When I did gliding I too was given a parachute and told a similar thing - undo the seatbelt, the canopy will be detached by the instructor so jump and pull the handle!
Had no idea what handle he was on about. But he also mentioned that none of these 'chutes had been deployed so I guessed there was little to worry about. It was only afterwards that I realsied I'd discounted the folks who had jumped too low to open them.
Looking forward to jumping again this coming weekend (weather permitting)!!! (Oh and I never got into golf anyway - but that too is probabaly higher risk on stormy days!)
