Anyone with $10,000 and four hours a day to spare can begin their exodus into the game of golf. Fortunately, so can a working parent with $100 and a couple of hours to kill on a Wednesday afternoon.

The journey starts with ignoring all advice from friends.

“Take lessons,” advises Brian Davis, golf pro and co-owner of the Shelton-Bayshore Golf Course. “Friends are great to get you started but they have all kinds of advice pulling you in different directions. If you find someone you can commit with and understands your game it can be very beneficial.”

Like a good marriage the game requires devotion, but it starts in a much different place.

“Anybody who just has an interest should go out to a driving range and hit a few balls,” Davis said. “If they’re hooked then take lessons.”

Lessons get rid of bad habits before they start, Davis said.

“I see people who’ve played 15 years and they’re getting frustrated,” he said, “and after a few lessons they say, ‘I should have done this before.’ But I know players who haven’t had a lesson who do well.”

Every player also should learn etiquette and the basic rules of the game, Davis said, which comes with lessons. Obscure infractions of even more obscure rules can be forgiven in amateur play.”

When it comes to handing over the credit card or the greenbacks, be cautious.

Don’t spend like you enjoy the sport until you know you do, Davis said.

“Above anything else you have to have the desire to learn and play,” he said.
If you have a friend who’s nuts about golf — and chances are he or she is to blame for you even thinking about the game – ask to borrow their clubs. Most golf courses also have clubs to rent.

A set of clubs can start at $200. Used balls are 50 cents or a dollar. Good sneakers can take the place of spiked golf shoes, Davis said. Save the money for more rounds of golf.

“Some people think it’s a silly easy game,” Davis said. “It’s not an easy game and the silliness is up to each person. If you like the sport it is one of the hardest games to master.

“But we keep trying.”.