Golf Etiquette

As with other sports, the manners and etiquette you use on the golf course defines what kind of a person you are and how you respect the game and the rights of others. To have bad golf etiquette can alienate you from potential friends and golf partners. Nobody wants to play with someone who does not respect the game or themselves. When you first start golf you may not know what good golf etiquette is. Even if you been on the links for years you might have forgotten a couples of rules or you might not know about some of them at all.

When getting around the course most people use carts. There is etiquette with carts as well. Most courses will have posted cart rules. When you see a cart path only, do not deviate from the course given. You could damage the greens or get the cart stuck. Some courses have a ninety degree rule. They do not want you to park you carts on inclines that are or exceed ninety degrees. Keep your cart out of sand traps or other hazards. They are not made to go four wheeling and you could severely damage the hazard.

Once you drive, please repair the divots that your club has made. Simply put the pieced of sod back in the hole your club has made and press it down. If the course is wet or very dry, your ball could make marks on the green, and it will kill the grass. Try to repair these scratches the best you can. When in a sand trap, rake it after you leave. The footprints you live in the sand can capture another player’s ball and make it almost impossible for them to hit it out.

Here are so other etiquette does and don’ts. When someone is taking a swing or trying to make a putt. Keep quiet. Noise distracts what the golfer is doing and could cost him a stroke. Don’t yell after making a bad shot. Your partner might not mind but the people on another hole will notice it. Watch your shadow. If you shadow fall across the ball your partner could misjudge his swing. Especially on the putting green your shadows can play havoc with your partners’ eyesight. Watch walking in the putting line of your partner. You wouldn’t think so but the weight of your body can leave a depression in the grass or soil big enough to change the path of the ball. It is best to walk around so the sun is in your face and there are no footprints on the putting green.

Keep a good pace while you are playing. If you start slowing down you could back up the entire course. Not only do you frustrate golfers behind you, you slow the tee time schedule off. If you are not moving fast enough, the course ranger will help you do so. A way not to slow down is never spend too much time looking for a lost ball. Take the stroke and put out a new ball. Wait until you are backed up by another player. If you have the time look into a couple of bushes. You may make up that lost ball by finding a new one.

Bay Hill Club And Lodge

A Golf Vacation at Arnold Palmer’s Winter Home

If you would like to experience a unique, one-of-a-kind golf vacation, Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge Hotel, located in Orlando, Florida, will provide you with that experience. You will have the feeling that you belong to a private club when you take your golf vacation at Bay Hill.

Arnold Palmer first came to Bay Hill Club and Lodge in 1965 when he was invited, along with Jack Nicholas, Dave Ragan, and Don Cherry to play an exhibition match at the club. From that day on, Arnold Palmer, loved Bay Hill. Returning again during the winter, he became determined to buy the club. In 1970 Arnold Palmer, along with several partners, assumed control of the Bay Hill Club, and six years later, he bought out his partners and made the Bay Hill Club the Palmer family winter home.

The Bay Hill Club and Lodge features a championship golf course that was designed to by Dick Wilson and Arnold Palmer. The grass on the golf course is grown from Bermuda grass seeds, which loves the sun and is drought resistant. The course itself is 7, 205 yards, with a slope rating of 139 and a par of 72. The old overall rating of this golf course is 75.1.

When you choose the Arnold Palma Bay Hill Club and Lodge to your golf vacation, you will be treated to the finest amenities as if you were a member of a private club. The vision that Arnold Palmer had when he acquired Bay Hill was that the private members and the guests would both be treated to world-class service.

If you want to add tennis to your golf vacation, Bay Hill features six tennis courts, two Deco Turf and four Har Tu. There are professional instructors available, a pro shop that is fully stocked, and a racket repair done by experts.

The junior Olympic sized pool is a wonderful place to relax after playing a round of golf. There is also a fitness center with certified personal trainers, and top of the line equipment.

For a relaxing experience after a day of golf, a visit to the Bay Hill Spa or Salon is in order. The spa offers a serene, calm setting where you can choose from some of the most soothing and replenishing treatments available. The body massage and body therapy treatments will leave you refreshed and revitalized, ready for your next day of golf. The salon offers half day our full day packages which are customized for you.

After a day on the golf course you will dine on the finest food and wine prepared by Master chefs in one of the Bay Hills many dining rooms. The Grill and Classic Rooms offer an elegant but casually, relaxed atmosphere, while the Bay Window Room offers sandwiches, salads, and brick oven pizza. The Terrace Café offers both outdoor and indoor dining where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served daily. There is also the Members Lounge, where guests and members can sit by a cozy fireplace and have cocktails, wines, or beer.

The rates for this unique golf vacation at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill club and Lodge Hotel range from $200 - $495 per night per person. The prices vary based on the season and the type of accommodations required.

Womens Golf Clubs

Buying the best golf clubs for women

For years the woman golfer has been abandoned to fend for herself. If she did go onto the course, many times it was with a man's set of clubs. The times have changed. Women are seeing the need for a set of clubs designed especially for them. The manufacturers are seeing this need as well.

There are many differences between the men's and women's clubs. The weight and length are two of them. Clubs are designed now with lighter heads. The shafts are shorter. Women have been able to find golf clubs that are comfortable to play with.

There are many different manufacturers of women's golf clubs. Each one styled to be pleasing to the eye. The slim, colorful designs are made for easy handling and a better game. Some of the clubs are very lightweight. This allows the woman golfer to get a better swing in her game. The shorter clubs allow her to have more control of her game.

Many clubs are manufactured for the woman with a height of 5'5” to 5'9”. There are many female golfers who could not comfortably fit this set of clubs. The reason is because they are shorter. There are certain manufacturers who have recognized this problem and addressed it. Now the woman golfer can find clubs designed for someone of a shorter stature. Generally, when the height is not specified, you know the club was designed for the taller golfer, usually between 5'5” to 5'9”.

The woods are now being made in lighter weights. This allows the woman golfer to have a faster swing. She will also achieve more distance on her drive. With a lighter club, she can feel more secure in her game. Women who have their own clubs are more confident on the course. They feel comfortable knowing they are playing with a set of golf clubs designed for them.

When buying womens golf clubs, the irons can be troublesome. If you can find the lightweight irons, this is a good thing. They give the woman a better swing. The club is also much easier to control. More and more of the women golfers are shying away from the irons in favor of the woods. The utility woods seem to be easier to hit. The hits are more consistent with the 7 wood or the 9 wood. There are many women golfers who have replaced their irons altogether and opted for the woods. You will see many women with a set of woods in their bags instead of the standard golf set. The 3 iron and the 4 iron are being replaced with the 7 wood and the 9 wood. The result of these changes are greater distance and more accurate shots. The ball coming off a wood seems to go straighter.

For the short game, the woman golfer should find clubs which are lightweight. Again this is for easier handling. The shorter clubs are also more comfortable to handle. The wedge is designed and sold by the degree of the loft. The woman golfer will have to choose her own personal preference with these clubs. When it comes to the putter, the feel must be right. When choosing a putter, the height of the woman golfer must be considered. Any woman under 5'5” should feel comfortable with the putter which measures 33 inches. For someone taller, it is suggested that personal preference determines the length.

It is not hard to buy a good set womens golf clubs. Most of the time it will boil down to a personal preference. It is important to remember many manufacturers have now developed a line of clubs just for the woman golfer.

Cheap Golf Balls

Affordable Golf Balls

Golf balls are something that every golfer is well aware there never seem to be enough of. You can start with well over a hundred balls and before you know it you are searching through the bottom of your golf bag looking for two or three to finish off the round. Balls are lost to the water, the greenery, and the equipment, and that evil sock monster that hides in the dryer (at least I’m guessing that’s where they go because they do seem to disappear quite quickly). Regardless of where they go, it is quite certain that over time the supply is greatly diminished and new golf balls are required.

While golf balls in and of themselves are not often the largest expense related to the great game of golf they are an expense that is continuous and can add up (depending on how straight you hit and how good you are at finding the balls once they land). With this in mind it helps if you can find methods for saving money when it comes to buying those oh so necessary balls for your golfing needs.

The first thing you need to keep in mind is that you should not marry one brand off the bat when it comes to cheap golf balls. Many sporting goods stores will sell bulk bags of balls that are different brands for a lower fee than they sell the name brand balls they carry. These bags give you an excellent opportunity to try out different brands of balls (these are usually balls that are recovered from water on various courses and thoroughly cleaned) to see which ones provide a noticeable difference in your play. This is a good thing and prevents you from sticking with a ball that may not match your specific golfing needs before you’ve had the opportunity to find something better. It’s also good because it saves you money.

Once you’ve found a brand that you really do like and that you feel provide you a little bit of an edge over the other brands on the market you can do a little comparison shopping. You can find excellent deals on balls online through auction sites. These are typically balls that have been purchased by those with high hopes for their golfing futures only to decide that they either do not have the time for golf or they do not have the talent for golf. It happens and this often becomes good news for the bargain hunters among us. Making golf balls more affordable means an extra round or two of golf in the long run. These little savings add up over time. Consignment shops for sporting goods also offer good deals on golf balls as well as comparison shopping online and finding local retailers that are willing to match the prices.

When it comes down to it, cutting the costs of balls makes golf a much more affordable pastime for many would be golfers around the country. Try it and see how much of a difference it makes in your golfing budget to find better deals on cheap golf balls throughout the years. Small cuts in price make big differences in savings over time.

Affordable Golf

5 Great Ways to Make Golf More Affordable

Golf is a sport that was once reserved for the wealthy. Those days have changed and yet golf remains a bit of a burden for pursuit by those who have limited means. The challenge of making golf more affordable to those who may have been excluded in days long gone is not as difficult as one may think. Below you will find 5 ways that golf can be well within your means.

1) Buy light. You do not have to outfit yourself with top of the line equipment. Begin with a basic set of clubs and replace as your skills and your knowledge of your own game improves. The same holds true for other equipment such as balls, shoes, and clothing for the game. Do not make a serious investment in the equipment until you’ve invested in your skill.

2) Take lessons. This is a rather large expense by comparison to many others but the impact it will have on your game and your knowledge of your game is well worth the investment. You should also be wary of underestimating the impact that confidence will have on your game. Time with a pro can give you all the confidence you’ll ever need as a beginning golfer while helping you develop the good skills you have while eliminating or minimizing the effect of those areas where you aren’t as strong.

3) Visit the Range. The driving range is a place you should acquaint yourself with quite well. The time you spend on the range doesn’t cost nearly as much as comparable time on a golf course and will have a lasting effect on your game as your skills and confidence both improve right along with your swing. Make sure to spend time working on your short shots as well as your long shots in order to get the full benefit of the driving range and visit the putting green section of your driving range if it has one to master (or at the very least improve) those finesse shots that are so very important when it comes to lowering your score.

4) Purchase discounts. Many local public courses and PGA approved courses around the country offer discounts for those who play regularly at one specific course or who travel regularly and wish to try out various great courses around the country. If you are a fan of the game of golf then discount cards can save a lot of money of the course of a year making the game a much more affordable hobby to have.

5) Skip the cart. This is a small sacrifice to make but one that can save a lot of money on many courses. If the cart rental is included in the greens fees then keep it. Otherwise eliminate that expense and apply the amount of money saved to your rainy day golf fund.

I hope you enjoy these great ways to make golf a little more affordable for the average Joe and that you might be able to get in a few extra rounds for your effort. Good luck and have fun.