What a great way to start 2 hobbies! Golfing and a golf ball collection. Those balls would generally predate Surelyn type covers, be it balata or something else. So even if not badly damaged from being in the elements, a beginning golfer not only has issues controlling a slicing ball flight, but literally slicing the covers on the ball. I burned through a lot of balls in the 60s with a 5 iron on the high school football field without losing them. It would be like taking up tennis with a wooden racket with cat gut stringing. Technology moved. Right now a lot of PGA members at golf courses and stores like GG/Dick's are offering packages for beginning golfers. It's like $99 for 5 classes. If getting involved doesn't result in a divorce, this is the best way to get introduced. I can assure you that teaching yourself in the back yard or a local athletic complex will almost certainly limit your potential - almost as bad as doing an appendectomy on yourself. Good luck - and finding the site is another good move on your part.