10 Simple Golf Tips for Beginners & High Handicap Golfers

If you're new to golf and struggling to find the recipe for success, we have one main message - don't worry, you're not alone! The game is notorious for being one of the more challenging sports to master. Remember every single digit or scratch golfer was once in your shoes as a beginner golfer.

With the right blend of dedication and practice you can work to develop a great golf swing and get your handicap heading south. With that in mind, we've created some key golf tips to help guide you in the right direction.

Once you’ve checked out the tips below, you’ll need app that can make the game as easy as possible on the golf course. Hole19 is the way to go - it's totally free and used by over 3 million golfers worldwide. If you haven’t already, download it today!

Now on with the tips...

SORT OUT YOUR GRIP

Let's start out by talking about one of the most crucial parts of your swing - your grip. It’s one of the key checkpoints on the way to playing good golf, so if you want to hit many more great shots you've gotta get your grip game on point.

Your grip is the only connection between you and the club, so it’s like the glue that holds everything together. Whether you go baseball, interlocking or overlapping, you need to find a grip that works for you and that is technically sound. It might take a little trial and error until you settle, but if you can get a functional grip sorted it will make the game a lot easier.

TAKE A LESSON

Early on in your golf journey, it's going to be particularly beneficial to have a session with your local pro, or an online golf coach, and have them take a close look at your current swing.

Bad habits can form quite quickly and it's easy to fall into the trap of doing what feels comfortable instead of what's actually right. If you get some tips from a pro, you'll be more likely to stick with them - even if it all feels a bit weird at first.

WATCH GOLF TIPS ONLINE

We don’t all have the time or cash for a pro lesson, but you can find some seriously knowledgeable golf coaches on YouTube who can break down even the most technical aspects of the game in a way that's super relatable - for free.

Before you end up going down the rabbit hole of watching a million different coaches and getting totally confused, stick to one or two whose content you really enjoy and trust their tips and drills to help you improve.

WORK ON YOUR OTHER FUNDAMENTALS TOO

It's vital to spend some quality time learning and practising the fundamentals of your golf swing. We’re talking about the all-important trio of posture, ball position, and alignment - they're just as crucial as your grip!

Trust us, if you can get these fundamentals nailed down, they will make a massive difference. Even the pros spend more pre-tournament range time perfecting these basics than they do working on technical aspects or Hollywood shots.

PRACTICE WITH PURPOSE AT THE RANGE

Don't become a guy who simply machine guns golf balls at the range with no real plan of attack. Instead, try to work a little smarter and you’ll get plenty more from each session. Always aim for a target and break up your practice by going through the bag and sharing the bucket between your driver, woods, irons and wedges.

Learn to practise with competition in mind and challenge yourself during the session to keep things interesting. Spice things up by seeing you how many drives you can keep within an imaginary fairway, or maybe even how many wedge shots you can land within a few yards of a chosen flag.

There's actually a pretty cool app for all your driving range needs - it's called Core Golf (available on iOS). Now you can make every session count and take your practice to the next level.

SPEND SOME TIME ON THE PRACTICE GREEN TOO

If you want to master the greens, you’ll need to put in some serious work! That means spending some quality time on the practice green before and in between rounds. And don't miss out those lag putts - they're just as important as the short ones. Improving your distance control on long range putts will help you avoid many three-putt disasters.

Working on your putting game is a surefire way to lower your scores and impress your buddies. If you dedicate the time and effort into developing a better putting stroke, you'll hole more putts and be on your way to some serious golf improvement.

PLAY YOUR OWN GAME

When you're on the course, it's time to put your blinkers on and focus solely on your own game. Don't worry about how your pals are doing, just stick to your strategy and don't let any ego battles get in the way of your plan of attack.

If you're feeling like your trusty fairway-finding iron is the way to go off the tee, don't let your buddy's big booming drive tempt you into pulling out the big stick. Stay true to yourself and your game, and you'll be in much better shape to get the most out of your round.

DON'T SWITCH IT UP

We all know how frustrating it can be to start off with a few bad shots and suddenly lose all faith in the swing. Don’t panic though! Changing your swing every few shots - or trying that new YouTube tip you watched 15 minutes before you teed off - will get you nowhere.

Stick with what you brought to the first tee and power through your 18 holes. It's almost impossible to shoot a good score if you're constantly chopping and changing, so save those new tips for the driving range. Instead, keep calm, stay true to your swing, and see where you stand after you sink your final putt.

GO EASY ON YOURSELF

Golf is hard - you know it and we know it. If you have a stinker of a round, try not to dwell on it. Every golfer messes up every once in a while, and you'll certainly have your fair share of struggles when you’re first starting out. The key to having an enjoyable round is to set realistic expectations based on your current skill level.

We golfers often underestimated the transformational power of our minds on the golf course. If you can shake off a bad shot and keep moving forward, you'll post a far better round than the golfer who can't let it go.

ALWAYS REVIEW YOUR ROUND

Don't forget to take some time to check out your rounds, even if you haven't been on your A-game recently. When you're chilling at home, whip out your Hole19 App and check out the Performance tab - it's your secret treasure trove of all your previous rounds.

You can see all sorts of cool graphics that break down your driving accuracy, GIR %, putting stats and more. Take a peek at your scorecard and try some positive reinforcement by recalling the amazing shots you’ve hit, and spend some time reminding yourself where you wasted shots along the way.

You can tap the three dots at the top right then Review Round and, if you're a Premium user, add Notes to any hole for future reference. Pretty cool, right?

We hope you have enjoyed this list of top tips for new and beginner golfers. Let us know if you have found them helpful in the comments below, as well as your handicap target for 2023.