Before your round
A little preparation makes the round better. Always start with the venue’s own website, because conditions differ between clubs and change through the season.
Check with the club first
What decides whether the round happens sits with the venue, not here. Not every course accepts visitors, and some only at certain times. Tee times are almost always booked in advance, and green fees vary with season, weekday and time of day.
Courses open and close with the season and may temporarily be played on winter greens. If the club has more than one course, check which one you booked: they can sit some distance apart, and a driving range or indoor venue may have a different address from the main course.
In the bag
More balls than you expect
Running out mid-round ends the day faster than anything else. Bring more than you plan to lose.
Tees and a pitchmark repairer
Repairing your pitch mark is among the first things you learn. Do a second one while you are down there. Something to mark the ball with is worth having too.
Clothing for open ground
A course is windier than it looks from home. Waterproofs or a wind top weigh little and save a round.
Towel and brush
Clean grooves give you the spin you were counting on. It shows most on the shots you care about.
Water and something to eat
A round takes about four hours and you walk the better part of ten kilometres. Energy runs out before concentration does, and the last few holes show it.
Before you tee off
Arrive early
Allow 30 to 45 minutes before your tee time. Rushing the first tee follows you the whole way round.
Check in
Most clubs want you to check in at reception or through their booking system before you go out.
Warm up
Do not tee off cold. A few mobility exercises and half a bucket on the range are enough to find the rhythm.
Spend the last ten minutes putting
Ten minutes on the practice green tells you more about the day’s pace than a full bucket of balls.
Read the local rules
Preferred lies, ground under repair and temporary rulings are on the club noticeboard or the scorecard. They apply to that course on that day.
Out on the course
Be ready on your turn
Ready golf means whoever is ready plays. You do not have to rush the swing, only everything around it.
Let faster players through
If the group behind is waiting and the fairway ahead is clear, wave them through at the next green or tee.
Shout FORE
If there is any chance the ball is heading towards someone, shout at once and loudly. It is the only warning there is.
Search for three minutes at most
The rule gives you three. If you suspect from the tee that the ball is gone, play a provisional straight away and save the walk back.
Leave the course as you would want to find it
Repair pitch marks, rake the bunker behind you and replace divots.
Expect some bad shots
Especially in the first round of the season. They will come, they mean nothing, and the round improves the moment you let them go.
Ranges and indoor play
A driving range at the facility appears as its own mark on the place card. The map also carries ranges that do not belong to a course, for when you only want to hit balls for an evening.
Winter golf means play or practice indoors, often in a simulator or a hall. It is a different kind of visit from a round outdoors, and is almost always booked in advance.