Getting started: from the range to a handicap.

You will not be the only beginner

The National Golf Foundation reports at least 3 million on-course beginners in the United States every year since 2020. Plenty of people never start on a course at all: the NGF counted 19 million Americans who played golf only off course in 2025, at ranges, simulators and entertainment venues, and the R&A's 2025 Global Participation Report counted 68.3 million people outside the United States and Mexico taking part in off-course formats such as driving ranges and simulators.

Step 1: hit some balls

You do not have to start on a full-length course. Ranges and simulators both count as golf in the participation figures above. Short courses are now part of the handicap system as well: under the 2024 revisions to the World Handicap System, tees as short as 1,500 yards for 18 holes, or 750 yards for 9, can be given a Course Rating and Slope Rating. The R&A says that change was meant to bring thousands of shorter and par-3 courses, and the people who play them, into handicapping.

Step 2: find a golf professional

Many golf professionals work as coaches, so the professionals' associations are a sensible place to look. The PGA, the professionals' association for Great Britain and Ireland, reported in February 2026 that its 8,500 members and trainees work in more than 80 countries as club professionals, coaches, and managers or directors of golf. In Australia, Golf Australia said in February 2025 that almost 80 percent of its MyGolf junior programmes are delivered by PGA Professionals. The governing bodies page lists the professional associations, and the technique section explains the principles coaches teach, though it is no substitute for lessons.

Step 3: what to bring

• Clubs: Rule 4.1b of the 2023 Rules of Golf limits you to 14 clubs, but you may start with fewer and add up to that limit. The clubs explained page covers what each one does.
• Balls: every stroke must be made with a conforming ball (Rule 4.2a). Put an identification mark on yours; the Rules encourage it (Rule 6.3a), and the Equipment Rules confirm that marking a ball with a felt-tip pen is allowed.
• Tees: a tee may be no longer than 4 inches (101.6 mm) and must conform to the Equipment Rules (Definitions).
• Distance devices: the USGA's guide says distance-measuring devices have been allowed under the Rules since 1 January 2019, as long as you do not use prohibited functions such as slope-adjusted distances or club recommendations. A Committee can still restrict them by Local Rule.

Step 4: learn the Rules that come up most

With the 2023 Rules of Golf, in effect from 1 January 2023, the official Rules app gained a Quick Guide video covering the minimum Rules knowledge a golfer needs when moving from learning to competitive play. The situations beginners meet most, under the 2023 edition:

• Play the ball as it lies and the course as you find it (Rule 1.1), unless a Rule allows otherwise.
• Lost ball or out of bounds: a ball not found within three minutes of starting to search is lost (Rule 18.2a). For a lost ball or one out of bounds, you normally take one penalty stroke and play again from where you last played (Rule 18.2b).
• Provisional ball: if your ball might be lost outside a penalty area or out of bounds, you may announce and play a provisional ball to save time (Rule 18.3).
• Penalty areas: marked red or yellow. You may play the ball as it lies, or take relief for one penalty stroke (Rule 17).
• Unplayable ball: anywhere except a penalty area, you may decide your ball is unplayable and take relief for one penalty stroke (Rule 19).

The Rules section explains each of these. The R&A says the next edition of the Rules is due on 1 January 2028, so check for changes after that date.

Step 5: play your first rounds

Rule 1.2a sets out what is expected of everyone: act with integrity, show consideration to others, including playing at a prompt pace, and take care of the course. The etiquette and pace of play pages explain both. Two formats make early rounds easier. In Stableford, players are encouraged to stop playing a hole once they can no longer score a point (Rule 21.1). In Maximum Score, the Committee caps each hole's score (Rule 21.2). Both are explained on the formats of play page.

Step 6: get a handicap

A handicap lets you compete fairly with better players. Under the World Handicap System:

• The R&A (2020) gives a default minimum of 54 holes of scores to obtain a Handicap Index, from any mix of 9 and 18-hole rounds, though national associations can set their own minimum.
• The maximum Handicap Index is 54.0, for everyone.
• A score counts only if, among other things, you play with at least one other person, under the Rules of Golf, on a course with a current Course Rating and Slope Rating (Emirates Golf Federation's version of the rules, Rule 2.1).

Ask a local club or your national golf association how handicaps are issued where you live. The handicaps page explains the system, and the course handicap calculator shows how many strokes you would receive on a given set of tees.