Concentration, feeling and lots of fresh air – that’s what makes the boom sport of golf, among other things. You can learn it at any age and with almost any budget. It is easy to start playing golf: You just have to look in the yellow pages or on the Internet where the nearest golf course is located and ask for a taster course.
Golf for beginners
Two hours of practice cost around 20 euros, and at the first appointment on the range – that’s the name of the practice part of the golf course in the English motherland of the sport – comfortable clothes and sports shoes are enough. Clubs and balls are provided, of course.
“I’m John,” our “pro” introduces himself to the group of four beginners. “Pro” stands for professional, he is a professional player and has a teaching diploma. He also has a low “handicap” – that is, he manages the 18-hole course in relatively few strokes.
We start on the so-called driving range, where tee shots are practiced. Signs mark distances of up to 250 meters and more. The grass is littered with small white golf balls.
First John shows us how to hold a club. All the rest is supposedly done with the right swing. “Ideally, you’ll perform the same movements over and over with a continuous punch, while varying distance and flight heights only with the right club.”
First attempts
While we more or less clasp our fingers together on the shaft, the pro prepares us for the first stroke: “At this first contact, you’ll notice if the great feeling and fun are there, or if you’d rather turn to other activities shaking your head.” He then demonstrates how ideally we should swing wide, hit the ball at some point on the downswing, and then stand there again with our arms bent sharply and the club behind our heads to follow the trajectory of the fugue to complete the movement.
We beginners try the tee shots with a medium 7-iron. In the game, we would also use it for mid-range shots. The ball is placed on a “tee”, a small plastic stick – and then off. As expected, some attempts move more earth than the ball, and some poorly hit balls chug along only ten or twenty yards. But then it happens: the swing feels fluid and easy, a full “zap” on contact with the ball signals a direct hit.
Somewhere between 100 and 150 meters, the ball lands. A very good distance with a 7-iron – and what a feeling! “The appealing thing about golf is that even beginners can hit top shots,” John says. And he promises, “The right feeling, when the ball flies 150 to 200 yards through the air at the right angle for about two seconds, is something golfers chase all the time.”
After a few attempts to get the balls toward the hole over a short distance, we still practice the actual putting or “putting.” Standing straight and imagining the ball rolling on a railroad track toward the hole.
At least it’s not the grass that causes most balls to miss or stop in front of the hole: The putting green seems to be mowed with a razor and is at most seven millimeters high without blemish.
Cost point
To learn, a few training hours with the pro are recommended, costing about 25 to 75 euros each. Training is needed anyway, if you want to reach the “Platzreife”. Only those who are no longer a danger or an obstacle to themselves and others are allowed on the courses.
It is also important to always warm up before hitting the first tee shots so that you don’t pull a muscle when trying to swing. Otherwise, you will warm up on an 18-hole course anyway, because up to twelve kilometers are covered in the process. One reason why you shouldn’t skimp on comfortable golf shoes.
If you’re serious about starting out, you’ll also need a set of clubs, which can be had for around 200 euros at best. With Platzreife you can become a member of a golf club for an annual fee of 350 to 1500 euros (or more) per year.
It is more favorable, especially for beginners and infrequent players, to secure the right to play on about 800 courses of members of the German Golf Association by becoming a member of the Vereinigung freier Golfspieler for an annual fee of 195 euros. Then you only have to pay the usual guest fee per round, the so-called green fee.