How to Start Playing Golf
- Get in contact with a PGA golf instructor and sign for a lesson. Tell the pro you are just starting and would like guidance to eventually be able to play on the course.
- Go to the local driving range and hit some balls, most ranges have clubs to use and the person at the desk will tell you how to purchase the range balls. Just start swinging the club whatever way seems natural and see if you like the game if so go to step one.
- Find a friend that can guide you through practicing and then take you to a short par three course and show you what to do on the golf course.
- Read a golf book or watch a golf video then practice at the range until you meet somebody to show you what to do on the course.
How I Started
Many people start golf by accident and then find out they like it, that’s the way I started. My dad started golf when he was 40 and fell in love with the game. He used to show me the grip and how to swing out on the front yard but I had no interest in playing. It wasn’t until I happened to take golf in a high school P.E. class that I actually played, the P.E. teacher said “anybody that goes to a range and hits a bucket of balls or plays nine holes will get extra credit”. My friend Bill and I went to the local driving range along with Bill’s father. We were having fun hitting balls when Bill’s father said “why don’t you guys play the nine hole course here and I’ll show you what to do”, so off we went – I shot a 58 for nine holes and after studying my card thought for sure the next time I played I’d easily take a bunch of strokes off my score. I think we came back the next day and shot 59, it wasn’t as easy as I thought, but like my father, I fell in love with the game and have enjoyed playing it ever since.
Bill and I continued to play the little par three course until we dared take on the local muni, they had a twilight rate which some called the "tennis shoe crowd" because beginners and casual golfers that didn’t wear golf shoes were known to play at that that time. So we would arrive at the course and putt on the practice putting green until they made the announcement “now taking names for the twilight rate” then back to the putting green until we heard our names called. We played as many holes as we could until it was too dark to see and then go home excited about coming back another day. After exploring twilight at other nearby courses we had enough confidence to play during regular hours and then off to explore new and exciting golf courses wherever we could find them.
We started going to driving ranges after dinner a few times a week, then started reading golf magazines and my father’s Tommy Armour golf book and then golf books from the library. For my birthday my parents gave me some golf lessons and a shag bag, a shag bag holds golf balls with a long tube that’s helps pick up the balls after you’ve hit them, my dad said if you are going to take lessons you need to practice , so I would find place to hit my golf balls and then pick them up with the shag bag.
It doesn’t really matter how you start but since you are reading this site you probably have already started playing golf or you have an idea you want to start. Hopefully you can use this site for a resource to improve your game.