Once you've spent some time on the driving range and feel ready to graduate to a full golf course, there are several factors to consider.

It is crucial to understand that not all courses are created equally. Private courses are exclusive to paying members, while public courses are open to all golfers of any skill level.

Your best bet starting out is to play a shorter course that isn't very difficult. You'll also want to play when the course is less crowded, such as early morning or later in the evening. This gives you the freedom to play at your own leisure while getting used to the game.

It's easy to get frustrated when you first begin playing, and the frustration will only be compounded if you feel rushed. If other golfers are waiting behind you, don't hesitate to let them play through (meaning you step aside while they hit their shots and move ahead of you). It's not an official rule, but it is commonly considered correct etiquette for slower golfers to let faster golfers pass. They'll appreciate the gesture, and you'll alleviate any pressure from playing in front of others.

You should also consider starting on a par-3 or “executive” golf course. These are much shorter than a regulation course, making them easier and quicker to play while still helping you develop skills needed for the real thing. For many par-3 courses, where most holes are less than 200 yards long, all you need is a putter and a few irons. In fact, playing shorter courses will help improve your chipping and putting tremendously. An executive course typically features 10 to 13 par-3 holes, with the rest being par 4s. The advantage is that you can hit your driver a few times without getting overwhelmed by a series of long and challenging holes.

Once you feel comfortable on a short course, you're ready to take on longer and harder ones.

Tips for Picking a Course:

• Look online for a par-3 or executive course for a quick, fun, no-pressure experience.
• Call your local course or golf shop for advice on the best times and places for beginners to play. They'll be happy to help.
• Once you're on the course, let other players play through if they're waiting on you.

For more informatino on golf courses follow this link.

Beginner Golf Tips – Are All Courses the Same?

When first getting started in the game of golf, you are likely to play the same course over and over again. There is nothing wrong with that, as you already have your hands full simply learning how to play this game – you don't need to complicate matters further by constantly heading to new courses. In time, however, you are going to want to branch out and explore new places to play. After all, one of the best things about being a golfer is having the chance to explore new layouts. And, as you will soon learn, no two courses are exactly the same.

Variety is what makes golf such a fun game to play for many, many years. Where other sports might be boring after a while, that is usually not the case with golf. If you find yourself getting a little bored with your usual routine, simply make a couple tee times at other local courses to mix things up. Each course offers its own unique challenge, so you will have to be constantly adjusting your game to match up with the demands of the course you are playing on a given day. There is nothing wrong with having a 'home course' where you meet your buddies for a weekly round, but be sure to explore other courses as well. Many golfers find that their favorite part of the game is having the chance to play a great new course for the first time.

In this article, we are going to offer some advice on how you can maximize your enjoyment of playing new courses. We'll get into some tips on how you can play your best when seeing a course for the first time, and we'll also talk about the best way to pick out courses to try. As a beginner, it can be a little overwhelming to look online and see all of the various courses that are available in your area. Once you know what to look for, however, you'll have no trouble paring down the list to options that are a good fit for your game (and your budget).

It should be noted that you don't necessarily need to have a group of friends to travel with to try out these new courses. As a beginner, you might not yet know very many people who play golf, so you might need to head out for your rounds as a single. And that is just fine. Golf is perfectly enjoyable when played alone, and you might find that you get paired up with some friendly players when you arrive at the course on your own. In time, you will probably make new golf friends just by spending time on and around the course.

Some Important Numbers

For new golfers, it is important to pick courses that aren't too difficult. You don't want to get 'in over your head' by trying a course in your area that is particularly challenging. Not only will you hold up the pace of play for others around you, it simply won't be that much fun to struggle your way through an 18-hole round. Instead, you should be trying to pick courses which offer a modest challenge, and you can gradually build up your skills one round at a time. Before long, you will probably have the capability to take on the harder courses without much of a worry.

So, how do you evaluate the difficulty of a given golf course when you have never played it before? Well, you could call the pro shop and ask them how hard the course is, but this method may not always work. For one thing, you'll be talking with the club pro in many cases, and as a skilled golfer, the pro probably won't think the course is too hard. Also, the pro shop wants to sell tee times, so they aren't going to want to scare off potential customers.

Instead of calling the shop, try looking at the scorecard – which should be available online – for a good indication of the difficulty of the course. Specifically, there are three numbers on the card which will tell the story.

• Yardage. The first number you will want to check is the overall distance, or yardage, of the course. Fortunately, most golf courses offer a range of tee boxes to pick from, so there should almost always be one that will work for you. As a beginner, you don't want to go much beyond 6,000 yards in total distance for a male golfer, and something in the 5,000 range for a female is about right. Of course, some beginning golfers are more powerful than others, so think about your strengths and weaknesses and make sure that the course offers a tee box which will fit your capabilities. When in doubt, pick the shorter set of tees to offer yourself an enjoyable day on the course.
• USGA Course Rating. Nearly every golf course will have been evaluated for a Course Rating and slope from each tee box. These two numbers are typically listed along with the yardage for each tee somewhere on the scorecard. If you look around the card for a moment, you are likely to find this information. The Course Rating is a number that is used to indicate the difficult of a given course, from a specific set of tees, for a scratch golfer. For instance, a long and challenging course with a par of 72 may have a Course Rating of 74 or 75. On the other hand, an easy course played from the short tees could have a Course Rating in the 60. The higher the Course Rating, the more difficult the course, at least from the perspective of a scratch player.
• USGA Slope Rating. This is really the number that you will want to focus on as a beginner. The Slope Rating is meant for use by 'bogey golfers' – in other words, players who have a handicap up around 20 for a man, or 24 for a woman. A course with a high slope rating is going to be particularly challenging for the beginning golfer, so you'll want to avoid courses rated in the 130s and up. Look for courses with sets of tee boxes that have Slope Ratings in the 120s or below, as these are going to be more suitable for beginning players.

The Course Rating and Slope Rating system is managed by the USGA, usually in conjunction with your local or regional golf association. These are valuable numbers, and they will go a long way in helping you pick the right courses – and the right tee boxes – to play. Also, the Course Rating and Slope Rating numbers are used in the calculation of your handicap, which is another valuable tool that you can use to compete against players of varying skill levels. By providing these services, and many more, the USGA is an important part of the game of golf, and all serious golfers should consider supporting the association in some form or fashion.

Getting back to the topic at hand, it is a smart choice to use the information you find on a scorecard to decide whether or not a given course would be a good fit for your game. As long as there is a tee box offered with numbers that make you feel comfortable, go for it. Otherwise, you might want to wait until your game develops a little further before you take on that particular course.

Build a Game that Travels

It is common for amateur golfers to build their game around their home course. These kinds of players are excellent when playing on their own courses – and generally they struggle once they head out to a new layout. Ideally, you would like to avoid this pattern in your own game. You'll probably always be more comfortable on your own course, but you can work to build a game that plays nearly as well when on unfamiliar ground.

So, what can you do to build a golf game that is going to work nicely on a variety of courses? The following points are key.

• Solidify your putting stroke. The first thing you want to have in place when thinking about playing a variety of courses is a solid putting stroke. This is important because the putting surfaces you find are going to vary wildly from course to course. Some courses will have excellent greens which run fast and true, while others will be slow and bumpy. There is always going to be a period of adjustment necessary when going from one course of the next, but the best way to adjust quickly is to have a rock-solid stroke in place. If you can move the putter back and through on the same path over and over again, you'll make more putts – regardless of what the greens look like. Work on the mechanics of your putting stroke and make sure everything is in good condition so you can head onto the greens of other area courses with confidence.
• Learn to hit fairways. Nothing can tame a difficult golf course quite like accuracy from the tee. If you are able to hit a high percentage of fairways with your tee shots, you'll find that even tough golf courses will seem manageable. While it would be ideal to hit a ton of fairways with your driver, you can also work on finding the short grass with your fairway woods or hybrids as another alternative. Do your best to have at least one club in your bag that you can count on to split the fairway. Even just the combination of a solid putting stroke and the ability to hit fairways will make it relatively easy to deal with any course you might visit.
• Build a versatile short game. One of the biggest challenges you will face when going to another course is learning how to deal with the short game shots you encounter around the greens. For example, you might go to a course which has long rough around the greens, while your home course usually keeps the rough cut short. Knowing how to handle a variety of short game conditions is going to help you tremendously when trying to keep your score on track. Practice as many different types of short game shots as possible so you can be ready for whatever comes your way.

You will be far more motivated to book tee times at other courses if you are confident that your game is up to the challenge. As you practice, think about addressing your weaknesses rather than continuing to work on your strengths. If you take this approach, you'll soon have a well-rounded game that is able to accompany you to some of the best courses in your area.