If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they'd starve to death.
In many respects golf seems such a simple game - swing the club back and hit the ball - but as another multi major winner Ben Hogan suggested, it's a devilishly difficult art to master, spurring the normally tight-lipped Hogan to remark: "Reverse every natural instinct and do the opposite of what you are inclined to do, and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing."
When you put it like that, it kind of makes you realise why taking lessons is surely a must for every golfer. Perhaps an even more persuasive argument is every golfer's desire to shoot lower scores - the perpetual search for that glorious low round, the chance to saunter off the 18th to briefly become king of the club house.
The road to achieving lower scores isn't rocket science - it lies in good old-fashioned hard work, constructive practice and lessons.
Sam Snead, never short of a humorous line, once told a pupil failing miserably to get to grips with golf that he should 'cut back on playing for the next month and then give the game up completely'.
Golf should never get that bad but if it does become a struggle you can certainly make things a lot more enjoyable by recourse to lessons.
One of the great mysteries of our time is just why more golfers don't visit a pro for lessons. They'll happily shell out lots of money on the latest driver; take advice from their mates whose knowledge of the golf swing can be written on a marker but balk at the idea of paying £20-£30 to a pro. It's the economics of the madhouse.
Six time Major winner Nick Faldo's first introduction to golf was via six lessons with his local PGA pro at Welwyn Garden City Golf Club.
The three-time Open and Master Champion remains a huge supporter of the PGA professional. "We Brits are a funny lot with our club pros but I'm a big fan," he once said.
"My stock line is that we will pay £100 to call out a plumber to be told there's nothing wrong with the drains but we won't go and pay £25-50 to our pro to improve our bunker shots when we can't get out of a bunker.
"My big message to club members and newcomers is always that money spent on a lesson is money well spent."
When it comes to spending hard-earned cash for advice, the Brits can be a hesitant bunch - we need to see something in our hand before our money is prized from our fingers!
But the reality is that regular lessons with your pro and taking the time to practice what he/she says, is ultimately priceless.
Ten good reasons why should you take lessons
- Lessons are both rewarding to your game and an enjoyable experience.
- Having an expert in the golf swing exclusively working on your game is a real buzz and it's the opportunity to really get a sound platform.
- Books, magazines and friends can often lend mis-guided tips or advice but gaining the correct advice for YOU is priceless...
- The pro is a second pair of eyes - he can see your swing and because of his training and expertise can pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses, and give you realistic goals to reach through practice regimes to you as an individual.
- The golf swing is a complex action. Lessons with a pro really help you to understand exactly what is happening, why it's happening and what you need to do to improve.
- Lessons help realise potential which includes being able to hit the ball further, straighter and more consistently.
- Lessons are a great opportunity to discuss equipment with your pro and find out what's best for your swing.
- Learn practice drills. The pro will be able to give you specific drills to help you on the part of your game that you're working on.
- Lessons enable you to get the most out of your equipment.
- Lessons prevent bad habits developing
And one extra reason...
Your coach can play a much larger role than you think- from advice on your swing, the psychology of golf, fitness and nutrition to help your endurance, and even creating a network of friends and future playing partners.
Treeve James, is a 17 handicap golfer who plays at Worcestershire's Wharton Park Golf Club. Here he explains why he has regular lessons with his PGA professional:
"Can you think of any professional golfer who has not been coached? Nor me! There is one thing every golfer has in common and that is they cannot see themselves swing. Your professional can, so the best way of thinking of golf lessons is that you are renting his eyes for half an hour to watch your swing, analyze it and adjust it to what is best for you.
"Having lessons with my local professional is the single most important thing I have done to improve my golfing technique, my golfing knowledge and most importantly my golfing enjoyment.
"I no longer become frustrated when I hit a duff shot. Regular lessons every two weeks (equivalent to two averagely priced bottles of red wine a week) involve not only instructions as to how to hit a good shot, but explanations as to what I have done to hit a bad shot.
"If I hit a poor shot on the course it then becomes much easier to know what I must have done wrong.
"No frustration means more chance of putting it right for the next shot and with more certainty because of being taught by my pro how to correct the mistake."