if practice makes you better why is there so many 50+ year old hackers?

Many people did not have an opportunity to learn at a young age, and if you compound that with the facts that golf is an incredibly difficult game with many minute detail that change everything completely in a split second, and the fact that it becomes increasingly more difficult to learn new things as you age, it is not so shocking that many people aren't very good at golf, even if they are upper middle aged.

Brenda, golf is a personal game and must be learned correctly at the beginning. Practice is only good if the mistakes are repaired so no matter how much you practice the golf score will even out the 'hacker' player score. Remember, even elderly golfers play the game because hey love the game.

Spartawo...

Practice is the key to good OR bad golf. If you practice and reinforce bad habits, your game will never improve.

This applies to all aspects of life, not just golf. If you practice driving a car for 20 years without ever using a turn signal, you might still cause an accident!