, UP AND AWAY

Ken Manthis said he could show us the basics of how to hit a ball in a 45-minute lesson. When we showed up, he grabbed a green plastic basket of yellow golf balls, and we headed to the driving range.

Then, he handed each of us a 7-iron, one of the easiest for beginners. Irons are numbered according to the tilt of the head. The higher the number (they run 1-9), the greater the tilt.

"The

club I'm giving you today has some loft," said Manthis. "It wants to hit the ball up in the air."

He showed us how to stand slightly bent at the waist with our feet shoulder-width apart and our knees slightly bent. Then, he told us to dangle our arms loosely in front of us and clap a couple of times. When our hands came together, he slipped a shaft between our palms. That was the stance we wanted when we started our setup.

We had a simple goal for the lesson — to get the ball up in the air and go straight ahead. It sounded straightforward enough, and I could tell my boys were itching to hit a ball. But Manthis emphasized the importance of first getting the correct grip, alignment, stance and posture (the acronym is GASP).

We learned lots of cool phrases — Toe up! Hinge your wrist! Strike a pose! — and practiced increasingly bigger swings until we were twisting at the waist and hoisting the clubs behind our backs like real players.

I was preoccupied making sure my forearms were making an "L" with the shaft when I heard a sharp click and saw a yellow ball soar into the middle of the black net at the end of the driving range.

"Whoa, who did that?" I asked, half expecting to hear it was the 20-something golfer at the end of the range.

But it was my 9-year-old son. He had a big grin on his face. Then, he managed to hit some more balls up and into the net.

His 7-year-old brother got off a few good ones but tended to be too hasty.

Ultimately, I got the satisfaction of getting a few hits. But it was hard.

I would definitely want to head out to the driving range and practice hitting more balls before I ventured onto the course with my kids. The University of Minnesota's driving range is relatively close to my house and apparently one of the largest in the state with 60 stalls. (A basket of 40 balls is $4.)

TIPS FROM PROS

The pros I spoke with gave me some other tips for beginners.

"Pick a course that's appropriate to your level, a more forgiving and shorter course," said Tony Carlson, manager at Gem Lake Hills Golf Club in White Bear Lake. "Then, find a time that's softer time for that particular course so your pace of play isn't going to be a problem."

Weekends are the slow times at Gem Lake, he says, because the course has so many people playing leagues during the weekdays, including 500 kids and teens in one of the largest metro junior leagues.

Beginners will have the most luck and most fun on a par 3 course, like Gem Lake or Cedarholm in Roseville and Island Lake in Shoreview. As the name implies, the course is designed for a decent player to get the ball onto the green in one or two hits and a couple of putts to get it into the hole. The term "executive course" is sometimes used interchangeably, but executive courses often include more par 4 holes.

When you first start playing, don't keep score, says Manthis.

And Ause says she often has a group of beginners play a scramble format. All players in the group hit their ball, the group picks the best shot, and everyone moves their ball up to that best position.

"One thing that's tough when you're a beginner is keeping the pace of play up," said Ause. "That can be a little stressful for people, so that scramble format is great."

If faster players come up behind you, invite them to play through. And there is nothing wrong with simply picking up your ball and moving it to the next hole.

FAMILY NIGHTS

If you're playing with kids, you can also scout around for family nights.

Brightwood Hills, for example, offers a family discount every Friday for $6 per person, if there is someone 17 or younger in the group.

St. Paul municipal courses started a popular family golf special three years ago that rotates among Phalen, Como and Highland 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. every Sunday during the summer. Adults are charged $10, kids play free and the tee times almost always fill up.

The courses set out special, temporary tees farther down the fairway closer to the holes so beginners and kids don't have to hit the ball so far.

"The younger children all use the special tees, but the 12- or 13-year-old kids like to tee it up with Dad," says pro Nora McGuire.

Tonight, the family golf special is at Highland 9, and the final family night of the summer is next week at Como. But McGuire says families should call her if they want to come later in the season.

"I'd be willing to extend family golf to families if they wanted to continue playing. We'd be more than happy to do that. We realize that's where our future is."

I'm not sure if my family has a future in golf. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I like being outside. I like the mental focus. I like the idea of a game, unlike hockey, you can play with your kids and into older age.

But I also know it would take more time and practice than I'm willing to devote to get good enough to really enjoy it. So, I'll leave it to the kids. Maybe I'll sign them up for golf camp next summer.

Maja Beckstrom can be reached at 651-228-5295.

THE SCOOP

What: Golf lessons

Where: Brightwood Hills Golf Course, 1975 Silver Lake Road, New Brighton

Information: 651-638-2150 or ci.new-brighton.mn.us

Hours: By appointment

Cost: $45 for 45 minutes, additional students are $5 apiece.

Target audience: People who want to learn or improve at the sport.

Crowd pleaser: Hearing the click of the ball when you connect.

Avoid: Heading onto a course before you know how to hit a ball.

Tip: Practice at a driving range and then try a par-3 course.