Golfing for Beginners: Part I
The popularity of the game of golf has increased tremendously over the past forty-five years, giving us great champions like Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, and Tiger Woods and world-renowned courses like Pinehurst, St. Andrews, Augusta National and the Blue Monster at Doral.
Why has golf become so popular these days? Its the opportunity to be outside, to get a good whole body workout, network with friends or business colleagues at a leisurely pace, and to play a game that you can never play perfectly.
Your scorecard, over time, will demonstrate your improvement, which keeps you playing time and time again.
Here follows an elementary lesson for those who know nothing about golf.
The typical round of golf is played on a course of eighteen holes, each or which has its own ‘par’. Par is the total number of shots it should take a player to complete that hole, ie all the tee shots (drives), fairway shots, chips (short shots onto the green) and puts into the hole.
The par number is based on the length and difficulty of the hole. Pars range from 3 to 6. If you get the ball in the hole in five shots on a par five hole, you “made par.” If it took you six shots, its called a bogie, if you made it in four, its a birdie.
There are usually “hazards” of some sort or other on all the holes. Bodies of water, sand traps, and trees are strategically placed to make reaching the hole more challenging. Beginner golfers should seek to find courses to play that are easier to play with fewer hazards.
Players mark their own scorecard with the cumalative total of shots taken for each hole. After playing all the holes, the players add up their own scorecards and the one with the lowest score is the winner.
It is vital that beginners to golfing should not take the game too seriously, because it takes a very long time to play golf proficiently, even if the professionals on TV make it look so easy.
It makes very good sense to take a few lessons from the course pro, when you are just beginning to learn to play golf, because then you will learn how to stand and swing the golf club correctly.
Are you new to golf? We have some great tips for the beginner golfer at Golfing Tips for Beginners Don’t reprint this exact article. Instead, reprint a free unique content version of this same article.