Dad gave me a cut down Spalding Sweetspot 7 iron and I'd chip in the backyard, then came a cut down Macgregor Tourney 4 wood. He'd take me down to the park where he played and we'd hit shots in the empty ballfields in winter. Got a mixed set of cut down ladies irons for my 8th birthday (2-4-7-8) and we snuck onto the course a couple of months after that, a day or two before a big blizzard, a little over 49 years ago. Managed a bogey on short par 3. Played several times a year for about 3 years, then with a junior permit, it was 75 cents to play weekdays (went up to $1.75 when I was 17). Got a locker at the course, next to my father's, so started playing 3-4-5 days a week during summer, depending on weather. The old folks there during the week took a liking to me, and it was a great place to play. Could find enough balls to keep from worrying about losing them. Last four holes were hilly and kinda separate from the rest of the course, so many didn't play them in the years before motorized carts, so me and one of the old timers would go up there and play those 3-4 times before he went to volunteer at a nursing home and I'd grab the bus home. Got down to an 8 hdcp at best, shot a 73 about 35 years ago, and that's as good as it's gotten.
Went to college, then started working summers, and couldn't handle place of play on weekends, so I dropped down to a few times a year for a few years. Then started driving a little further away to a county course where a single could get out easily, and started playing weekends again, but my solid short game drifted away. Dad started joining me after a couple of years as so many of his cronies gave it up, moved to Florida, or died. He had to quit in his late 70s, back issues and balance issues. My sister's husband started playing, and he had a few good years until his kids started sucking up more of his time and he started spending more time on his first love -- cars. Got married, wife plays a few times a year. Her brother was pretty good back in his day, won his city championship one year. I'm out once a week now with him, and once or twice a week at the range. He normally doesn't play if it's below 40 degrees in the morning, so I'm normally a single in November and December.