In today’s post, I am going to you my five best tips for the beginner golfer. If you just started the game and are looking for a little help today’s post is perfect for you. Without further a do, here are my five tips for the beginner golfer.
As a Beginner Golfer, You’re Not Any Good, And That’s OK!
One of the biggest fears for most people when they start playing golf is playing with strangers. The fear of embarrassing yourself is all too prevalent when you are learning the game. But, here’s the catch, no one gives a shit about your bad shots!
Literally. Not a soul.
Like most sports, golf is supposed to be fun. By deciding to play a round of golf, you are deciding to take out five hours of your life to go chase a little white ball around a park. If you are going to make that choice you might as well have fun in the process.
Tip #1: Don’t keep score
Throw away your scorecard the second you step on the first tee. You will have plenty of time later on to figure out what kind of golfer you are relative to par, for now just go out and enjoy the process of learning to hit golf shots.
Horses for Courses
Have you ever been skiing?
If you have, then you know that trails on a mountain are labeled based on their difficulty.
Tip #2: Start your golfing experience on an Executive Course
If you are new to golf, the best thing you can do is find a course that best suits your skill level. It is my experience that the best place to learn to play golf is at an executive course. Executive courses are the green circles of golf. Find yourself an executive course with a nice driving range and a good practice putting green. If the course offers 9-hole rates, that is a bonus.
Playing an executive course is like entering a pool on the shallow end. Eventually, you can make your way over to the deep end, but to start, floating around on the shallow end of the pool with a swim noodle is what I recommend.
Find A Ringer
Tip #3: Play with people better than you
One of the best things I ever did for my golf game, was to play golf with players that were far better than I was. When you play golf with people better than you, you get to see first hand what good golf looks like. You also have the opportunity to ask those players questions. Chances are the better player remembers what it was like to be in your shoes and will be happy to help.
Just don’t let the better player coax you into a match. If you are going to play for money, or lunch, or drinks, make sure the better player is on your team. I’ve gotten a lot of free meals out of riding the coat tail of a player better than me.
And who doesn’t like a free meal?
Keep Your Piggy Full
In golf, you are allowed to have a maximum of 14 clubs in your golf bag. However, when you are first starting out, you are going to have a tough enough time figuring out what the hell to do with one club let alone fourteen.
Tip #4: Don’t break the bank on top of the line golf clubs
The first set of golf clubs I ever owned cost about $200. The set included everything I needed to shoot a billion on the golf course, but it was a few clubs short of the maximum fourteen clubs. Find a set that includes all of the irons, one wedge, a putter, a driver, and a hybrid or three wood.
You can add all of the specialty clubs later on. To start, you just need just enough clubs to be dangerous.
KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid
Tip #5: Keep it simple
Golf is a very challenging game. As a beginner golfer, try and keep everything as simple as possible. You are going to have people offering up tips to you left and right. The best thing you can do is find one source of information that you trust and forget everything else.
There are many ways to skin a cat, and trust me, everything golfer thinks their way is best. But what you realize pretty quickly, is that everyone has to figure out what works best for them. Find what works for you on the golf course, and then stick with it.
Hakuna Matata
Those are my five tips for the beginner golfer. If I could only pass along one piece of advice, it would be to not worry about what anyone else thinks about your golf game. Everyone starts the game from exactly the same place. More experienced players know what it is like to be a beginner golfer and are more than happy to help you.
Go out there and have fun, and the rest will take care of itself.
As always,
Enjoy the chase!
If you missed my previous posts from this week, follow the links below to check them out: