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Golf Tips for Beginners

Good Golf Made Easy

by Tony Dear, Bob Atkins
A complete instruction books for beginners with interesting pages about Course Management and the Mental Side of Golf
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Players usually walk (or sometimes drive) over the course in groups of two, three, or four, sometimes accompanied by caddies who carry and manage the players' equipment and give them advice. Each player plays a ball from the tee to the hole. except that in foursomes (see our seperate article about the Types of competition, one player from each team tees off and the players then take alternate shots until the ball is holed out. For the shortest holes a good player requires only one stroke to hit the ball to the green. The grass of the putting green is cut very short so that a ball can roll over distances of several meters. "To putt" means to play a stroke on the green where the ball does not leave the ground.

On longer holes the green is too far away to reach it with the first stroke, so that one or more strokes are played from the fairway (where the grass is cut so low that most balls can be easily played) or from the rough (uncut grass or ground not prepared at all). The direction of growth of individual blades of grass affects the rolling of a golf ball and is called the grain. When individual players have all brought a ball into play, the player whose ball is the farthest from the hole is next to play. In some teams events, a player who is farthest from the hole may ask his or her partner who may be closer to the hole to play first. When all players of a group have completed the hole, the player or team with the best score on that hole has the honor, that is, the right to play first on the next tee.

Let us first explain (or recap) the Play of the game:

Every game of golf is based on playing a number of holes in a given order. A round typically consists of 18 holes that are played in the order determined by the course layout. On a nine-hole course, a standard round consists of two successive nine-hole rounds. The hole on the green has a flag on a pole positioned in it so that it may be seen from some distance (but not necessarily from the tee). It is also termed "the pin".

Photo: Anna Kirsten Dickie

Every hole is classified by its par, the theoretical number of strokes that an expert golfer should require for playing the ball into any given hole. The expert golfer is expected to reach the green in two strokes under par (in regulation) and then use two putts to get the ball into the hole. Many 18-hole courses have approximately four par-three, ten par-four, and four par-five holes. The total par of an 18-hole course is usually around 72.

Each player acts as marker for one other player in the group, that is, he or she records the score on a score card. In stroke play (see below), the score consists of the number of strokes played plus any penalty strokes incurred. Penalty strokes are not actually strokes but penal points that are added to the score for violations of rules or for making use of relief procedures in certain situations. To allow players of different proficiency to play against each other on equal terms handicap systems are used.

A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's ability. It can be used to calculate a so-called "net" score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing Handicaps are administrated by golf clubs or national golf associations. Handicap systems are not used in professional golf. Most touring professionals play several strokes per round better than scratch.

The two basic forms of playing golf are match play and stroke play (see our seperate article about the Types of competition).

Many holes include hazards, namely bunkers (or sand traps), from which the ball is more difficult to play than from grass, and water hazards (lakes, ponds, rivers, etc). Special rules apply to playing balls that come to rest in a hazard which make it highly undesirable to play a ball into one. For example, a player must not touch the ground in a hazard with a club prior to

playing a ball, not even for a practice swing. A ball in a water hazard may be played as it lies or may be replaced by dropping another ball outside the water, but a penalty is incurred in the latter case.

Bunkers at Filton Golf Club,
Filton, Bristol, England.
Photo by Adrian Pingstone, June 2004

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