Finally: The course
Be prepared
So, finally! You have arrived. This is what you have been working so hard to achieve and have spent hours after hours on the driving range in order to finally be allowed onto the golf course.
(I am not even speaking to those of you who just went to a course where anyone can play as long as they pay. Actually I must confess that I have been to many of those golf courses too!)
This is your first time and somehow it looks like the driving range. Except that far away you can see two flags waving in the air. You assume that this is where you want your ball to end up. But which one do you aim for?
Later you learn that from the first tee of this particular golf course, you are able to see the greens of both hole 1 and hole 2.
What you should look for now is the sign that gives you some more information about the hole you are about to play. Let me take as an example the sign from hole 10 where we played today.
At the top you can see the statistics of the hole:
- Loch 10: this is the 10th hole
- Par 5: A professional averages 5 shots on this hole (1 drive, 2 fairway shot and 2 putts)
- HCP 10: This is the 8th easiest hole on this golf course. The "HCP 1" hole is the most difficult and "HCP 18" is the easiest.
- Yellow 464: Distance from the yellow pin position (amateur men) is 464 meters
- Red 414: Distance from red pin position (amateur women) is 414 meters
Already you know a lot about the hole, but it pays to study the map also. Look for hazards (Water and Sand) and OB (Out of Bounds). On this map there are several sand hazards and a man has to shoot 225 meters to reach the fairway, the woman has to shoot 175 meters. These measurements can help you decide other measurements - like the distance to the trees - that can help you plan your play.
In addition you will see that there is a line with white dots on the right side of the course. That is the OB, which you do not want to hit! (1 penalty and you have to repeat the shot).
The course
