Primer?

[jjallans]

Okay, I am what I consider to be a "pre-novice" to the sport, as I have only been to the driving range a few times recently. Anyone have a good "primer" on the basics of play/etiquette?

[Shindig]

Okay, I am what I consider to be a "pre-novice" to the sport, as I have only been to the driving range a few times recently. Anyone have a good "primer" on the basics of play/etiquette?

Sure. The following is off the top of my head and is in no particular order.

1. Know approximate distances with each club. At this point, you don't need it to the yard. But knowing which club you'd pull, all other things being equal, at 120 yards, 150 yards, etc will help. And it isn't what your friend pulls and it certainly isn't what Tiger pulls. 2. Know your flight patterns. If you slice with your driver (i.e., ball move left-to-right and ends to the right of where you aimed), don't try to fix it once you're on the course. Play to it. 1&2 combined with help you play better and have a better time. 3. Don't do anything you wouldn't want done to you. That's the basics of etiquette. Don't step in the line where someone's going to putt. Don't let your shadow cross said line either. Offer to move your marker if it's in someone's way. Don't tell someone they hit a bad shot (applauding a good shot is OK). Don't try to teach someone on the course (you'll find lots of people breaking this rule). Rake the bunker when you're done. If you're close to the pin and they aren't after they use the bunker, you might want to offer to rake for them. Your first time or two playing, if you're having a bad hole, don't be afraid to pick up after, say, 9 or 10 strokes. Unless you're terrific right away, play for fun, do your best, but don't delay. Don't take needless practice strokes anyway. Unless you've got a semi-grooved swing, they won't affect it anyway. Take one or two, hit the ball, and repeat. 4. Play from appropriate tees - either the farthest forward that are rated for your sex, or even the forward-most (usually lady's) tees. Alert the starter and your group if you're going to do the latter. I know most of us put video games on hardest when we start, but those don't delay other people. Use the appropriate tee box. I can't tell you how many times I've seen players who are short and inaccurate hitters stink up the course from the tips. They don't have fun, the people they're with don't have fun, and the people behind them are slowed down. 5. Have a good time. This is understated, and you'll hear people talk about "grinding" golf or similar terms. Grinding is fine when you're an accomplished player. If I were playing for TOUR level money, I'd grind too. But stressing yourself out over a sport, especially first few times? No way. And never tell yourself anything during the round that you would get mad at a caddy for telling you. "That was a bad shot." I would never pay someone to tell me how awful I am. If you are worried about score, keep score with happy faces. Give yourself a happy face if you enjoyed yourself from the tee until either the ball is in the cup or until you pick up. I don't care if you made an ace or a ten-then-pickup. Save the numbers until you've played a few times. 6. Forgive your mistakes. Tiger Woods - you might have heard of him, and he's a bit better than you are at golf - hit is opening tee shot out of bounds in the first round of the last tournament he played in. He still won the tournament. I doubt he'd have progressed far if he had spent the next few hours berating himself over such a miscue. The greatest of players have a few bad shots each round. Surely you are allowed at least that many! 7. Worry about the full set of rules later. For now, the rules are: * Hit the ball. * Find the Ball * Repeat until ball in hole * Repeat until course complete. I'm sure I missed some things, and they'll be filled in by others - or by me when I think of it later.

[jjallans]

Wow, thanks for that. I was expecting a link or a book reference, so I really appreciate you taking the time for that.

[Shindig]

Wow, thanks for that. I was expecting a link or a book reference, so I really appreciate you taking the time for that.

It's no problem; you got me started on a topic I love talking about. If you want book references

for the newly addicted I suggest the following books. Each book is entertaining and useful. You can probably get them rather cheaply and in good condition at half.com. * Harvey Penick's Little Red Book. Penick was the instructor to Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite, among others. This is notes he kept from a lifetime of teaching golf. It's light on the explicitly instructional material but heavy on useful information. And it fits in the front pocket of most golf bags * "Learning Golf: The how-to-learn book for aspiring golfers" by Chuck Hogan. I read through this book periodically when I was beginning, and even now-and-then now. It's short chapters explaining what each component of golf is, why it's important, and some how-to. If you're taking lessons from a pro - and if you aren't but want to, let us know because that's another topic altogether - you may want to ignore the details of "how to swing" from this, but the rest is useful too. * "Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf" by Ben Hogan. People who have studied this book more than I have can tell you more about it, but as I read pieces of it, I kept thinking how I wished I'd read it when I began. It's probably in the top-3 for most-recommended books on this site (Penick's, above, and Rotella's, below, are probably the other two). Get and pack away for soon: * "Golf is not a game of perfect" by Dr. Bob Rotella. Doc was Tom Kite's mental game coach. Essentially, this book is about how your mind can help you, positively and negatively, on the golf course, and how to use it to your advantage. Lots of people think they don't need mental game help until they're very good at the sport, but you'd be surprised how much seemingly simple things can help. Once you've played a round or two and think you've got the very basics of golf down, I suggest you read this book. * "Playing by the Rules" by Arnold Palmer. I think I'm the only one on the board that suggests this. Once you progress past "hit the ball, find it, repeat" and want to start keeping score, I suggest this book. The USGA rulebook is fine, and important, and more up to date, but this book is far easier to read, contains memorable incidents of the rules as they came up, and tells you how to use the rules to your advantage in some circumstances. And Palmer even admits to incidents where he had rules called on him ("I'm sorry Mr. Palmer, you cannot concede putts in stroke play."). Not only do these make it memorable, but if you accidentally break a rule, you'll feel better afterward knowing that even great players forget them sometimes too. Just today, I made a mistake that Palmer made at the Masters in 1968. Feeling better about it didn't erase a 2-stroke penalty from my scorecard, but it did help me avoid allowing it to bother me for the rest of the day - and probably helped the rest of my score accordingly. For more suggestions, see the threads on suggested golf books, but these threads are aimed at a general audience (but may provide good information for you just the same). http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8041 http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9369