Playing your first round of golf can be intimidating. Will you know how to act on a golf course? I mean it's easy enough in the local pub, but you might find your best buddies suddenly act very civilized when on their favourite golf course. Suddenly they are all on about rules, and punctuality and what else. To make sure you understand what they are on about, here are ten quick basic rules of etiquette - for your first round of golf that is.
1. Equipment
This is a tricky one: you will have to look at both rules and etiquette for guidance on this. Rules do not allow you to have more than fourteen clubs in your bag. There is no minimum amount required, but it is against the rules in most cases to borrow clubs during a round. It's also just not a very good idea to borrow clubs from your partners, even though it is allowed in some cases. It's just not considered good etiquette. (Blush, blush). Make sure you have everything you need - up to the maximum of fourteen of course! Also ensure an adequate supply of tees and balls. And if you think you have enough balls, double up! You're bound to be losing quite a few on your first (and sadly, subsequent) rounds. Also pack a ballmark repair tool to repair ballmarks on the greens.
2. Tee time (no, not Tea time)
Most of the time, you'll have to reserve a tee time. Now this has nothing to do with biscuits and Earl Grey! It simply means the time you will start playing, and depending on the course in question's policy, can be booked by calling the day (or more) before and requesting the time that you want. Once you've reserved it, please show up! It would be regarded as really really rude if you didn't! (wink) Seriously though, plan in advance so that you and your group arrive about half and hour or more before the set time, and use the time for a few practice drives or putts.
3. Tip, Dress for success!
Imagine showing up at the friend birthday party in your hotpants and tank top, only to be met by her mum in a ball gown. Can't remember what the invite said, but you also did not bother to check with her what the dress code is? Now you just wish there would be a major earthquake or other catastrophe just as long as everyone would stop staring at you! Okay, maybe it won't be AS BAD at a golf course, but still make sure to wear appropriate clothing. You wouldn't want everyone to think you have a bad sunburn in light of you rosy cheeks now would you? Golf shoes are mostly optional, and gloves always is, but they could come in very handy.
Also make sure you are up to speed with tipping. No, not a new golf term, just the habit of giving people money for doing things for you, like carry your clubs, or come around with the drink cart at the point you're ready to fall over and die from thirst. This is not really needed at public courses, but the more up scale and private the course, the more likely you will be expected to tip. Use the green fee as a guideline.
4. Teeing Off
On the teeing ground, your will see tee markers. Tee markers are usually small, colored cones or stones or some other similar indicator. If your playing from the white tees, you would look for markers painted white, and place your ball between them. You can also place your ball up to two clublengths behind them, but never in front of them. Oh, and don't just drop you ball and play....
5. Honors, Away and Ready Play
Honor students of the game of golf gets to tee of first. That simply means that the player with the best score on the preceding hole gets to tee of first, then the one with the second best score, and so on and so forth. Ties carry over. On the first tee, you can arm-wrestle each other to determine who gets to go first. You could also just use the civilized methods of flipping a coin or drawing straws.
The opposite apply to playing from the fairway. The player who is farthest from the hole always plays first, from any position on the golf course other than the tee box, in other words he who is "away" or "out" will have the first opportunity to try and redeem himself.
This is not case however when playing "ready golf". This is normally played when a group is trying to speed up the round, and in this case everyone will "Hit-When-Ready".
6. Lies, lies, lies.
One of the most fundamental principles of golf - an idea that much of the Rules of Golf is built around - is "play it as it lies." This is also the rule that holds in itself both the biggest moral challenge and the greatest obstacle to complete golfing bliss. The rule is very simple to interpret. Don't move your ball, touch it or pick it up, unless you are a hundred percent certain that you are allowed to do so under the Rules - which would most likely not be the case. You are allowed this exception: you can pick up and clean the ball on the putting green, after placing your ballmarker just behind it.
7. Out of Bounds & Lost Balls
A great frustration for many a golfer, is when you can't find your ball. Now on very busy golf courses, you most likely will not have time to go in search of it, which means you will have to take the penalty. To do this you have to add one stroke to your score, and hit a second ball from the same place - also called a provisional ball. Your next shot will then be your fourth shot. Always make sure to let your group know you are hitting a provisional, tough as it might be to admit it. If it so happens you do find your ball, you will play the first ball.
Boundaries will be clearly marked on the course, usually with white stakes or lines. Again, you might not have time to check whether you've actually made it, so again, hit a provisional, (and again, remember the obligatory notification to the group). The penalty is (again) stroke-plus-distance. If the angels have been looking over you, and you arrive to find your ball in bounds, you will play your first ball. Shots into the water is a whole new er... ballgame?
8. Come on, come on, come ooonnn!
As a beginner, the pace of your group might seem a bit fast to you. You must try to keep up, to ensure that you don't get assaulted by the angry mob of over-achievers playing in the group behind you. Seriously though, make sure to prepare for your shot while you are waiting for your turn to play. Nothing irritates other players more than someone who uses his time to flirt with the girls in the group behind him, and then takes ages to figure out which club to use, or goes over endless measuring of the line of the putt.
If you are guilty of the above, and subsequently your group is slowing down the next group, graciously allow them to play through. With medical costs soaring, this might be a wise decision, not to mention courteous.
9. Water Hazards
If you see a water hazard marked in yellow stakes or lines, that means you will most likely have to play over this hazard to get to the hole. Now something very strange happens when your ball nears a water hazard. Chances are that it will not follow it's normal straight line, but instead be drawn by a magnificent force straight into the deepest part of the water hazard. (I don't know whether to call this Murphy's Law or Golfer's Law). When this happens, you will most likely feel that you can not afford a penalty stroke, and be overcome by the urge to play the d... ball out off the b.... water. Don't. Resist the urge as best you can, and drop another ball at any point behind the spot where your d... ball went into the b.... water, on the same line of play. You can determine the line of play by looking at the flag, look at the spot where your d... ball crossed into the b.... water hazard, then imagine that line extending back behind you.
Lateral water hazards, which runs alongside the line of play, are marked with red stakes or lines, and you can drop within two club lengths of the spot where the ball crossed the margin. No closer to the hole of course. You could also opt for the opposite side of the hazard at an equal distance.
10. About blood and grass
I actually wasn't going to change the subject over to rugby now, although you might have thought so by reading this point. You are very unlikely to sustain an blood injury while playing golf, that is, unless you are a beginner of course. Beginners might think it a good idea to stand right behind the more experienced players "to see how they do it." Likewise, on the other hand, they might not give the cursory glance to the back before they execute their own lethal swing. Beware of newbies!
As for the grass (and the rest of the course). Can you image having to maintain a golf course? A bit different from the small patch of lawn in your front yard, isn't it? However, if every golfer just took care of the destruction he caused, it certainly would go a long way to getting the job done. Just observe a few simple rules, repair the damage you caused and you're on your way to being a courteous and valuable club member.
In general, keep the golf cart on the cart paths at all times and don't go "bundu-bashing" close to or through the hazards. Also, keep the cart further than fifty yards from the putting green. Repair your ballmarks on the green using the thingy mentioned in point one. If you left divots ( scrapes or chunks of turf sliced off or dug up by iron shots), pick up the sods (or plots) and place it back into the hole. Some courses provide sand or seed that you can also pour into your craters. In the sand bunkers, a basic rule is that your club may not touch the sand except during play, so you normally have minimal disturbance here... Unless you're a beginner of course... in which case you would have some serious raking to do.
This concludes the basic how-to's of playing your first round, and should save you of (most) embarrassments. I can't guarantee that for your game though. You might really stink, in which case I recommend rugby. Much more injuries, but you could act really macho and everyone would think you are really tough, and no one would dare criticize your game in front of you. This is especially true if you are taller than six foot and weigh more than 200 pounds. Beginner golfers who are female do not need any other options. Their ego's cope just fine with the first round of golf.
Louise Fourie is an online publisher and author for
Online Golf Guide. She also maintains the site's Blog.
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