Guide for Beginning Golfers

A few weeks ago I recounted my experience at Brentwood Country Club on Long Island. My significant other and I had such an enjoyable time we decided to play there again this past weekend. We arrived at the course around 9:00am, checked in and were ready to tee off by 9:30 give or take a few minutes. We were paired with two middle aged gents who were friendly and experienced golfers. The group who teed off right before us consisted of two golfers who knew how to play fairly well and two beginning golfers who were inexperienced and not versed at all in golf “Etiquette”. On the very first tee they took two shots each because they were not satisfied with the result of their first attempt and justifiably so as they did not reach the fairway which was only about 30 yards ahead. In fairness to them many golfers will sometimes play what is called a “Breakfast Mulligan”which is an extra tee shot on the first hole when a player has not had a chance to warm up or hit range balls before his or her round. For comparisons sake an average tee shot, even for an new golfer, can minimally range between a 100 and 150 yards or more which would at least get the ball in play. At that point we knew it was going to be a long day especially after they took about six or seven practice swings on each shot and hit more than one ball for the same stroke on a number of other occasions during the round.

When I first learned to play I was schooled in the courtesies of golf etiquette. The meaning of “etiquette” is “Any SPECIAL code of behavior or courtesy,” similar in some respects to following decorum or protocol, both implying in a more general way the standards to be observed by one who makes claim to good breeding. My emphasis on etiquette may appear to be over the top but you will be there one day and my reasons will become clear as to why. I in turn emphasized the importance of golf etiquette when I undertook the task of teaching my significant other to play. To this day we both observe these courtesies and are not pleased when we observe other golfers on the course devoid of any golf etiquette. With golf there are many courtesies to be extended to your fellow golfers and one of the most important rules of golf etiquette is to manage your pace of play to keep up with the group ahead of you or at least within a reasonable distance behind. By the time we reached the turn or 10th hole there were at least two or three golf holes open in front of the group ahead of us. Golf is meant to be played and enjoyed by all so if you are just learning to play have consideration for the next golfer and maintain a reasonable pace of play by keeping up with the group ahead. On many golf courses, especially at resorts, there are rangers who monitor the course and when the course starts to back up they will courteously ask the players who are causing the hold up to kindly pick up the pace and keep things moving. We were so held up that by the 16th hole we called it a day even though we were playing well to that point.

On our last visit to Brentwood a few weeks before I shot an 85 which is not a particularly good score for me at this golf course. This past weekend on Saturday I made a minor adjustment in my swing path and it meant a world of difference in my game, which consisted of an eagle on the 4th hole par 5 and two birdies on 8 and 16. My front nine total was 38 and at the 16th when we quit on the back I was at 28 which meant if I bogied the last two holes, a par five 17th and par 4 18th I would have scored 39 on the back giving me a total score of 77 which was more in line with my expectations at Brentwood. Cathi also played well  and would have easily been in the mid nineties had we finished play. We had an enjoyable time again and look forward  to our next golf round. Remember to observe Golf Etiquette and enjoy yourself all the  more. Happy Golfing to All!

For more valuable tips and info on golf etiquette visit http://www.guideforbeginninggolfers.com and pick up a copy of Golf “Fore Ever” a new book I just wrote to help the new golfer get started “The Right Way”

Tags: Golf "Etiquette", Golf Rules

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