High school golf this fall. What should I do?

I'm pretty disappointed in all of the comments so far, because none of them address the real issue, which is

better for me to get better before the season this fall?

That just depends on what exactly "get better" means for you. The matter of fact is that tournament golf will NOT improve your swing, will NOT increase the types of shots in your arsenal, will NOT make you have a more fluid putting stroke, etc.

And the lessons, without practice, are absolutely useless. The matter of fact is that a good pro could, with a solid 1 hr video lesson, identify all the things in your swing that need to be worked on (I'm assuming you are a half-decent golfer). Then, its up to you to work on those.

Just watch any of the Hank Haney shows on the Golf Channel (they are online) -- its uncanny how much time these guys spend with one of the best teachers in the world, and basically how little their swing changes. Golf is hard not because its hard to figure out what to do, but because doing it is difficult. If you feel like you need to work on your game, negotiate just 1, hour-long lesson with the best pro you can find that does video analysis. Commit everything he says to memory, and then just work on stuff relentlessly. A little stand for your phone costs nothing... video yourself practicing, and see if you are hitting the targets that your pro set up for yourself.

HAVING SAID THAT, if you in fact think your game is just about as good as it should be, tournament golf might be what you need. What tournament golf WILL help you with is with translating your awesome game to a competitive environment; you'll learn how to deal with the pressure of tournaments, which definitely change a lot about how your swing behaves. Like, it really does feel like a different kind of golf game. But, needless to say, that all comes AFTER you have honed in on your swing.

/r/golf Thread