Beginner Golf Guide

So you’ve decided to take up golf. Great! If you stick with it you’ll have a game that you can play and enjoy well into your eighties. But before you hit the golf course there are a number of things you should learn about the game and that’s the purpose of this short beginner golf guide.

First of all know the rules and etiquette of the game. It’s not just about slamming away with golf clubs. You will probably be playing on a public course and you have to keep in mind how the way you play affects the golfers behind you and on adjacent fairways.

Imagine yourself a couple of years from now when your group gets stuck behind beginner golfers who have no idea how to play. How happy are you going to be then? As a beginner golfer, just keep up with the group in front of you and play by the rules and you’ll have a better experience.

Get some instruction on the fundamentals of the golf swing. Take a lesson, buy a book, do whatever it takes but you need to have a working knowledge of what the proper swing technique is. Without this knowledge you may just as well leave the clubs at home and play with a hockey stick as the results will be the same.

Learn the game from green to tee. Start by learning how to putt and read greens. Your putter is the club you will use the most in every round so this is the club, not your driver that you need to master first.

Work your way out from the green and master, or at least feel confident, with your pitching wedge. Odds are as a beginning golfer you won’t be hitting the greens in regulation so you want to develop a controlled golf shot from 100 yards and in.

Here’s the real secret to your success. If you can get this down you’ll be breaking 100 in no time. Develop a 150 yard shot that you can play with confidence. Now this might be an 8 iron or a fairway wood, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that when you stand over it you absolutely know the ball will go 150 yards and land where you want it to land.

Think about it for a second. How many 150 yard shots are there in a 400 yard par four? Yep, you could tee off with that club if you wanted and I will almost guarantee you will be on the green in three. If you’ve worked on your putting you will be down in two and that’s bogey golf, and that my friend is an 80 on most courses.

Are you getting excited? Can’t wait for Saturday? Just follow this guide and bring a bag of quarters. When your foursome gets together you be the one to suggest a friendly game of skins!