Beginner Golf: Top 5 Tips for Your First Round of Golf

Play Better Golf with Less Stress

Keeping Score

Keeping score is one of the most important rules, and one of the easiest. Every time you swing counts as one stroke. If you take seven swings at the ball before you get it into the cup on any given hole, you earned a score of seven. Your total score is the sum of all strokes taken on each hole.

The Elusive "Par"

Every hole has a rating called "par." The par rating for a given hole is the number of strokes that a proficient player should take to get the ball in the hole. Don't worry about par. Beginner golf is a time of vast improvement in golf skill, and par will come. If you make par on a hole, then celebrate a victory!  The winner of the round is the player with the lowest total score.

The total par rating for the course, just as with your total score, is the sum of the par ratings for each hole. Every hole will either be rated as a par-3, 4 or 5.

Who's Turn Is It? The First Hole

On the first tee box, during a game among friends, the players decide for themselves the order in which they will play. That means, they decide who will play first, second, third and fourth.

Who's Turn Is It? Balls in Play

During the playing of each hole, the player who is furthest from the hole is the next to play. This includes when you are putting on the putting green.

Who's Turn Is It? Second through 18th Tees

Upon completing a hole, the player who finished the hole with the lowest score is the first to play on the next tee. The person with the next lowest score would play second, and so on. You may need to recall scores from earlier holes in order to get the correct playing order, because two or more players with the same score on a hole is quite common.

For the beginner, golf is all confidence as much as playing ability. In fact, the same holds true for golfers of all levels. In the beginning, things as seemingly simple as these five tips will go a ling waapy toward making you comfortable on the golf course. Being comfortable breeds confidence, and confidence results in lower scores.

You will have a lot more to learn about the game, but you'll find it much easier and more enjoyable when playing your best and feeling at home.