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What do you do the first time you play a Golf Course?

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taylorbr

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So I am new to golf still and until recently pretty much played the same two courses close to home. This summer I am traveling some and have started to visit some new golf courses. Do y'all have any pointers for the first time you play a new course? What do you look for and notice first thing? I have already noticed that I have lost some strokes because of unfamiliarity is there anything you can do about this or is this just part of playing a course for the first time?
 
Unless you have a local to give advice, you'll have to get used to that. My advice is to look at the score card and find the tee box that will give you the best chance of playing well and having fun.
 
I always ask if they have a yardage book for the course. I notice most of the "nicer" courses have them. Most "average" courses wont though. Another key factor is to find out the pin placements on the greens that day.

Also, make sure you clarify what the markers on the course mean. I played a course a few times that didnt have any yardage markers on the holes themselves...I later found out that they have shrubs that line the fairways to indicate 150 yards out, which you would never notice if you werent looking for them. Would have been nice to know the first few times I played the course.
 
That's pretty much par for the course, Taylor. I just experienced that at Grand Cypress at the THP Outing where I played all of the courses just once. I know I could have shaved a few strokes off if I'd played them a second time. I do find that a range finder is helpful when I play a new course. I know all the distances on my home course, but it's helpful to have precise distances on an unfamiliar course.
 
i usually break the course record...... lol kidding of course. i have learned although i don't always take my own advice that i only hit to where i can see. that being although im long and can usually cut doglegs and such on new courses its smarter to just pin where you can see the fairway and hit to there. it helps you stay out of unwanted trouble. nothing worse than crushing a drive 300 yards getting to your ball and finding a small pot bunker you couldn't see due to a slope or something like that. It will def save you some strokes.
 
First thing I do is get an adult beverage and relax, because there's nothing I can do about finding myself in a bad spot and not knowing how to play out of it.

But probably far more helpful, my advice would be to learn the yardage markers quickly on the course if it does not have gps. Some courses also place plaques or signs for doglegs indicating how far to a dogleg or how far to carry a particular pond or bunker. Finally, just play smart, and play conservative. Center of the green, lay up on longer par 5s rather than just trying to bomb a 3 wood up to the green. Besides that, get a feel for the speed of the greens. Once you've traveled enough, you'll find that you adjust pretty quickly to differing green speeds at different courses.

~Rock
 
First thing to do is walk to the first water hazard on the course, kneel down and drop a nice shiny new ProV1 into the water to appease the golf gods, Then get an adult beverage and have a fun round
 
In general, I shoot 3-4 strokes worse than I would expect based on the slope/rating. In all honesty, it takes me playing a course 4-5 times before I get real comfortable with the layout and the feel.

I just try to play conservative, like Buckshot mentioned above. I play to safe areas, I avoid blind shots, and I always play to the middle of greens. There are some GPS devices that give overhead views and yardages (and iphone apps) that can be very useful if you have never played a course before. IMO, much more useful than a range finder
 
Shoot a really high score (an experience I enjoy so much that I replicate it each subsequent trip to the course).

Sorry for the obvious joke - couldn't help myself today :bashful:.

If it's a nice enough course (for instance, when I played Bay Hill for the first time last year), I'll actually find a hole-by-hole breakdown the night before (either online or on my GPS) and map out what club I'll be hitting off the tee and the approximate distance that should give me for an approach. If I've already thought about the pros/cons of hitting a 3-wood or iron off the tee, it allows me to focus more on wind/weather/course conditions while on the tee box and modifying if necessary.
 
Check out the course website, there's often times a hole by hole guide that can help save a few strokes on the tougher holes. This actually helped me on a course this year as heading onto a really tough, long winding par 5 I remembered the guide suggested hang left off the tee and right on the second shot would open the green for my thrird shot and sure enough worked well.

Playing new courses has become a passion of mine, I've played about 10 this year, but expect a few extra strokes, it's to be expected.
 
Usually I will go to the courses website and look for a hole by hole break down. Sometimes they even have tips on playing the holes, I try to look for a trend. After that I will use my GPS app on my phone, an online scorecard and kind of mentally walk myself through the round. Basically I'm looking for anything that I know will stand out as difficult or dangerous. It really helps me to place mental pictures of success in my brain, then you just gotta make it happen.
 
First thing you do is go in and ask what the course record is. That way they think you are good! Good advice in here so far, especially looking online for suggestions on how to play the holes.
 
This is good stuff thanks for the tips!
 
If I am playing with someone that is familiar with the layout, I'll ask a lot of questions. If I play a high end course then I buy a yardage book or lean heavily on the gps in the cart. I also look at the course map on the score card.
 
TheHeez said:
Usually I will go to the courses website and look for a hole by hole break down. Sometimes they even have tips on playing the holes, I try to look for a trend. After that I will use my GPS app on my phone, an online scorecard and kind of mentally walk myself through the round. Basically I'm looking for anything that I know will stand out as difficult or dangerous. It really helps me to place mental pictures of success in my brain, then you just gotta make it happen.
Click to expand...

Exactly this. Isn't much more you can do but walk the course. Also if there is a green I pass that I haven't played I will look at pin placement and layout.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
 
McRock said:
First thing I do is get an adult beverage and relax, because there's nothing I can do about finding myself in a bad spot and not knowing how to play out of it.

But probably far more helpful, my advice would be to learn the yardage markers quickly on the course if it does not have gps. Some courses also place plaques or signs for doglegs indicating how far to a dogleg or how far to carry a particular pond or bunker. Finally, just play smart, and play conservative. Center of the green, lay up on longer par 5s rather than just trying to bomb a 3 wood up to the green. Besides that, get a feel for the speed of the greens. Once you've traveled enough, you'll find that you adjust pretty quickly to differing green speeds at different courses.

~Rock
Click to expand...

RonInThornton said:
First thing to do is walk to the first water hazard on the course, kneel down and drop a nice shiny new ProV1 into the water to appease the golf gods, Then get an adult beverage and have a fun round
Click to expand...

First, do what Ron says. Then follow Rock's suggestions. Conservative and fun. If you're trying to break the course "low", you will not enjoy the fun that is the experience of a new course.
 
Have fun and post the scores to my handicap, it helps to keep it where it should be. Playing too much at my home course gives me a false sense of how good (bad) I actually am. Yardage books and GPS/range finders are the best route to go IMO. I did notice at Grand Cypress we had trouble viewing the screen in the cart in the early morning sun, no problem after the first few holes however.
 
Yes play conservative the first time. If your lucky the course will offer a yardage book and layout of the depth of the greens which will help some.
 
Tadashi70 said:
If I am playing with someone that is familiar with the layout, I'll ask a lot of questions. If I play a high end course then I buy a yardage book or lean heavily on the gps in the cart. I also look at the course map on the score card.
Click to expand...

Tadashi, I always refer to the map on the card (directionally impairment) and have come to depend a little on it. But at the Golf Club Of Dallas - no map. It's like a menu with no prices... If you have to ask, you can't afford it. Luckily I'd read the "walk through" on the web the night before and managed to remember a lot of it.
 
I always ask either someone in the pro shop or around the putting green that looks like they play there a lot about how the course is playing, which is the signature hole, what are the yardage markers, things like that. I've found that by asking someone who works there or plays there a lot you can glean a little more info than you can get from the websites. People take pride in the courses they play a lot and are happy to show how much they know about the layout.
 
This is where the fanciest GPS devices come in handy.
 
Just go and realize
That I can leave 5 to 8 strokes out there due to course knowledge. Play my game and have some fun:)
 
Grab a scorecard and hopefully it will have planview pics of the holes. Yardage books are great if I have time to read it before the round, but I've found them useless on the fly with a group behind me. Then I'll putt as much as possible.
 
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