22 Golf Tips for Beginners

Below you’ll find 22 of the best golf tips for beginners to use at the golf course. Everything from short game tips to mental game tips to golf swing tips and more.

To download the list of golf tips in PDF format, click the link below.

22 Best Golf Tips for Beginners PDF Download


Tip #1: When to Leave the Flag in the Hole

Unless the flag is leaning towards you, when you are on the fringe, I’d advise you to putt or chip with the flag in the hole. Dave Pelz has done testing in regards to this and has determined that statistically more shots will end up going in with the flag in the hole.

Tip #2: What to Look at When Hitting the Golf Ball

Sometimes people ask me what I look at when I’m hitting the ball. I’ve looked at the back of the ball to focus in on where I want to hit it, the inside rear part of the ball to help me swing from the inside, and the ground on the target side of the ball to help me drive through the ball to the point where I want my club to hit the ground.

I’ve also maintained a soft general focus on the ball area (such that I could use my peripheral vision) and instead sensed my swing path away and back in to the ball and where I want my ball to end up. In the end, though, I found it’s best to have my eyes looking towards the ball but have my mind’s eye on the target.

Tip #3: Par 4 Club Selection

Many people come up to a par-4 and automatically grab the driver. Before doing that, consider the layout of the hole and whether it’s actually necessary, because it may not be the smartest choice. In fact by automatically grabbing driver, you may be bringing the trouble in to play. In some cases it might be better to hit 5-iron of the tee and then 5-iron to the green.

I’ve played par golf only using my irons before, and Tiger has won the British Open only hitting a few drivers during the whole tournament. Key message: think before you drive.

Tip #4: Don’t Force the Wrong Club Choice

I once saw a guy only take the one club he thought he’d need. After getting to his shot, he realized he needed the next longer club. Instead of going back to the bag, he went and ahead and tried to muscle the shorter iron to the green. As expected the ball ended up short and, worse yet, in a horrible position. As a result he made double bogey. Had he brought the whole bag or at least taken a few extra clubs to have more options, he would’ve likely landed on the green and made par.

Tip #5: Hit Drives with Higher Loft If Your Accuracy is Struggling

More loft on your driver means more accuracy. The extra loft puts more direct backspin on the ball making it more difficult to put sidespin on the ball.

Tip #6: Focus Only on Where You Want the Ball to Go

When you are about to hit a shot, your brain doesn’t know what ‘don’t’ or ‘not’ means. If you think, ‘don’t’ go in the bunker or ‘don’t’ go in the water, guess what? Your ball will often end up in the bunker or water even if it’s only a small percentage of the possible physical space you could hit your ball. Instead, do your best to focus solely on where you want the ball to go.

Tip #7: Play a Round of Golf with 3 Clubs

Sometime try and play a round of golf with only a mid-iron, wedge, and putter. You might actually surprise yourself with how well you score. Doing so helped me become a smarter player and realize that distance isn’t always as important as it might seem for scoring.

Tip #8: Set Bigger Goals that Push You Out of Your Comfort Zone

Stretch yourself and live a little bit by setting goals that make you feel a little nervous when you state them or think about achieving them. Sometimes its good to venture outside of your comfort zone.

Tip #9: Start a Round Off by Playing Conservative Initially

When you first begin the round, especially when you are starting off without any warm-up, play safe and conservative shots. Once you get the feel of the round and have some confidence that you can hit the ball where you want that day, you can start picking your opportunities to be more aggressive.

Tip #10: Use Extra Club on Colder Days

For those morning rounds when it’s a bit colder and/or you aren’t loosened up, don’t try to muscle a club the distance you normally hit when you are loose. Take an extra club and use your same normal tempo until your body wakes up and/or it warms up.

golf swing tips

Tip #11: Play with Strategy, Don’t Gamble

Golf is like playing blackjack at the casino. You can take emotional risks and gambles and occasionally win one or two big ones, but in the long run you’ll probably lose money.
For overall scoring, you’re likely better off understanding the strategy, managing yourself, and simply playing to the numbers.

Tip #12: Adjust the Length of Your Golf Swing

For any shots that are less than full swings (including pitches, chips, and putts) vary the distance of your shots by changing the length of your swing rather than trying to ‘hit’ harder and/or jerking at the ball. Tension and rigidity in your swing make good contact more difficult and you can cause you to lose control and direction. Working with a smooth gravity based pendulum type swing generally works much better for consistent distance control.

Tip #13: Adjust to the Course Conditions

Over the course of the day, the grass conditions on the green can change. The grass grows; the dew dries and/or ground firms up, etc. Pay attention to the changing conditions during the round so you can continue to get your putts close.

Tip #14: Practice with Instinct for a Change

Try playing a few rounds of golf without getting the distances. This can be useful to get more in touch with your instinct and what feels right rather than trying to force a club to go a certain distance.

Tip #15: Clean Your Grooves on the Golf Club’s Face

Padraig Harrington has his caddie clean the grooves on his irons after every practice shot on the driving range.
It takes longer to hit each ball, but this is a good idea if you are looking to build consistency in your game because the club will look and respond more similar for each shot. Plus, with the bit of extra time between practice shots, it will better mimic what happens on the course.

Tip #16: Control the Ego

The ego can really get you in trouble on the golf course. Swinging too hard, hitting a risky shot, etc can kill your shots and scores. Get control of your ego and you’ll probably have a better golf game.

Tip #17: Play the Most Confident Shot Selection

If a shot makes you nervous about pulling it off, go with a different club or try a different shot. Confidence is very important when hitting shots and it’s difficult to hit good shots if you have even the slightest bit of doubt in your system.

Tip #18: Don’t Over-Train and Risk Injury

Use common sense when it comes to your training and practice. A little muscle soreness is fine, but I’d advise you to take a day or two off if you experience joint pain. Missing a day to rest and recover is much better than missing weeks or even months because you over-trained and caused a chronic injury. Be smart. Rest is important too.

Tip #19: Commit to the Golf Shot with 150%

Be decisive and commit to confidently hitting the shot you pick. If you aren’t sure, the hesitation in your body will likely prevent you from hitting your best shot.

Tip #20: Stay Down on Shots Below Your Feet

If the ball is sitting below your feet, remember to stay down through the shot. I’ve topped or hit thin more than one or two of these shots by forgetting this simple point.

Tip #21: Pay Attention to Pin Locations of Upcoming Holes

As you are playing the course and going from hole-to-hole, take a look at the upcoming greens as you pass them to check where the pin position is located. Different pin positions could mean making different choices from the tee and on your approach shot.

Tip #22: Be Selective of Tee Location

Avoid getting into the habit of walking up to the tee area and randomly placing your ball on the tee. Rather, think about which side of the tee box will be best suited for the shot you are about to hit. You are allowed to tee the ball up to two club lengths back from the tee markers. Use that space wisely.

Should You Take Golf Lessons?

If you have ever looked lonely onto a golf course and wished that you were capable of playing just as well as the professionals do, or if you have ever found yourself watching television wishing you could play along with them you may have the idea of golf lessons in your head. This is a sport that almost anyone can play and is appropriate for all ages as well as genders. There are professional levels, amateur levels, those who play for only fun, and even those who are children that play together. Finding someone to play with is generally not a problem, and still others choose to play by themselves. Due to the incredible versatility that golf offers it is no wonder why so many people look forward to learning to play golf.

The major drawback to learning golf can be the lessons. There are times when it is difficult to find a good qualified instructor, and other times when the lessons are not at convenient times and still other times when the prices of lessons is so unaffordable that it is virtually impossible to arrange. Yet if you are considering really trying to learn golf, it is important that you invest in some good lessons. This is going to be one of the times where you need to look for several golf instructors in order to have the best overall results.

If you have started really thinking about learning golf taking lessons from a professional instructor will allow you to get some key information and tips about how to stand appropriately, swing the club appropriately and even learn which clubs are best to be used and when. The information that an instructor can give you in invaluable. Yet if you are just not certain about using an instructor you are free to search the internet for tips, articles and even videos that can give you advice and suggestions. Those who choose to forgo the lessons with a good instructor usually find that they struggle to really learn the basic concepts that are essential.

For children especially it is important to have lessons with an instructor at least for a short period of time to learn the basics. Some of the more advanced concepts can be learned after they have mastered the basics with an instructor and just through practicing playing. This is a good way to save money, however if you are dreaming about your child becoming the next Tiger Woods it would be wise to continue lessons for a good while. If you are an adult considering lessons you may want to pay for a few sessions which would allow you to really get your basics established.

Once the basics are established, you do not have to worry quite so much about taking lessons. However, if you are not working to build your skills using well developed basic skills you are going to be looking at plenty of frustration on the golf course as you try to troubleshoot for yourself what you are doing wrong and why your ball is always going into the trees and sandpits. There are plenty of golf courses located all around the world, which gives you plenty of opportunities to find a good golf instructor to work with.

Investing a bit of money into some good golf lessons will be very much worth your time when you are trying to learn golf. The tips and suggestions that they can offer you will prove to be highly invaluable and you are certain to enjoy the time that you spend improving your skills. Learning on your own is always a great concept and idea, but in a situation like learning golf, it can be a task that is virtually impossible. You are perfectly free to look around for additional resources to help you further improve your skills, but a few lessons will go a very long way to setting you up to play golf successfully.

Beginners Golfing Tips

Learning to golf successfully is not something that you can really learn while playing a video game. This news is sometimes a crushing blow to those who have spent hours playing Nintendo’s Wii Sports but it is in fact the crushing reality. Learning how to play golf in real life is sometimes very complicated and will require that you pay close attention to the exact rules and form. While learning from a golf instructor is a wise idea, there are a few mistakes that many beginners tend to make. Learning how to overcome these mistakes will greatly improve your chances of playing a good game of golf and walking away from the green after a successful game.

One of the biggest problems that beginners have when learning golf is they tend to look up when they actually go to strike the ball. This is a problem because it can result in a stroke being counted even if you did not hit the ball. You can just imagine how this can quickly add up to a horrible golf score. It is important to always look down until after you have hit the ball. To ensure that you do stay down until after the hit ensure that you keep your hips properly rotated. If you have trouble with this concept talk to your instructor for some specific tips to help you. Additionally, ensuring that you keep your arms extended fully while you are swinging has been known to help many beginning golfers. Your last step should be counting to five after you strike the ball before you look up. This will help you pace yourself and help you avoid looking up too quickly.

Another common problem for beginning golfers is that many putts on the green are continuously missed. To help overcome this problem you should ensure that you are standing in the putting stance and looking straight down at the top of your ball. If you are not looking directly down, you are likely to miss the appropriate hit and your ball will veer off in an undesirable direction. Only look straight down at the ball when you actually putt and you will be looking at a much greater chance of actually hitting the ball into the hole without having to continuously putt and putt again.

Many new golfers also tend to have a problem with the ball going into the sides of the green, rather than straight ahead. While this may seem like a very complicated problem to correct, it is actually quite simple with a bit of patience. The first thing you always need to keep in mind is your stance. If you are not standing appropriately before you even swing the club, you are not going to have a successful stroke. You need to ensure that you are taking the time to carefully analyze your stance before you ever swing, if you notice that your club is not squarely touching the ball then you may need to back up a bit to ensure that you are not hitting the ball from the side of the club. This is one of the biggest things that will throw a ball to one side of the green or another. Ensuring a solid, square swing will help your ball go to the desired location with a bit of practice.

Hooking is one of the last major flaws that strikes at most beginners. This is something that can be quite difficult to correct as well. Some have a problem with their stance that causes the ball to hook, while others are gripping the club too much, causing it to hit the ball the wrong way. Regardless of your problem, taking a close look at your stance, as well as ensuring that you are not gripping the club too tightly should be quite helpful in correcting a hooked ball. Of course, once you have started making adjustments to your stance or even your grip, you need to practice a bit to improve your skills.

Tips for Buying a Golf Cart

There are very few people who actually have a good reason for purchasing a golf cart for their own personal usage, but if you decide that you do need a golf cart there are a few things that you should keep in mind so that you can make the best purchase decision possible. Of course purchasing a used model will allow you to save a lot of money, but you should know what you are looking at when you look to buy a golf cart in order to ensure that you get a good deal, rather than waste your money on something that does you no good.

Your first step if you want to look into purchasing a golf cart for your own personal use at a golf course is to find out if the course even allows you to use a cart on the course. Many do not allow carts, however many others do. The main reason you may want to purchase a golf cart is if you live on a golf course and would rather drive the cart to the clubhouse rather than your actual car. With the increasing expenses for gas alone, this can be a huge savings over several years and more than pay for the expense of the golf cart itself. However, still check with your local area to ensure that it will not be a problem driving it on the roads in your area, as well as with the golf course to ensure that it is ok with them.

Once you have done all of the research for your area you have several things that you need to consider. An electric golf cart is obviously a much wiser and cheaper purchase in the long run. Not only are you not having to purchase gasoline continuously but there are typically fewer parts that may need to be repaired or fixed as well. This will make the maintenance expenses much cheaper as well which will allow you to get further usage from the golf cart before it needs to be replaced or repaired.

As you look around at golf carts, you need to look for a cart that has a new battery as well as battery connectors. You should also look for a cart that has a nice clean connector and charger that looks in good condition. The cart itself should be clean and in good working order. Never purchase a cart that is not working with the hopes that you can fix it cheaply. Many times this turns into a nightmare project because of the continuous repairs that are needed. If the cart does not operate correctly at the time of purchase, you simply should move on.

You want to also ensure that you can take the cart for a test drive. If you are not able to take the cart for a drive, you should walk away. If you do take it for a test drive ensure that you can stop within a space of 10-15 feet without sliding. Golf courses are not going to appreciate you bringing a cart to the green that can cause damage of any sort. You also want to check the steering and ensure that the cart turns properly. Your final consideration should be looking at all of the wheels to ensure that they are in good shape. With a big of careful research and knowing what you are looking for you can save as much as 75% off the price of a new golf cart by purchasing a used model.