For those of us that are not golfers, that big bag of clubs seems like an awfully difficult way to take a walk. Golf courses consist of rolling hills and scenic ponds and lakes. They provide some of the nicest scenery around. They would be a nice place to take a walk and enjoy fresh air.

Golf courses provide some of the most scenic settings available anywhere. No matter where in the country you are chances are the most scenic spot is occupied by a golf course. Just look at some of the courses the pro’s watch on TV, places like Pebble Beach. They have incredible views, gorgeous green grass and gently rolling hills.

The problem is unless you play golf you will most likely never see any of these courses. They do not usually appreciate you walking around their course for leisure hikes. They do not appreciate people walking across the grass. The grass at golf courses is nicer than any other location. They keep the grass green so that you can use as stick to hit a white ball on it.

Before you can go out to the course and enjoy the scenery you will need to learn some basics. The first thing to know is what the clubs are for. You may have wondered why you can’t just use one stick on the entire course.

Golf clubs have been engineered to provide you with the right stick for each situation that you may be confronted with along the course. The largest of the clubs are called woods. These clubs were traditionally made of wood but are now made using metals such as titanium. The largest of the woods are referred to as drivers. A driver is intended for hitting the ball toward the hole from the tee. The longer and straighter you can hit it the better.

It is believed that the bigger the better. When it comes to drivers, size does matter. Taylormade Burner is a brand of driver that is an example of a club designed to hit the ball as far as possible. This driver is designed to provide a long straight hit off the tee. Naturally to use this club effectively you will need to learn the proper grip, stance and swing.

Taylor made wood clubs are some of the best woods manufactured. These clubs are designed to provide you with increased accuracy off the tee. The better you can hit the ball off the tee the better the rest of your game will typically be.

There are other wood clubs that are smaller than the driver. These are known as fairway wood. They are designed for use on the fairway. These clubs are intended to drive the ball further than metal ones, known as irons. The other club you will have in your bag will be the putter. This club is used to tap the ball into the hole; you have probably used one of these at a miniature golf course.

Aside from the full swing and the putt there are not normally dedicated areas at a golf course for practicing other shot types. You’ll perfect your drive by going to the driving range and most courses have a putting surface to practice all manner of short and long putts too. Some of the more important shots though are the ones that get you on to the green.

Chipping or pitching on to the green can be tricky as you’ll likely be trying to land the ball as close to the flag stick as possible but with little knowledge of the speed of the green and any curvature which could roll your ball into an awkward spot. The chip shot is arguably the shot that once mastered will shave significant numbers off your handicap as you should be landing the ball nearer to the hole and needing less putts to hit par or below.

The stance and grip for a chip shot are slightly different to that of a tee shot as you will typically not need to have such a wide stance and more of a vertical swing to get the required loft, distance and stopping power once the ball lands. You also don’t need to necessarily hold the club the same way, many golfers hold the club further down the grip nearer to the club’s head. This way you are able to gain much more control of the ball’s movement.

Your stance will figure heavily into the ball’s trajectory as it will determine how far through your swing you strike the ball. For chipping you need to be stood slightly back from the ball, this means you are going to strike the ball once you’ve completed your down swing and are now into your upswing.

This means the angle of the club head is increased achieving more loft but also minimizes top spin on the ball. With chip shots you want little top spin as this is what causes your ball to roll past your target when trying to get close to the pin.

Taking time to practice chip shots near the putting green (if your course allows this) or even at home can help you develop a natural instinct for how much power and angle is needed to get a perfect chip shot that stops on a dime when you aim for the green. Practice from differing surfaces (rough, fairway, even sand) and distances to help build your skills.

A golfer’s worst nightmare is not just getting in to the bunker, but it’s not being able to get out once you do. Many amateurs will look more like they’re digging at the beach than getting their ball out of the sand trap which can quickly frustrate the player and cause their focus to slip.

With golf a good portion of your performance will be down to your mental conditioning so knowing how to deal with the occasional sand shot is important so you keep your flow and your cool to recover and hopefully get on the green sooner rather than later.

First of all knowing your position in the bunker is important. Most bunkers have a shallow front approach with a high back wall, intended to roll your ball back down if you hit it but there are times your ball can stop on the back wall demanding a more difficult escape shot from the bunker. The closer you are to the back wall the more loft you will need to achieve in order to clear the bunker and land back on the fairway or on to the putting surface.

You’re typically going to be using the sand wedge as this club gives you the greatest loft, although if you feel that you don’t have to knock the ball as high but want the ball to travel some distance from a fairway bunker you can use other clubs such as the pitching wedge. Players who struggle to achieve loft on their shots should stick with the sand wedge though, remember to open the club face to get more loft and less distance when on the green surrounding bunkers.

Knowing where to strike the ball is one of the most important aspects to a successful bunker recovery; hit the ball in the wrong place and you could end up right where you started. The best sand shots are the ones that cause the sand to splash up and carry the ball like a wave does to a surf board. You want to get under the ball to get the height to your shot but also need to strike behind the ball correctly too.

The correct place to strike is actually the inch before the ball. You need to hit with a controlled amount of power much like a pitch shot. You need to have enough power to push through the sand and lift the ball up and forward, flicking up a lot of sand if you do it right. If you hit the ball with no sand going up then there’s a chance your ball will stick in the sand and roll a few inches at best.

The bunker shot is one of the toughest in golf and so it is well worth practicing or getting tuition to get a fuller understanding of what constitutes a great hazard recovery from the sand.

Be careful with your clubs when in the sand, consider golf club insurance or golf holiday insurance if you play a lot of golf, considering how expensive it could be to lose or damage your clubs it makes sense to take precautions

A good quarter of your shots when playing a round of golf are putts, they’re also some of the more stressful shots with games won and lost on nail-biting finishes on the putting green. When watching professional golfers on TV you will often see them miss putts that many armchair spectators will claim they could have made but the putt can be one of the tougher shot varieties to get right.

Fortunately there are plenty of ways to improve your putting skills from reading the green to judging the weight of the putt needed to reach the cup. Firstly you need to get your stance and grip right, the putt is a shot that can be very unorthodox and many golfers claim their method is the best. Some hold the club in a way that it hangs like a pendulum whereas other golfers will have their rear hand acting like a piston pushing the club forward.

Whilst there are lots of theories there are some common rules that all golfers acknowledge such as making sure your palms are both facing each other when holding your putter. This should help alleviate any wobbling or shifting of the club head when putting. Another important factor is the tenseness of your grip, if your hands are too tense or holding the grip too tightly this will affect your putt, usually adding too much power.

You should have a fair level of grip with your forefingers and thumbs but you should be fairly loose when putting too. You shouldn’t be swinging when putting either; you should have more of a side sweeping, pushing motion. It looks like this because you are pushing the ball towards the hole; if you swing like a normal club then you could hit the ball with the bottom edge of the putter which can take a fair bit of travel out of the ball’s rolling motion.

Make sure when you practice to start far enough away to simulate the putt you’d take after a chip or approaching shot. You should aim to get to the hole but aiming for an imaginary circle one foot around the hole should leave you in good stead for getting the ball in the hole on your second putt.

Practicing on a putting green or on uneven surfaces will help you develop a sense of where to aim when on a slope which can help you shave off unnecessary putts too.

Learning and practicing techniques like this should help you lower your official handicap. When playing a lot of golf you should consider some form of golf insurance such as golf club cover or golf travel insurance to make sure you and your clubs are safe out on the course.

If you are a keen golfer and you like to test yourself on some of the best golf courses in Europe then you want to make sure that you and your golf clubs are fully protected against all eventualities. After all, you never think it is going to happen to you but when you least expect it something bad happens and you could be left with a hefty bill to pay.

Specialist golf travel insurance sites have specially designed policies for golfers playing abroad. They understand that it is vitally important to have adequate protection for your golf clubs as well as the standard cover you get from the usual travel insurance policy.

Golfing holidays take a little more organising than the average holiday and as a result insurance is even more important as you can be affected in a greater way. Green fees and tuition fees may have already been paid upon completion of your booking so if your holiday has to be cancelled due to illness, course closure or accident if you have a comprehensive policy, you will be reimbursed.

If you have your own clubs and they are stolen, damaged or delayed on arrival then your policy should cover you for this too depending on the level of policy you choose. The same applies for any equipment you have to hire during your trip as a result of your own clubs not turning up for any reason.

You can choose between a single trip or annual policy. If you are planning to make a few trips during a 12 month period then an annual policy would probably work out better financially and will save you the time and hassle of having to book separate policies each time you are due to go abroad.

There are some fantastic courses in Europe and playing golf in the sun in Spain or France probably sounds like the perfect holiday for all golfers. However, the perfect holiday can quickly turn into a nightmare if you are involved in an accident or your clubs are damaged, delayed or stolen and you are without insurance.

Make sure this does not happen to you and that you are fully covered with golf holiday insurance against all eventualities including cancellation of flight, loss baggage and for golfers, damage, loss or theft of clubs as well as any other fees you may have had to pay, save a big expense by getting golf insurance.

Golf is a magnificent game of concentration and skill, you need both to be working in harmony with each other in order to succeed and hit the ball exactly where you want it to go. There are times though that even the most seasoned pro golfer can hit a poor shot and it can go wildly out of control into the rough, or worse.

Sometimes a miss-hit shot can cause damage to other people’s property such as a car parked in the club car park or the old favourite; a neighbouring greenhouse. It’s no laughing matter though as many golfers can hit the ball high and long which gives the ball plenty of momentum to cause serious damage.

Another possibility is that you hit another golfer out on the course. All golfers know the convention of waiting for the player/s on the hole in front of you to finish and vacate the green before you take your shot. Unfortunately though with some courses doubling back on themselves and many holes packed into a small space you could hit or be hit by another golfer’s ball if you, or they, aren’t careful.

It used to be the case that you could warn others of a miss-hit shot by yelling the word “fore!” it isn’t a legal responsibility to warn other players but many players subscribe to the thought that it should be and so you will often hear players doing each other the common courtesy of yelling “fore” when hitting a poor shot.

If you are unlucky enough to strike a fellow golfer with your ball there’s a good chance they will require medical attention and perhaps even a spell in hospital. Medical bills will need paying by whoever was at fault. In order to make sure that you are not left out of pocket as a result of this a specialist golf insurance policy may be the answer.

Golf Insurance may sound odd but you’d be surprised how expensive golfing could be without it. Your clubs for instance can be costly to replace especially if you are an experienced golfer and have invested in some cases over £300 on a single club alone.

Golf Insurance can cover the medical costs that could happen as a result of a miss-hit golf ball, as well as any damage to homes and property if you’ve hit a bad shot. There are many other instances where golf insurance can be useful as some policies cover golf buggies as well as cover for your golf clubs if they are stolen.

If you’re a golfer and you value your clubs and being able to be free of worries whilst you play golf then golf insurance is for you. You’ll be able to forget about any distracting thoughts and worries and concentrate on hitting the ball straight and true. Check out any 2 for 1 golf offers to save even more money too.

Many people in the UK play golf whether on the weekend, occasionally with friends or perhaps in tournaments at their local golf course. Golf has seen a massive surge in popularity over the past decade, partially due to the influx of younger, exciting professional golfers such as Tiger Woods, Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy.

Whether it is just the occasional game or you are taking your golf skills seriously, playing on a variety of courses and experiencing different surfaces and conditions is key to increasing your overall ability. An ideal way to accomplish this is by going on a golfing holiday with friends. Not only do you get to experience new courses that test your mettle but you get to enjoy (hopefully) the better weather abroad.

There are some things you need to be aware of when playing golf abroad though. Firstly you will likely be flying and so you’ll need a decent golf bag to protect your clubs in transit but also to carry them when you arrive. There are specialist golf travel bags that protect all of your clubs, including a hard top to protect your club heads.

A good case will serve you well but that won’t always protect your precious – and no doubt expensive – clubs. Baggage handlers are notorious for being less than careful when loading luggage on to the plane. This means that you could end up getting your clubs at the other end but find that they are damaged in some way or lost. Claiming compensation is obviously the first thing to do but can take many weeks to resolve. There is a way though that you can prepare for the worst and be covered for this kind of incident.

Golf Travel Insurance is just like having any other insurance; it protects you and your clubs whilst on holiday. This specialist policy will make sure that if your clubs are damaged or lost then they can be replaced instantly, saving your holiday from total failure. There are other expenses that can end up costing a lot of money or time, such as personal injury.

There are plenty of times on a golf course that you could get injured whether it’s a muscle sprain or getting hit by an errant golf ball. Knowing you are covered for medical costs if you become seriously injured is a reassuring feature of golf travel insurance. Likewise if you cause harm to another person or their property then you are covered for this too.

So if you’re contemplating a golfing holiday then getting golf travel insurance or golf club insurance is a good way to take the worry out of your holiday and lets you concentrate on playing the game of golf.

Purchasing a set of golf clubs is a big investment for the future andif you are just starting out then it may be wise to go for a mid-range priced set. However, if you are at an advanced level then you may want to consider buying a more expensive but higher quality set of golf clubs to help you improve your game.

In order to improve your game and progressfrom beginner level to an advanced level you must have a sound understanding of how each different set of clubs work and when you should use an iron over a wood for example. If you don’t know this then here are a few points worth noting down.

One type of club is the Wood. Woods are often easier to master than Irons (see below). When buying a set of clubs you will have a driver (or 1 wood), along with two more fairway woods that may include a 3 and/or 5 wood. A 4 wood may be purchased and is useful to have in the bag and professionals are even known to have an 11 wood available to them.

The Driver is the most difficult of the woods to get accustomed to as it is the longest club (around 45 inches), and as it is longer it is harder to fully control if you are not used to playing with it. Driver clubheads are made out of titanium or steel. Steel clubs are cheaper to buy but purchasing titanium clubheads will add power to your drive and give you more distance.

Fairway Clubs are made out of the same material as the Driver clubheads. The reason they are called ‘Woods’ is because prior to the 80’s the clubheads were made of wood but modern day technology has meant that they have improved them using the titanium alloys and steel.

The other set of clubs are known as the ‘Irons’. A 3 iron is usually one of 8 clubs you will find in the set. Irons offer more loft than woods so if you are playing uphill then a 2 iron may be better to use than a 5 wood even though they both offer around the same distance. Each club has less loft than the next one up; so a 3 iron has less loft than a 4 iron.

These are the two main types of clubs. Alongside these you have putters, sand wedges and others that will help you improve your game.

You should protect your investment and get golf club cover as a part of any golf insurance policy you take out.

Many golfing enthusiasts throughout the world have discovered how good South African is as a golfing destination. South Africa has over 450 golf courses, and a number of these golf courses are truly world class. Golf legends such as Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Greg Norman, Ernie Els and Annika Sorenstam have all designed South African golf courses. In South Africa, golf is booming, and has become an extremely popular sport. This is as a result of the ideal climate conditions that exist in South Africa, and golf can be played 365 days a year in most locations throughout the country.

For the international tourist, a South African golf holiday is financially attractive. This is due to the favorable exchange rate of the South African Rand. Visitors can play world class golf courses under the spectacular African sun, and the green fees will be a fraction of what you would expect to pay in America or Europe. Add to this the cheaper accommodation rates, cheaper restaurants and cheaper travel, and one can see why South African golf holidays are gaining in popularity. For South African accommodation, have a look at the GolfLinx Where to Stay Guide for South Africa.

The variety of golf courses which are available in South Africa can make a South African golf holiday really special. The many coastal courses provide a tough challenge of golf with dramatic views of the ocean as a backdrop. The bushveld courses offer the unique experience playing golf in the African bush, and the opportunity to see some South African wildlife during a round of golf. For more information about the top golf courses in South Africa, have a look at the Top 100 South African Golf Courses by Golf Digest.

Besides golf, South Africa boasts many tourist attractions. The many miles of unspoilt and exotic beaches provide ample opportunities to relax and soak up the sun. The swimming and bathing beaches are safe (they are protected by shark nets) and are very clean. The many game reserves that exist throughout South Africa are a popular tourist attraction. There are 17 South African national parks, and also many private game reserves. Many visitors come to South Africa to see the Big Five (lion, elephant, leopard, rhino and buffalo), which can be seen in many game reserves throughout the country. South Africa’s spectacular mountain ranges are another popular tourist attraction, and offer many scenic hiking and backpacking trails. Wine lovers cannot afford to miss the Western Cape’s world renowned wine routes.

There are many tour operators that specialize in South African golf holidays. Type the search ’south african golf tours’ into Google to get a list of tour operators to help you plan a memorable South African golf holiday.

For more information about South African golf courses, accommodation, news and links, take a look at GolfLinx.co.za – The Golf Directory for South Africa.

Since they are growing Golf courses are always in a state of constant change and evolution ! They interfere with the width of the putting surface of the golf course such as the trees, grass and other shrubs grow. In order to reduce the wastage of the surface, these elements forming the major part of the course need to be maintained in a proper and orderly fashion thus increasing the efficiency of the course itself.

Plenty of the ecological as well as community benefits must be provided by well-maintained golf courses. In moderation over the entire golf course to maintain a healthy turf, formerly fertilizers and pesticides should be used.

Trees are also an important and vital part of any golf course. The overgrown limbs of trees have to be trimmed as part of the tree maintenance programs. Softer slopes compared to steep slopes are most cost effective and have less maintenance . Trim work is the most difficult and crucial part of golf course maintenance. Sand Bunkers required sand to be add and replaced constantly as well as raking. After heavy rain, the sand will always need to be shoveled back into the bunkers, if the sand bunkers are steep.

Maintaining the golf carts, which is generally petrol or electric, is also very important. The batter terminals and water levels should be checked every fortnight if you are using electric carts. The damage to the greens in the golf course can be reduced to a large extent by using Soft spike golf shoes instead of metal spike shoes.

The irrigation system of any golf course also needs proper care in order to work to its full potential. It will reduce the overall water wastage and improve the appearance and quality of the greens in a big way, if this system is maintained efficiently . You can keep your golf course looking beautiful and well manicured thus ensuring a quality experience for the players, by following a few simple steps .

These is Rotor Maintenance- Worn out seals and nozzles should be replaced immediately, the arcs of the rotors should be regularly adjusted. Anticipate changes on weather and increase or decrease water usage accordingly. These would help prevent dry spots at the same time lessen the risk of over-watering the golf course.

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