Beginning Golfers - SelectPace Golf

[Affiliate disclosure: As an amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com]

Best advice for begining golfers

Congratulations! If are a beginning golfer or are about to start playing golf you have come to the right place. You’ll find all the information you need to get started right here. It is an amazing sport, enjoyed by millions, including some of the most famous names in sports. There are many things you really need to know as you begin to play golf.

“A bad attitude is worse than a bad swing” – Payne Stewart

Don’t miss out on all the fun

Golf should be fun and it becomes a lot more fun and you are more likely to enjoy it for many years if you follow the advice given here. There is no other sport where you can hit a ball as far as you can in golf, once you learn the game. Like two or three times the length of a football field!

According to the National Golf Foundation, in 2020 there were more than 3 million new golfers in the U.S. and more than 12 million adult non-golfers who said they are very interested in getting out on the golf course for the first time.

Before you start playing as a beginnning golfer:

Get clubs – The first thing you should do is buy or borrow an inexpensive set of clubs. It doesn’t have to be a complete set of 14 clubs. About half that number is enough to start. You will also need a golf bag to carry the clubs and several golf balls.
Take lessons – All beginning golfers should take one or more lessons from a professional golf instructor, so they can learn the fundamentals of the golf swing. Of course you will hit a lot of bad shots but don’t let it bother you, even the pros hit some bad shots. All golfers know that golf is very difficult at first, so don’t feel at all embarrassed. Just keep a sense of humor about it and don’t get too angry. Your golfing friends will appreciate that.
Practice – Besides lessons, go to a driving range to practice the fundamentals you are learning. There are also a lot of very good golf instruction books, magazines, and videos out there that will help you learn the fundamentals. I recommend the following two instruction books especially for beginning golfers:
“Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf” by Ben Hogan, who was the greatest golfer of his time and one of the greatest of all times.
“The Touch System for Better Golf” by Bob Toski, who not only was an excellent PGA tour player but was once considered to be the best golf instructor in the country.
Golf Course – After you learn the fundamentals and want to play on a golf course, it’s a good idea to start on short courses like a par 3 course (all par 3 holes) or executive course (mostly par 3s and some short par 4s and 5s).
Pace of Play – Learn how to keep up with the expected pace of play and not hold up your playing partners or other players following you. After reading this page, go to the pace of play page. It will definitely help you keep pace. Your playing partners and others on the course will very much appreciate that. It doesn’t mean you have to rush or run to your ball – so relax. Just be ready to hit when it’s your turn. And please read the pace of play page.
Weather – Be prepared for whatever weather that is expected during your round. You should normally have an umbrella attached to your bag or in it. You should also have a rain jacket in it. When cold temperatures are expected bring or wear a jacket, sweater or sweat-shirt. If there is lightning in the area, seek shelter in a structure or go to the clubhouse to wait it out. Golf courses are one of the most dangerous places to be during lightning. Most of them have a lightning warning system such as a horn or siren. They ask you to stop play and seek shelter until an all-clear siren is sounded.
Wear– It is normally expected and often required that you wear a collared shirt and no jeans. Most players wear a golf glove, but it’s not required. It is worn on the left hand by right-handed players.
Golf etiquette – There are several basic ‘rules of etiquette’ or expected behavior on the course. Here are some of the main ones:

Don’t talk when one of your playing partners is attempting to hit their shot or putting. This can cause many players to lose focus, become upset and mishit their shot.
When near someone getting ready to hit, stand to the side, not too close, not behind them or behind the target line where they are attempting to hit their shot. Never stand where you could possibly be struck by an off-line shot. Sometimes shots can go almost sideways.
When on a green, do not step on the line that another player will be putting along. Some players will get upset and some players won’t mind at all, but it shows good etiquette and knowledge of the game when you observe this rule.
Wait until it’s your turn to hit. Normally, the person who is farthest from the green or hole is the one who is next to hit but if two players are on opposite sides of the fairway, roughly equal distant from the green, they can both go ahead and hit in order to keep on pace. Once it’s your turn to putt, it’s good practice to putt out completely, as long as you don’t have to stand on someone else’s line of putt. It speeds things up without having to rush.
If your ball is on the green and is sitting near someone else’s putting line, mark your ball’s position with a coin or ball marker and pick up your ball until it’s your turn to putt.
If you hit a ball towards another player on the course, possibly on another fairway, yell ‘fore‘ very loudly so they can hear you and can try to avoid being hit. Never hit if someone is ahead of you on your fairway and within range of your best shot, plus several yards of leeway, in case you misjudge the distance.
Always make sure the ball you’re about to hit is your ball. It’s a good idea to mark you ball with a permanent marker so that you can easily identify it. If it’s not yours, don’t touch it. It may be from someone in another fairway, who you don’t see.
If your ball is in another fairway, be very careful before going to it, as players may be hitting their shot in that fairway. Wait for them to be out of the way.
On each tee, the player who had the lowest score on the previous hole, usually hits first. This is call ‘honors’. But it is often better to play what’s called ‘ready golf’ where whoever is ready first, hits first. This can help to speed up your pace of play when necessary.
When you take a large divot (a large chunk of grass and dirt) on your shot, replace the divot into the hole on the fairway that the divot came out of. Or at least pour some sand into the hole. Sand is usually available in a sand container on most golf carts.
After hitting out of a sand trap, rake the sand to remove footprints that other players might have their ball roll into. There is normally at least one rake near a sand trap or located in your golf cart. (During the Covid pandemic, there may not be any rakes by the traps, so smooth the sand with your foot.)
If you can’t find your ball in the rough, don’t spend more than 5 minutes looking for it. Just drop another ball and continue. When you are a more experienced player, there are rules (not listed here) about how to proceed if a ball is lost or expected to be lost, out of bounds, or in a hazard. For beginners, pace is most important – by playing smart, not by rushing. Bring plenty of golf balls, you will lose some. Always watch your ball until it stops or disappears into the rough, woods, or hazard so that you can find it faster. Identify some object, plant, tree, rock, discolored grass or anything near where your ball disappeared to help you go right to it and save time.

Have fun. Practice. Come back! – Golf courses are always happy to see new beginning golfers. Some courses are private and you’re required to be a member or invited by a member to play there. Most courses are open to the public, but you should call ahead by a day or so to reserve a tee time, especially during busy times.
You will hopefully start out playing with experienced players and they will know much of what you read here. An entire foursome of complete beginners is definitely not recommended at all. Their inexperience could be very disruptive to other players on the course playing behind them. I would recommend no more than one or two complete beginners in a foursome.
Please go to the pace of play page here for many more details on that subject. This is especially important for beginners, but also a good review for all golfers. There are some interesting ideas there that I’m sure you have not seen before.

Fundamentals of the golf swing

Go to the Golf Swing Fundamentals page for a complete description