You have never held a golf club and you are wondering whether golf is really for you. How much does it cost to get started? Do you need to join a club? Should you buy a set of clubs straight away? Take lessons? Get a handicap? And, perhaps most importantly, can you actually enjoy golf when you are still struggling to get the ball properly airborne?
Golf has a peculiar reputation. Even in Britain, where the game is far more deeply rooted in sporting culture than it is in much of continental Europe, it can still appear intimidating from the outside. Traditional clubs, dress codes, handicaps, etiquette, expensive equipment and unfamiliar terminology can make the first step seem unnecessarily complicated.
The reality is much simpler.
Before spending hundreds of pounds on a new set of irons or deciding that your ambition is to play 18 holes every weekend, there is a much more useful question to answer:
Why do you want to play golf?
You might be looking for a sporting challenge. You might want to play with friends or family, meet people, travel and discover great courses, spend more time outdoors or simply find a sport you can continue playing for decades.
Your answer matters, because different golfers do not need the same budget, the same equipment or even the same approach to learning.
In Britain, golf is part of the sporting landscape — but that does not make starting obvious
Golf occupies a very different place in Britain from many European countries. The game is woven into the sporting history of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, thousands of courses are available across the country, and in some areas a golf club is as familiar a feature of the landscape as a football or cricket ground.
That does not necessarily make the sport easier to understand when you are starting from scratch.
One of golf’s peculiarities is that there is no single type of golfer.
Some golfers are fiercely competitive and care deeply about reducing their Handicap Index. Others never enter a competition. Some spend hours on the driving range analysing their swing, while others simply want a Saturday morning round with friends followed by something to eat or drink in the clubhouse.
Some join a traditional members’ club. Others play different pay-and-play courses. And today, golfers in England can even obtain and maintain an official Handicap Index without being a member of an affiliated golf club through England Golf’s iGolf scheme.
There is no single definition of a “proper golfer”.
That may be the first thing worth understanding before you become one.
You don’t need to be a golfer before walking into a golf club
It sounds absurd, but it is a surprisingly common concern.
Beginners sometimes feel they need to know how to swing a club, understand the rules or own the right clothes before walking onto a driving range or contacting a golf club.
You don’t.
Many clubs and golf facilities offer beginner coaching, introductory sessions, driving ranges, short courses and programmes specifically designed to introduce new players to the game. England Golf also identifies facilities offering its Get into Golf programme through its club directory.
For your first experience, you do not need a £500 driver or a full set of irons.
A borrowed club, a bucket of range balls and someone showing you the basic principles are enough.
And sometimes only a few properly struck shots are required to understand why people become obsessed with this game.
If you enjoy that first experience, however, taking a few lessons is generally a much better next step than simply buying more buckets of balls and trying to teach yourself.
Membership, iGolf and Handicap Index: what does a beginner actually need?
This is where golf terminology can make something relatively simple sound complicated.
In England, you do not necessarily need to become a full member of a traditional golf club simply to start playing.
Different courses have different access requirements, and many facilities welcome visitors through green fees. Driving ranges, par-three courses, short courses and other beginner-friendly facilities can also provide a much easier introduction to the game.
Club membership becomes relevant if you want the social and competitive life of a particular club, regular access to the same course and the other benefits that membership can provide.
The Handicap Index, meanwhile, is something different.
Under the World Handicap System, it provides a measure of a player’s demonstrated ability based on eligible scores. It allows golfers of very different standards to compete more fairly against one another.
And in England, joining a golf club is no longer the only route to having one.
England Golf’s iGolf programme allows golfers who are not members of affiliated golf clubs to obtain a Handicap Index under the World Handicap System. Subscribers also receive public liability insurance while playing or practising at recognised UK golf facilities.
For a complete beginner, however, there is no reason to become obsessed with handicaps immediately.
First learn to hit the ball, move safely around a golf course and enjoy playing.
The numbers can come later.
How long does it take to learn golf?
There is no meaningful universal answer.
Someone taking lessons and practising once or twice a week will obviously progress more quickly than someone visiting a driving range once a month.
But the more important distinction is between being able to play golf and being able to play golf well.
You can learn the essential safety rules, make the ball move forwards, understand how a hole works and start playing beginner-friendly courses relatively quickly.
Building a repeatable golf swing is another matter entirely.
And the driving range never completely prepares you for what happens on a course.
On the range, a poor shot disappears almost instantly. You pull another ball towards you and try again.
On the course, you have to live with it.
The ball may be in rough, behind a tree or sitting awkwardly on a slope. There may be a bunker in front of you, water to the right and two people watching while another group waits behind.
You have to make a decision and hit another shot.
That is when you really begin learning golf.
Golf is more physical than it looks
Television creates a misleading impression of the sport.
You watch a player swing, walk briefly and then the broadcast cuts to somebody else hitting a shot.
A real round is rather different.
Walking 18 holes can mean covering several miles over undulating terrain during four hours or more. Add repeated golf swings involving the legs, hips, trunk, shoulders and arms, and the physical demands become more significant than many non-golfers expect.
Golf is obviously not a high-intensity cardiovascular sport in the same way as running or cycling.
But describing it as sedentary makes little sense either.
One frequently cited Swedish study examined a cohort of more than 300,000 golfers and found a substantially lower mortality rate among golfers than in the reference population, equivalent statistically to roughly five additional years of life expectancy.
That finding requires an important qualification.
It was an observational study. It showed an association; it did not prove that playing golf itself causes people to live five years longer. Lifestyle, socioeconomic factors and general health behaviours can also influence the result. The researchers themselves acknowledged those limitations.
The sensible conclusion is far less spectacular: regularly walking for several hours, spending time outdoors, maintaining physical activity and preserving social contact are all attractive characteristics of golf.
It doesn’t need to be a miracle cure to be good for you.
One of the few sports that really can span generations
This is perhaps one of golf’s greatest strengths.
A teenager can play with a grandparent. A beginner can share a round with someone who has played for 30 years. Two golfers with very different abilities can enjoy the same course together.
The handicap system exists precisely to make competition between players of different standards possible.
Few sports retain that characteristic throughout such a large part of our lives.
In football, tennis or cycling, a substantial difference in physical ability or playing standard can quickly make competing together difficult.
Golf is different.
Players can use different tees, receive handicap strokes and still share exactly the same round.
It is one reason why golf can become part of family life for decades rather than simply a sport practised during one period of life.
Is golf really an expensive sport?
Golf can be extremely expensive.
But you do not need to spend a fortune to start.
Both statements can be true.
A premium set of irons, a new driver, specialist wedges, a high-end putter, electric trolley, rangefinder, shoes, clothing and membership of an expensive club can easily run into several thousand pounds.
None of those things is essential during your first few months.
The real cost of golf depends enormously on how you intend to play it.
A low-cost introduction: roughly £300–£600
Use borrowed or second-hand clubs, take group beginner lessons, practise at a driving range and play short or pay-and-play courses, and the cost of discovering golf can remain relatively modest.
You certainly do not need to commit to an annual club membership before you know whether you enjoy the game.
A regular first year: roughly £700–£1,200
Add regular coaching, your own starter or half set, range sessions and a number of green fees, and this becomes a more realistic order of magnitude for someone beginning to play regularly.
An intensive first year: £1,500 and upwards
Regular individual coaching, a complete set of equipment, club membership and frequent rounds can quickly push the cost much higher.
These are deliberately broad estimates rather than universal prices. Golf costs vary enormously according to location, course, membership type and how often you play.
The important point is that the expensive version of golf is a choice, not an entry requirement.
Mistake number one: buying golf clubs too early
This is probably the mistake I would warn beginners about most strongly after years spent testing golf equipment.
Walk into a golf shop and you will find drivers costing hundreds of pounds, irons promising more forgiveness, putters built around sophisticated technologies and dozens of different shafts.
Much of that technology can be useful.
You just might not need it yet.
During your first few months, your golf swing can change dramatically. Your speed may change. Your strike pattern may change. Your posture and delivery may change.
Spending a large amount of money on clubs fitted to a golf swing that may barely exist six months later is rarely the smartest investment.
A half set, borrowed clubs or decent second-hand equipment can be perfectly adequate.
More importantly:
For most beginners, £300 spent on good coaching will have a much greater effect on their golf than an extra £300 spent on a driver.
Equipment becomes increasingly relevant as your swing becomes more stable. At that stage, club length, lie angle, shaft weight, flex and head design can all become worth investigating.
The best golf club is not necessarily the newest one.
It is the one that suits the golfer using it.
Mistake number two: learning exclusively from YouTube
Golf instruction has never been more accessible.
And beginners have never had so many opportunities to become completely confused.
One video tells you to rotate your shoulders more. The next tells you to restrict rotation. One coach talks about your hands. Another tells you to forget your hands and concentrate on your hips.
They may all be correct.
For different golfers.
That is the problem.
A PGA professional standing beside you can see the golf swing you are actually making rather than the swing you imagine you are making.
A few lessons at the beginning can prevent compensations and bad habits that may take months or years to remove later.
Mistake number three: rushing onto a full 18-hole course
The driving range can become frustrating.
You are hitting golf balls, but you are not quite playing golf.
Naturally, you want to get onto a proper course.
But jumping immediately onto a long and demanding 18-hole layout can produce exactly the opposite of the experience you wanted.
Poor shots accumulate. The group behind gets closer. You start rushing. Your swing becomes quicker. The round becomes stressful.
Short courses, par-three layouts, pitch-and-putt facilities and nine-hole courses are not inferior forms of golf.
For beginners, they can be better golf.
They teach you to choose clubs, aim at targets, recover from poor shots, putt, manage your position on a course and keep up with play.
Think of them as a bridge between the range and a full-length course rather than somewhere you have to escape from as quickly as possible.
Mistake number four: ignoring golf etiquette
A beginner can hit ten terrible shots without annoying anybody.
The same beginner can become unpopular remarkably quickly by failing to respect other golfers.
Golf etiquette is not simply an aristocratic hangover designed to keep newcomers out.
At its core, it exists for three reasons:
safety, care of the course and pace of play.
Shouting “Fore!” when a ball is heading towards somebody, repairing pitch marks, replacing divots where appropriate, raking bunkers, remaining still and quiet when another player is hitting and not unnecessarily holding up the group behind you matter far more than your score.
A beginner who understands how to behave on a course will generally be welcomed much more readily than an experienced golfer who does not.
And most of this is learnt remarkably quickly simply by playing with more experienced golfers.
Mistake number five: measuring improvement only through your score
Golf can be cruel.
You can improve without your score improving immediately.
Your iron striking may become more consistent while you continue wasting shots around the green. You might start driving the ball better but still three-putt several greens. You can play 15 holes reasonably well and destroy your score on the other three.
When you are starting, pay attention to other indicators.
How often are you making reasonable contact?
Are you losing fewer balls?
Can you get the ball moving towards your intended target?
Do you feel less anxious on the course?
Can you complete holes without feeling that every shot is an emergency?
Your score will eventually reflect those improvements.
It does not always do so immediately.
Mistake number six: hitting nothing but drivers on the range
It is understandable.
Hitting a golf ball a long way is considerably more exciting than holing a three-foot putt.
But golf is not played exclusively from the tee.
Putting, chipping, pitching, bunker shots and shorter approaches account for a substantial part of any round. For beginners in particular, learning how to get the ball onto the green from short range can save an enormous amount of frustration.
You do not have to become obsessed with statistics.
Just divide your practice time.
The driver can still be the fun part.
It simply shouldn’t be the only part.
So why do you want to start playing golf?
This may ultimately be the most important question in this entire guide.
To travel?
Golf can provide an extraordinary way to discover places.
And if you live in Britain, some of the world’s most historic golfing landscapes are already remarkably close. Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland offer everything from ancient links courses to inexpensive local layouts, while Portugal, Spain and many other European destinations are only a short flight away.
If travel is your motivation, your first objective may simply be to become competent and confident enough to enjoy different courses.
You do not need a single-figure handicap to do that.
To meet people?
Golf clubs are communities as much as sporting facilities.
Roll-ups, competitions, social events and casual rounds provide an unusually easy way to meet people because you already share a subject and an activity.
Four hours walking around a course gives conversation plenty of time to develop naturally.
For the sporting challenge?
Then golf can become dangerously addictive.
There is almost no end to the number of things you can improve: strike, direction, distance, dispersion, putting, wedge play, course management, decision-making and the mental side of the game.
And the better you become, the more precisely you notice what still needs improvement.
To play with your family?
This may be one of the best reasons of all.
It does not matter if different generations use different tees or have very different handicaps.
You are still walking the same course and sharing the same game.
And you may be able to continue doing so for decades.
How should you actually start?
If I were advising someone in Britain who had never played golf before, I would keep the process very simple.
Start with an introductory session. Spend as little as possible until you know whether you actually enjoy hitting golf balls.
Take a few lessons. Do this before buying expensive clubs, specialist shoes or a rangefinder.
Borrow, hire or buy second-hand equipment. You will have plenty of time to upgrade once you understand what you actually need.
Move gradually from the range to a short course or nine holes, and then to longer courses when you can play without putting yourself under unnecessary pressure or significantly holding up other golfers.
Learn basic rules and etiquette early. They will make you comfortable on a golf course much faster than another 20 yards with your driver.
Practise your short game as well as your full swing.
And finally:
Do not define your golfing ambition according to somebody else’s.
You do not have to become a 10-handicap golfer.
You do not have to play competitions.
You do not have to join an expensive private club.
You do not need a £500 driver.
And you do not even have to play 18 holes every weekend to call yourself a golfer.
The best investment for a beginner isn’t a golf club
Golf is difficult.
That is probably part of its appeal.
But you do not need to be wealthy, naturally gifted or already know somebody at a golf club to give it a try.
Perhaps the biggest mistake is starting with the part of golf that the industry finds easiest to sell: equipment.
A beginner does not primarily need a driver promising another few yards.
They need to learn how to strike a golf ball, how to move around a course, how to play alongside other people and, above all, what they actually want from the game.
The equipment will come soon enough.
And when the time comes to choose it, you will have acquired something far more useful than a specification sheet:
you will already know what kind of golfer you are becoming.