at least for me, the range vs the course are two separate sports. once i realized this and had a base to work from (halfway decent grip, stance, takeaway etc) i started to book late twilight tee times for cheap and played as many holes as possible for dark when the course is quieter and the "good" players are long gone (this makes it less stressful when you're learning). getting comfortable on a course and learning how to play different shots from different lies is invaluable.

RE: lessons. Them shits were way too expensive when I lived in LA. I did a couple and the instructors didn't seem to give a shit since they essentially had a monopoly on instruction at the courses and were guaranteed a steady stream of people/revenue all day since golf has been low key blowing up since the pandemic. I've been learning by playing on the course and watching the plethora of free youtube instructional content out there. These were go-to's when I was starting...

https://www.youtube.com/@RickShielsPGA/videos (the instructional videos)
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https://www.youtube.com/@meandmygolf
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https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisRyanGolf
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https://www.youtube.com/@Scratchgolfacademy (this guy is usually short and sweet with his videos)