Driving Range

DRIVING RANGE

A driving range is an area where golfers go to practice. The great benefit of a range is that you can enjoy a degree of privacy (your own 'bay'), and you don't have to go and pick up all the balls you've hit afterwards!
WHAT TO FIND AT THE RANGE?

Most ranges have individual bays, with a mat and a rubber tee if you want to use that. Many are undercover and heated, so can be used in bad weather. There are all types and sizes of range – multi-tier bays, floodlights. The most technologically-advanced ranges now have automated ball-retrieval systems (so that you don't have to try to watch your ball amongst the many thousand already out there) and self-loading tees, so that whilst you are watching one shot, another ball is set up ready for your next one. Some have a practice bunker and a special short-game area, including a putting green.Ranges do not normally require a membership of any sort. You pay your 'fee' by buying a basket of balls to hit.
One sad fact of life is that many golfers – at whatever level – have absolutely no idea how to practice effectively. A session at the range often consists of buying a bucket of balls, then trying to reach the back fence with the biggest club in their bag – or at least to smash the ball out of sight to impress the person in the next bay. This is a pity, because a structured programme of goals to achieve with each visit to a range can be one of the best opportunities for serious practice offered to a golfer.Make a point of when to go out and practice a particular element of the programme before moving on to the next activity.
Visiting a range for the first time
There is nothing worse than being called back publicly because you have tried to get in with a full golf bag – or had everyone in the place picking up your golf balls because no-one told you to put a basket under the outlet before you put your token in the machine!Most people know of the location of a driving range in their area – often these are in very accessible locations near main road junctions. What is much less known is that a lot of golf clubs have a range which is open to the public. Sometimes these lack the sophistication of the stand-alone driving range, but often make up for this by being closer to hand, quieter and probably less expensive. Give your club a call and find out.

How Do I Join a Golf Club?

How do I join a golf club
If you are looking to join a club - and at present there are probably more vacancies for club membership than at any time in history! – phone around, or use the internet to look at some of the websites run by the Golf Union for your region or country. Think about the type of membership that would suit you. Weigh up the cost, and all the other factors, then found out how to go about applying.You will almost certainly find it is not as difficult (or as expensive) as you first thought*For private members clubs, many have a procedure to be followed if you apply for membership. This will often mean completing an application form, and sometimes finding a club member who will ‘sponsor’ you for membership. Some clubs will invite you to interview with the Captain or a Committee member – sometimes this takes the form of playing a round with an ‘officer’ of the club. This can sound a bit daunting – if it does, please do not be put off. It is often much more straightforward than it sounds. And the days when Golf Clubs made would-be members jump through hoops to maintain the ‘exclusivity’ of their club are fast becoming a thing of the past. You'll be pretty soon on your way to joining a decent golf club

Golf Course

Types of golf course
At one time, courses were only really categorized as 'private' or 'public'Private courses. Are for members only. Visitors may play on payment of a 'Green Fee'. Costs of the green fee vary considerably depending on time – courses often have 'twilight rates' – after a certain time of the day – frequently there are Winter rates – between certain months of the year. The rate will also vary depending on whether the visitor is 'introduced' by a member or not.
Many courses will not allow visitors at the weekend (unless introduced). Some courses do not allow visitors at all, unless they are introduced, but these are a small minority. If in doubt about whether you will be able to play on arrival at a course, or whether the cost of a round falls within your price structure, give the Club Secretary or Professional a call beforehand. In the vast majority of cases you will receive friendly advice, and occasionally some cost benefit!Most private courses are very welcoming to visitors (they need the green fee income!) Some may require sight of a 'handicap certificate'. Please ensure that your game is at an 'acceptable' level before venturing on to a full golf course. Even more important is a knowledge of the etiquette of the game, especially in knowing when to let a following group play through if you are holding them up.Lots of clubs have a second course – sometimes 9 holes, sometimes all par 3 holes. These are often called a 'blue' course. Most private golf clubs operate on the principle of an annual subscription for membership. These are often very much more reasonable than people are led to believe – especially if you consider the amount of time you can spend enjoying the club's facilities. What can be expensive and off-putting to the would-be member is the 'entrance fee', which combined with the subs can often double the cost of your golf in the first year. Many clubs, except for the prestige locations have now waived the entrance fee in a bid to attract new members. If you want to know, speak to a member of the club, or pick up the phone to the Secretary.Public courses
(Sometimes 'municipal' if the course was built or came under the control of the local authority) normally do not have a membership, and all players pay a green fee to play. Many of these do not have a tee-time booking system, but operate on a first-come basis.It should be mentioned here that there are some superb public courses, and particularly in Scotland, but also true elsewhere, some of the municipals are championship standard.Nowadays, there is a huge range of different types of membership between the traditional types mentioned above. One frequently-used expression is pay'n'play. At these, there are members who pay a subscription, normally lower than at private member clubs, but who then pay an additional fee each time they play. In the UK, the point is being reached where more people are playing golf on this basis than any other. And it can be a cost-effective way of playing golf – particularly if you do not envisage playing many times in the course of a year. So take your time to sign up for the right golf course.

For Beginner - What's a Golf Course?

A Golf Course
In the past, golf courses (or 'links' as they are often known – although this word has become more frequently attached to seaside courses) consisted of any number of holes – depending on the lie of the land and the amount of space available. Nowadays, courses are almost invariably 18 holes long, although a sizeable number of 9 hole courses remain. These are always played twice around, often using different teeing areas on the second occasion. The holes consist of a combination of different pars, mostly pars 3, 4 and 5, depending on the length, and very occasionally the degree of difficulty. The par is reckoned to be the number of shots a scratch golfer would take to get the ball from tee to hole, as illustrated below. The total of the individual hole pars makes up the par of the overall course, normally between 70 & 72. Most courses have 3 lots of Tees. These are:

White markers - Mens' medal tees

Yellow markers – Mens' standard tees

Red markers – Ladies' standard tees

Some courses also have Championship tees – normally only used when the course plays host to a professional event. Other courses have Blue markers. These can be special tees for 'veteran' members and juniors. Hope you have a good understanding of what's a Golf Course.

What Is Golf?

How To Play Golf? Before I show you how to play golf, let me introduce you to golf. In this blog, you'll learn everything about golf, including what's a golf course, types of golf courses, how to join a golf club, what's a driving range, etc. So, What's golf? Its rule is easy to learn but it's really hard to be good at it. Basically, the goal of the game is to strike a small ball (like the one shown in the photograph) with a stick that has a metal end into a little hole from a distance. We call the stick golf club. Then you'll repeat this action at least 17 more times involving holes of different distance and degree of difficulty. There are a total of 14 clubs in total in a set of clubs a professional golfer will bring for the game. Each club differ from one another in the length, the density of the clubhead and loft of face. Each club is selected depends on how far and how high you want to hit the ball. Golf hobbyist usually play golf over 18 hores (that is one round). Professional mostly played this game for 4 consecutive days (i.e. 18 holes each day). The final winner of the game at the end of the 4 days will be the one that entered all the 72 holes with the fewest strokes. Isn't the rule simple. Now you're one step closer to learning how to play golf.