Affordable Golf is Easy

Golf has a reputation for being an expensive sport, and this isn’t entirely unwarranted. Between clubs, balls, bags, clothes, food, beverage, and travel, you can end up spending quite a pretty penny on a sport that is supposed to be your recreation, your form of unwinding and forgetting about your worries. It is hard to forget about your worries when you are paying $500 to tee off at many courses, though.

Fortunately, as easy as it is to spend far too much on golf, you can still play golf on a very affordable budget and do so with skill, style, and enjoyment. The tips you need to follow to enjoy golf affordably are quick, easy, and mostly common sense, but sometimes that same common sense can elude us when it comes to our favorite obsession.

The Essentials

First, you need to consider your clubs. It’s easy to look at what some pro golfer is carrying in his bag and try to replicate what is there, but that won’t necessarily make you a better golfer. The fact is that those professionals are paid to endorse and carry those clubs around, and the quality of their game is much more about their skill and knowledge of the game than about whatever club they’re using.

To that end, you can find affordable, quality clubs used on eBay, Craigslist, or other websites where a golfer may be putting his year-old clubs up for sale. Many golfers think they need a new set of clubs every season or so, which is blatantly untrue, but some people are a bit on the obsessive side when it comes to the game!

With your clubs taken care of, you need to consider your golf balls. Buying new golf balls is, frankly, unreasonably expensive. They will become lost in the rough, in water hazards, or in other treacherous elements of the course, and then you’re stuck shelling out more money for the same balls. Instead, when you go into the rough to retrieve one of your balls, keep an eye out for balls other golfers may have hit into the same rough in the past. You’d be surprised at how many high quality, practically new golf balls you’ll find, and you may never have to buy another golf ball again.

The Lifestyle

Many golfers seem to think they need to wear expensive “golf attire” on the golf course, but that is certainly not the case. For most golf clubs across America, the only real rule is that you wear a collared shirt, and perhaps no jeans either. Beyond that, the sky is the limit, which means you needn’t invest in expensive clothing just for the green. Whatever is in your closet will certainly do just fine. When it gets cold out check out a video from Huffington Post on how to layer golf clothing.

Now that you’ve got your clubs, balls, and clothes together, you need to consider when and where you’re going to play. Obviously, you’d like to play when there are few other golfers on the course; fortunately, this goes well with a desire to play affordably. Most golfers play on weekend mornings, which also happen to be the most expensive tee-off times.

Speaking of tee-off, it is important to keep an eye out for more affordable green fees as well. Many golf courses charge exorbitant fees to play, but there are almost certainly courses – many of them public – that are just as high-quality as those expensive country club courses, and which charge a far lower green fee. If that doesn’t appeal to you, consider contacting a course you’d like to play at and haggling with them; you’d be surprised at how many clubs will allow you to play at lower fees than are listed on the fee-comparison websites. (Which you should also be checking!)

These are just some of the ways you can transform golf into a game for the wealthy into an affordably relaxing past-time. There is more advice all over the web – you just have to look. Don’t be afraid to apply lessons from other elements of your life to golf as well, though. How do you save money on a car? How do you save money on your bills? Look to your philosophies there, and you’d be surprised how many are applicable to golf!

Author Bio: Michael Juba is a writer and marketer from Lititz, Pennsylvania, which was recently voted the coolest small town in America. He enjoys writing about sports, technology, health, home improvement, travel and just about any topic in between.

How to Practice Golf Without Blowing Through Your Retirement Money

Growing up I always had some idea about what seemed to me like noble sports (golf for instance, lacrosse, polo) since it always seems such activities will never be available to those on a budget or with limited financial resources. The peculiar thing, however, is that playing golf does not require you to be rich, as I once believed. It requires much more consideration, granted, but it definitely can be done. 

Clubs and other equipment

What is most intimidating about golf, and perhaps the main factor that prevents new players from turning into regular players is cost, and cost begins where equipment purchase is concerned. And although it is clear that this particular sport is certainly one of those activities that will have players reaching deeper and deeper into their pockets, there are ways to minimize costs and still enjoy the sport as much as any other player.

The high prices of equipment nowadays can easily be explained by the technological advancements and sophistication that these items provide all to ease the game of players and to ensure maximum success rates. But it is not necessary to buy pro-line golf clubs right away, as these will surely be a large investment. There are starter golf sets that will rarely cost you over 200$ and which contain all the items needed for you to commence your golf adventure.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are many good deals on golf equipment internet sites like www.golfbox.com.au so take your time and search for what is in your price range. Moreover, if you may find yourself disliking the activity in this initial phase, such starter sets can easily be sold very close to the original amount you paid for it. Contrastingly, if you feel the need that investing in higher quality clubs, the same goes with selling this starter set. In this, re-selling your equipment will contribute greatly to your reduction endeavors when taking up golf. 

Instruction

For the newcomer, building a foundation is highly important when learning to play golf. Even though there are many PGA professional instructors trained to instruct in all aspects of golf, the private lesson prices (sometimes more than 100$ per hour) are simply too high to be justifiable. There are local courses however which also provide introductory group lessons and these are much more budget friendly (usually under 30$). If you have some experience with the sport and improving your swing is what you are after, you can save up on lessons by using a camera or recording device to analyze your swing by comparing it to pro player videos on YouTube. 

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Golf course

Another issue where most new golfers seem to get stuck on is practice venue: there are golf clubs in California for instance who charge anywhere between 400$ and 500$ for the entire course (18 holes) and this would indeed burn a hole through the player’s pockets. In this case, it is not about the amount of practice or in choosing low quality practice venues, but in correctly and efficiently practicing. And this is certainly something you can accomplish: as many golf courses are swarming with players hopelessly swinging at balls, you can effortlessly be one of those who swings once while others swing 5 times, but land the ball where you want it.

When working on your full swing for instance, make sure to concentrate on spending the majority of time working with the irons (and change your clubs on a constant basis). And since you are training to be a complete player, you need to address all aspects of the game, such as putting, pitching, bunker play, chipping: and since these elements belong to the short game, you need to know that many facilities offer practice greens for no additional costs. Another thing that will make your practice sessions more efficient is setting a goal for each one. You can also try nine-hole tournaments instead of 18-hole ones since they are significantly more affordable. 

Conclusion

All in all, it is essential that you are not overwhelmed by all you think you will have to spend in order to begin pursuing your new found interest. Be sure to focus on your game, practice while being concentrated what you are doing, be in tune with what it is you struggle with because you can work on those aspects that need improving. And all this while saving both money and time and shooting lower scores.