Anyone start playing golf later in life..

if you can't afford lessons, the best thing to do is live at the range. There is a wealth of basic beginning knowledge on the internet so I'm sure a google search will give you the bare bone essentials of how to swing. Then just practice. Your'e going to suck. You're going to whiff. Club might fly out of your hands. Who cares? Keep swinging. The only way you're going to get any better is to keep hitting. Eventually, you should get a lesson or 2. If you don't want to, who cares about that either. Whatever it is you keep doing wrong (slice, hook, top the ball, etc), there's info on the internet on how to fix it.

Also, I'd advise against drinking heavily your first few times out. That's not going to help you improve. And the only actual "tip" I might give you is, start out using the interlock/overlap grip. As a beginner it will make you feel like you're more in control of the club, as opposed to holding it like a baseball bat.

eta: Also, while you're at the range, do not neglect putting. I know you may think "oh, well that's easy anyone can do that, I need to focus in driving", but what separates good/pretty good/great/elite golfers is putting. If you 2 putt instead of 3 putt every hole, that's 18 strokes a round just right there.

eta: also, when you get on a real course the first few times, don't necessarily use the club that your buddies use. Your friend may be hitting a 7 iron from X distance, but with you beign unfamiliar with clubs, distance, the "feel" of a course, and your swing, you might not necessarily do the same thing. It takes a while to really get a feel for what distance you hit each club.

Ben Hogan's Five Lessons

All you need to know.

I've played since I was younger but was never any good until recent memory. I slowed my swing down (still drive 300) and started playing the course not my clubs. I'm not gonna embarrass myself unless the guy shoots 1-8 over. I'm bogey golf mostly few pars with the occasional birdie.
My advice you don't have to swing hard to make the ball go along way. Practice changing clubs on the range. Don't hit 5 shots with your 5 iron and go to your 3 wood. Use the range to visualize your shots as if you were on the course

The few times I did play when I was younger, I was totally clueless on how to properly hit irons so I will definitely focus on that. Thanks.

Realize that the chances of you actually becoming good at golf are slim. Once you know that, you'll loosen up and have more fun.

Started at 24 and got to where I could consistently shoot low 80's without lessons... I just got to a point where I hit a plateau and couldn't dedicate enough time to it for practice and lessons to get better so I just cut my losses and called it a day at 26... I still play when I go on vacation for some ignorant reason. I guess to remind myself why I quit in the first place.

My advice is to mentally prepare yourself to throw a shite ton of money away. Once you do that, read Ben Hogan's book.

I'm not really "good". I typically shoot in the mid-90s...if I break 100 I'm happy, if I flirt with a 90 I'm really happy.

Nobody is going to really care if you're good. when a group of friends go play golf I think the biggest thing is just not being SO bad that you hold the whole group up because you're shooting a 12 on every hole and backing things up behind you. You'll hit bad shots, quite often actually. Just remember the good ones and keep on going.

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Grip it and rip it, the short game is for suckers.

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B.s. any mediocre golfer can get down near the green in two, on a par 4. Only the good one's can get in the hole in 2 more shots, most of the time.

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Ben-Hogans-Five-Lessons

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This + range + swings(swing as often as possible, even if just with a club) + go play alone at a shitty course on a weekday and hit two balls for every shot.

Also a real tip: new golfers always try to get under the ball and lift it when hitting irons. Trust the club and concentrate on hitting the ball first and not getting under the ball.

I would avoid swinging hard until you get really comfortable. Its never really going to get you anywhere. Club up and keep it easy and simple.

this is kind of obscure, but there was a guy named Bob Mann who did a video called automatic golf. It made sense. It was straight forward. I recommend it, if you can find it.