How to Play Golf: A Beginner's Guide

On a recent vacation to Florida to visit my in-laws, we played golf with my husband's father who is ninety, healthy, with an active mind. These are the primary reasons we took up the game. Golf is a good reason to take a walk in a variety of beautiful settings around the country and abroad, many times with beautiful gardens or baskets of hanging flowers provided by the women in the community, and lakes that attract wildlife. Although walking doesn't provide good cardiovascular exercise, although some courses do provide some amount of uphill climb, the walk does stretch muscles and allow gravity to bear the weight necessary to prevent osteoporosis. Golf also provides a social setting that many people use to form friendships and business contacts. And playing the game while traveling will introduce unusual people from all walks of life. The game is sufficiently challenging to exercise mental muscles needed to calculate distances, select the proper club, use the proper stroke, play the changing course conditions, and avoid hazards. Strategy is essential as is focused concentration.

Golf is not an easy game. My first year of play, I found myself crying on several occasions when I got too tired, was treated rudely by more experienced players, or became so frustrated that I wanted to scream. But all the reasons mentioned above provided the motivation to stick with it. My advice is start, don't give up, and don't allow anyone to make the game easier. Also start in the fall and play off-season to avoid frustrating more experienced players. The pace of the game is slower and you'll have more time to make mistakes and learn.