Tee off with a friend or two

There is no other sport where an amateur has the chance to play with a professional and compete on level terms. You can play on some of the same courses as the top professionals, walk the fairways that they have trod. Golf is a game that can be played by all ages. Tiger Woods took up the sport at the age of three, while many people in their 80s still enjoy the game.

This is the only sport where you can compete on equal terms with someone who is much better than you, because of the handicapping system.

Golf is now a huge participation sport, with over 4 million people playing in this country, and millions more around the world and over 30 countries now take part in international golf competitions.

So how do we get started?

The best thing to do is to go along to your nearest golf club or golf range and ask to speak to the professional (they are known as 'the pro'). Tell him or her that you want to learn to play and they'll tell you just what your club can offer to juniors.

Most clubs have Junior Organisers who will look after you and make you feel very welcome.

A tip is to take a friend or two to go along with you and learn together, but don't worry if you have to go alone as you will meet plenty of other juniors and will soon make a lot of new friends.

In addition to this path you can also look to the Golf Foundation or the English Golf Union. Both these organisations work with clubs and driving ranges to offer lots of help to juniors who want to start playing golf. Details of these will follow What Equipment Do You Need?

To begin with you don't need any special equipment or clothing at all. Most clubs and driving ranges that offer special beginners lessons to juniors will provide clubs and balls for you.

In fact, it's not a good idea to go off buying equipment before you have had lessons. You could end up wasting a lot of money. After you've had a few lessons the pro will be able to talk to you about what equipment is right for you. There are some schemes that are even offering free clothing for beginners, so take your time and start small and build up with the advice of your professional.

Although you don't need any special clothing to begin with, most clubs have a smart dress code and do not like you to wear jeans or trainers. You need shoes that will give good support. Check with the pro or Junior Organiser what it's best to wear, before you have your lessons.

What will it cost?

Some people think golf is an expensive game that is only for rich people. This is not true! Most clubs have very special rates for juniors. For beginners there are low-cost lessons to get you started. Many clubs and driving ranges are even offering free starter lessons.

Details of this can be obtained from your club or range.

The English Golf Union is launching a scheme throughout the country, which offers free golf coaching to beginners. The coaching sessions will be given by fully qualified professional coaches and will be on offer all year round. There will be group lessons lasting for one hour, with five beginners per session. Golf clubs and balls will be provided, so you won't even need your own equipment.

The special scheme is for people of any age.

To find out your nearest venue and the dates of coaching sessions contact:

Mr. Richard Flint Membership Secretary, English Golf Union The National Golf Centre,The Broadway, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire LN10 6PU, Tel: 01526-354500

GOLF FOUNDATION STARTER CENTRES

The Golf Foundations have Starter Centres at clubs and driving ranges throughout the country. The Starter Centres offer lessons either free or at a reduced price to juniors. For details of your nearest Starter Centre contact:

The Golf Foundation, Foundation House, The Spinney, Hoddesdon Road, Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire SG12 8GF, Tel: 01920 876200 Fax: 01920 876211

More and more clubs are providing very special deals to encourage juniors to take up golf. These deals are often organised by the clubs themselves, sometimes with help from golf's organising bodies or with lottery funding. Some clubs are organising their own fund raising to make sure all juniors can afford to take up the game.

Clubs and golfing organisations are doing all they can to help juniors get started and are particularly keen to see more girls taking up the game. Fewer than 20% of juniors playing golf are girls.

As in all sports there are rules and etiquette of the game. Please take time to learn these disciplines and then you can enjoy the game to the full.

OK, now you have gone through the basics you then need to obtain a handicap. This is gained by playing on the course and presenting three score-cards into the club. Your average will be calculated and your first handicap will be awarded to you. Now the hard work begin in trying to get the handicap down to that elusive scratch level.

For those of you who have already mastered this part of the game you are then keen to enter competitions learn more of their skills and talk to other young golfers. My son Clayton, age 16, found this to be the most difficult area of all - how to network and find out what was going on out side of my town or city. We looked on the net and found some sites but none that gave us the information that we sought.

So Junior Golf UK was born. www.juniorgolfuk.com is a web site for you the juniors for juniors.

You can add to and learn of events, advice, and technical tips, ask the pro and much, much more. We have links to all of the golf organisations listed above. Just log on and explore the site. We need your comments and feed back as to what you want to see on the site. Lets build Junior Golf UK into the number one junior web site in the UK today so visit us soon and let us know what you want to see and we will add this to the site. Junior Golf UK Ltd