7 Tips on Planning Golfing Trips for Beginners

PGA: Waste Management Phoenix Open - Final Round

Are you looking to start golfing soon? Because of its nature, golf is a great hobby or sport to play with family members or friends. You can get a lot of physical and mental health benefits from playing golf, too.

You can even improve your social skills by playing golf. There’s no doubt that it’s one of the best sports for people of all ages, health conditions, and fitness levels. Yet, there’s more to golf for beginners than going on starter courses and buying your first equipment.

In this guide, we’ll discuss planning golfing trips and some tips on the golf trip structure. Keep reading to learn more about how you can try new golf play styles, find courses, and more. These tips apply best to groups of golfers, beginners and advanced, who want to play together.

1. When Planning Golfing Trips, Keep Your Budget in Mind

Let’s begin with something that everyone needs to agree about early on: the budget. Everyone has different budget limits, so make sure you take everyone’s budget limits into account. Some people may have a golfing trip budget of only $3000, and others may have more, for example.

Remember that everyone may have different ideas on how they want to spend their money. Some people may want to join optional experiences or activities if they have the budget for it. This is fine, but don’t force others to participate if they know they can’t afford extra activities.

7 Tips on Planning Golfing Trips for Beginners
Feb 7, 2021; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; Brooks Koepka from the bunker on the second during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament at TPC Scottsdale. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

2. Know What Everyone’s Priorities Are

Another big thing to settle before the group goes on a trip is the trip itself. Like budgeting, everyone may have different ideas on what they want to do.

For example, you may want to try out all the golf courses in Wisconsin within a week. Meanwhile, your friend wants to stay in one golf course for the stay and sit back and relax. Your other friend may be going with you in the hopes of seeing the tourist attractions in the state, too.

When organizing a trip, make everyone aware of the plan. Discuss what you want to do and agree upon which activities the group will take part in. Having a clear program will smooth out any unexpected kinks and issues before they begin.

3. Discuss and Decide the Courses You Want to Play

Other than the general agenda, make sure the group also discusses the courses to play. Are you going to visit foreign locations like Scotland? If so, then which courses in Scotland does the group want to play?

If the group is visiting another state to play golf, which courses do they want to visit? Knowing the courses beforehand will help everyone become familiar with the club. Everyone can read about the clubs online and learn their golf etiquette and rules.

4. Put One Person in Charge of the Trip

While it’s a group trip, you need to get one person to organize everything. Agree upon or elect one person to be in charge of the trip. This person will be the one who will put everything that the group discussed together.

If someone in the group already has some experience in going on golf trips, he or she is best suited as the organizer. He’ll give the group an idea of the various golf course options and locations that everyone may want to see. He will share his experience and opinions on how everyone might enjoy the trip.

5. Research Everything

7 Tips on Planning Golfing Trips for Beginners
Feb 7, 2021; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; Brooks Koepka lines up his putt on the 18th hole during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

This tip seems like one of the most obvious first steps to planning golfing trips. However, with all the buzz and excitement around going on your first group golf trip, it’s easy to forget about it. This is our reminder to you to get on your computer or phone and start researching now.

Learn and become familiar with every detail of the golfing trip. Know your schedules and the golf courses you’re playing and at what time. If you’ll play in a new place, consider everything from your hotel rooms to how you’ll get to the course, to the weather.

If you know you aren’t well-versed with golf techniques, use a golf app to learn. Golf apps are great tools for on-the-go learning and research. You can check out this golf app comparison article to see which golf app out there is the best one.

6. Play a Par 3 Course

If your group consists of new golfers, the best thing you can do is to play par 3 courses. Golf courses have varying par holes. As you know, the standard golf course has four par 3 holes, four par 5 holes, and ten par 4 holes.

Playing a standard course can be overwhelming and exhausting to a new golfer. It can also cause a lot of frustration, which can make things tense or awkward for the group. However, par 3 courses contain 18 short par three holes with varying lengths of 100-210 yards.

This shorter course will be gentler and kinder to new golf players. It’s not too expensive, especially since they’re small enough that you can skip the golf cart rental. They’re also often less crowded and aren’t as strict with enforcing golf etiquette.

7. Prepare Early

The act of planning trips is good for our mental health. The anticipation and excitement can get you to feel more happiness than when you buy material things. It’s a reason why some people prepare for trips, even when it’s too early.

However, many people also tend to procrastinate while they know that they’ve got a lot of time before their trip. The best time to get ready for a golf trip is at least 4-5 months in advance. Make sure you get your tee times scheduled 4-5 months before the trip.

Confirm your schedule with the club once or twice as you get closer to the scheduled date. Three or two months before the trip, make sure you’ve got your lodging or hotel reserved. Don’t forget to plan for the transportation and other non-golfing activities early, as well.

Plan Fun Beginner Golfing Trips

Golfing is an enjoyable sport, and it’s even more fun to play with a group. However, the planning stage can be quite stressful for some. We hope that this guide helped you improve the way you make plans for golf trips.

Did you enjoy reading our post on planning golfing trips for beginners? Do you want to learn more about golf, like buying golf clubs and other equipment? If so, check out our other golfing guides and tips now.

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