Have You Been Thinking About Getting Into Golf?
There are lots of reasons that women decide to take up Golf. Fortunately, I started as a kid, and I’ve never known a life without the game. This is a gift I highly recommend parents giving their children, but not all women are so fortunate.
Golf can come into your life for business reasons, for exercise, because of retirement or just a desire to challenge yourself. Although there are many different ways in which you can get into this game, I will give you my top five tips for getting into Golf as a lady.
Contents
Step 1: Harvey Penick Little Red Book
Of course, you will need some golf clubs to begin playing this game, but before that, you need to read Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book. Harvey was a golf teaching professional that taught many of the greats and led them to victory after victory. His book is a collection of notes he took through the years.
As he aged, he passed the book down to his son and then realized he was withholding quite a bit of information from the general golfing public. Harvey chose to publish his notes and share them with his grateful fans. To this day, the Little Red Book remains one of the best selling golf books of all time.
The information in the book is not highly technical. There are good laughs, great stories, and it will teach a general understanding and love for the game that every player (man or woman) should start with. (The Little Red Book)
Step 2: A Golf Lesson
The next important step is to take a golf lesson. A golf lesson with a well established Golf professional will give you some fundamentals to build on. If all you work on in the first lesson is the grip and stance, consider it a great experience. There are many steps in the game of Golf. It takes time, practice, and patience to get good.
A mistake that many new players make is trying to figure the game out entirely on their own. What often ends up happening is that some bad habits are developed. It is much easier to start the game correctly than to fix bad habits later on.
The golf professional will also give you some guidance as to what clubs you should purchase. Beginning golfers do not need a complete set with 14 clubs in it. A women’s set with ten clubs or even eight clubs will be just fine.
Step 3: Clinics
Golf is a social game, and it is intended to be fun.
Golf clinics can be a great way to meet other golfers, many of them beginners just like yourself. The clinics will focus on all different topics, from chipping to putting to etiquette to the rules of the game.
You will likely be paired into groups with players that have the same elementary skills that you do. These clinics can be a great way to take the stress out of learning the game.
If you can find a clinic or a local seminar on the rules of Golf, that would be very helpful. If not, the USGA offers some very valuable information on their website. USGA Rules Information
Step 4: Scramble Format on the Course
Stepping foot on the golf course for the first time is quite intimidating. The distance from the tee to the green looks incredibly long for the number of allotted strokes. Thinking about getting the ball in the hole in 4 or 5 strokes seems impossible. It is not impossible, but it’s challenging and will take lots of time.
The best way to play your first few rounds is a scramble format. It’s a straightforward concept, and some people refer to it as a Best Ball, although it is officially called a Scramble. To properly play a scramble, each player tees off.
The group chooses the best drive, and all players put their ball in this location. Then the next best shot is selected, and all players hit from there until the ball makes it to the hole.
The benefit of the Scramble format is that you are playing from an ideal location every time. You work as a team to get the ball into the hole in as few shots as possible. Playing your first rounds on the course and being stuck in a bunker or behind a tree can be stressful and cause people to quit the game.
There is no reason to do this to yourself.
Step 5: Next Steps, Where to go from here?
After you get into the swing of things and are playing more often, there are lots of next steps to take depending on what type of player you want to be.
Looking for a weekly ladies’ golf league can be a great way to make golf friends and work on your game at the same time. Generally, the formats are friendly, and you are paired with other women with similar handicaps. As your handicap lowers, you can play more stroke or match play formats where you play your own ball the entire way.
After you have met some other golfers, an enjoyable thing to do is plan a women’s golf trip. So many men go on these golf trips, and there is a reason why.
They are incredibly fun; you can see new and exciting golf courses and enjoy time with friends. There are lots of package deals available for a group traveling as a foursome or more. Resort type golf courses will do everything they can to accommodate your needs.
Should you be a very competitive woman golfer and want to play in tournaments, look into your local golf association. Most counties will have a women’s amateur tournament every year. The competition can get very intense, but this is something that some players thrive on.
Final Thoughts
I can’t imagine my life without the game of golf. The thought that some women think this is a man’s game bothers me. It is most certainly a ladies’ game, and it’s not difficult to get started.
Golf courses, both private and public, are working hard to increase play among women and juniors. You will not have to look far to find a program or a facility that will cater to your needs.
Follow my steps of reading, learning, discovering, and easing into this game and then let us know how it worked out.
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Nick is the founder of GolfSpan and an avid golfer. He's not quite a pro but has over 15 years of experience playing and coaching golfers worldwide. His mission is to bring the golfing community a better experience when it comes to choosing the right golf gear and finding the right setup for your game.
