Navigating Your First Ever Round!!

There’s nothing more exciting and nerve racking about your first ever game! These emotions really kick in when you start to head to the first tee and the next person to tee off is yourself.  Once you put that tee in the ground, the mind can often go blank as you feel the weight of the moment.  The best piece of advice when preparing to hit that opening tee shot is to just breathe deeply and focus on your pre-shot routine. Try one to two practice swings where you hold your balance at the end and then try and replicate a smooth swing when you’re over the ball.

The other part to remember is that everyone around you have all been there and understand exactly what you’re going through. They are also just as nervous about their own game so they are in fact focusing very little on the outcome of your shot. So rest easy and try and be in the moment while you take soft and smooth swings while you prepare for your shot. I will often say when you’re starting,  try and use a club that you feel very confident with for example an 8 or a 6 iron rather than a Driver.  You can also rehearse half swings rather than full swings to enable you to control your swing more.

Once you’ve completed your opening tee shot, you will feel a sense of relief and excitement for the remainder of your round.  A great tip when you start to navigate around the course, is not to always feel like you need to hit the ball off the grass. You can use a tee for most of your shots. This again will allow you to ease yourself into the round rather than the added pressure of having to hit the ball from the grass each time.  Also you will often wonder where you need to walk toward in order to find the next hole.  This is in fact quite easy as when you complete the hole, the next hole will often start next to the green you just played. If not there are often signs to direct you to the next hole.

Lastly when you play, try and not get too worried about your score, just enjoy the experience as much as you can.  The only task the Golf Club would like you to do is keeping just behind the group in front.  If that is becoming too difficult you have a couple of options: Option 1 is just picking up your balls and going to the next hole or Option 2 is you could just allow the group behind to pass through your group.  The best times to play will often be in the afternoon after 3pm but I would ring the Golf Shop first to find out for sure.  Just state that you are a beginner and would like to know the best time to play.  They will often recommend a quite time for you.

If you’d like any further details about how to navigate your first ever round just contact myself at David Waters Golf.