All About Golf: A Beginner's Guide

Some people say it’s a long walk ruined by a little white ball but those are the ones who don’t understand the beauty of the game. Once you learn all about golf you’ll fall in love with it too.

If you aren’t a fan of walking and feel like Winston Churchill who said: “Why stand when you can sit?” you can always rent or buy a golf cart to let you concentrate on the game rather than catching your breath or hiring a caddy to carry your bag.

Even with the best cart more than a few clubs have been bent by a frustrated golfer. It doesn’t have to be that way though.

Learning a few basic skills and tips can turn you into more than just a PGA fan on Sundays when you’re in your Lay-Z-boy napping

Choose the Right Equipment

Half the battle of golf is having the right equipment to enjoy your game. Having the right clubs, golf bag, tees and other equipment can make all the difference in how you play and how you score.

Golf Clubs

A typical set of clubs, as set by the rules of golf, will usually include 14 clubs. This set is comprised of 12 clubs that every set will include and a couple of extras of the golfer’s preference.

Long Distance Woods

Clubs that are referred to as woods are for hitting the longest distances. Woods are sometimes referred to as Metals because they are mostly made of alloy, steel, and titanium more than the traditional hickory or persimmon. These clubs are flat on the bottom with large rounded heads that have a low loft. A club’s loft is the angle of the head in relation to the shaft.

They allow a golfer to hit anywhere from 200 to 350 yards. A normal set of clubs will have a driver or one wood, a 3 wood and a 5 wood.

The best way to get a feel for your clubs and work on your swing, club grip and aim may be to take some time to go to the driving range.

Shoot a couple of buckets of balls to get comfortable with your clubs and perfect your stance.

Irons

Most standard sets of clubs contain irons numbered 3 through 9. 1 and 2 irons are for the more experienced golfer because it’s much harder to control the ball with their low loft. The number of the iron increases with the loft or angle of the head of the club.

As the loft of the club increases so does the height you can get on the shot. In golf, higher isn’t always better. The higher the ball goes the shorter distance it will travel.

Putters and Wedges

Even if you’ve never stepped on a real golf course you’re probably familiar with a putter. It’s the same club you use when playing miniature golf. The putter is for putting the ball into the hole from the green.

It doesn’t work well on the fairway and is practically useless in sand traps or longer grass. Most golf courses have practice greens to perfect your putting skills.

Wedges are particularly handy in the rough, sand traps and other hazards. They will get height under the ball and lift it up and out of the difficult terrain. There are different types of wedges that work best for various situations.

The more skilled golfer may have a pitching wedge and a few others like a sand wedge, gap wedge and lop wedge in their bag. Novice golfers are most likely to use a pitching wedge, which is most commonly found in a standard set of clubs.

All About Golf: Terms and General Rules

The objective of the game of golf is to get the ball from the teeing area to the hole in as few strokes as possible.

You can’t influence the trajectory, position or path of the ball in play in any way. If you lose your ball or must move your ball it results in penalty strokes being added to your score.

The rules of golf are vast and have recently been modernized by the USGA. They have several videos available online to explain the rules of the game.

There are many terms you’re probably familiar with related to golf. The PGA website has a full list of regulations and terms on a glossary and dictionary all about golf.

Golf Cart and Accessories

If you’re serious about golf then you’re going to want to consider a Sirius Golf Cart. While there are many great golf cart options out there, this Star EV creation isn’t just for the golf course as it keeps the community slow speed vehicle customer in mind as well. It has the luxuries of a USB port, turn signals, an electronic locking trunk and more to satisfy any rider but also is functional and effective on the golf course with lots of room for your golf equipment.

Other accessories you’ll want to have may include:

rain gear and umbrella
towel and washcloth
ball retriever
hat, sunscreen, sunglasses
golf gloves
extra tees, golf balls, and stroke counter

It’s always good to have a bottle of water to keep hydrated and a mobile phone (turned off) just in case of an emergency.

Most clubs will have staff that patrols the course in case anyone needs assistance and some even have beverage carts available partway through.

Practice is Everything

The most important thing you can do for your game is to practice.

Work on your golf club grip, swing and putting on practice driving ranges and putting greens. During the winter months or bad weather, there are always virtual reality courses you can do inside.

Everyone is different and the perfect swing for one golfer may feel awkward to another. It takes practice to figure out what’s the perfect swing for you and how to do it consistently.