Golfing is a hands-on game. You will not learn how to play well by watching a video or playing a Nintendo game. You can watch all the pro golf games on TV you like, but are you able to you remember how Tiger Woods did it when the ball is in front of you and the club is in your hands?

People make millions out of golfing videos, golfing tutorials and golfing games, but few people have ever got anything from them. You will learn far more by spending an hour with the club golf pro.

If you truly want a video to watch at home, why not make your own whilst you are spending an hour with the golf pro? Take a youngster with you to shoot your lesson on a camcorder.

The first suggestion for novices is to keep your eyes on the ball. This might sound self-evident, but if you watch beginners taking a shot, you will often see that they look away too early. This can result in a sliced stroke or even a miss. If you have your eyes on the ball, you will not lose it either.

While putting, stand squarely over the ball. The ball ought to be midway between your feet and your head should be directly above the ball. This also permits you to get a decent line of sight to the hole. The stroke should be smooth, with a graceful follow through.

Keeping the ball on the fairway is a problem for most novice golfers. It appears all to easy to slice the ball into the rough. This has to do with your stance. A sliced ball is one that has been hit on its side, like putting side on a snooker ball to make it spin in that direction.

If you put side on a golf ball, it will spin in that direction and veer off in that direction as well. The answer to this problem, is to always hit the ball squarely will the centre of the blade of the club, unless you want it to curve in mid flight. That is for advanced players though. Novices should concentrate on learning how to hit the ball in a straight line.

Hooking the ball is a different difficulty altogether although the affect is similar – that is that the ball goes off to the side. Hooking the ball has to do with swing and posture. It is usually the result of not driving the ball straight ahead of you, but slinging it to the opposite side of your dominant arm. That is, right-handed golfers will hook the ball to the left.

To right this, practice hitting the ball just a couple of yards into an upright bucket or a dog’s basket. Every day you should move the basket back a few feet until you can confidently chip almost every ball into the basket. Then go for power and attempt to hit the ball from the tee onto the green.

We all know that we should exercise. Some individuals even like doing it, but unfortunately for society and most of us in it, the majority of us cannot be bothered to get off their backsides, which is why the populations of Western countries are turning to lard before our very eyes. This is a shame not just for the people concerned but for the tax-payers who have to replenish the public coffers in order to take care of them when they get sick.

So, how can we motivate ourselves to take more exercise? Clearly government health warnings are merely benefiting advertising agencies and the media, so what else? Maybe, they should tell us: ‘Play tennis once a week, you will enjoy that vodka a whole lot more afterwards!’. Or ‘Play a round of golf first and that G&T will taste better!’ Or: ‘Walk a mile to the pub, have a pint, walk back and have another one, you will need it!’ The puritanical way definitely has not worked, so why not give realism a try?

I mentioned golf there more or less by accident, but it strikes me that going for a game of golf and having a drink with your friends later is a whole lot better than watching it on TV with a can. It is not merely the walking either, which most of us do not do enough of anyway, but it is the actions connected with hitting the ball – the swing and hand-eye co-ordination as well. And the social life afterwards, and loads of people miss out on a social life especially after retirement or the death of a spouse.

Now golf might not seem to you to be an interesting sport and I understand that point of view completely, but that is because it is not until you realize how hard it is to hit that ball hundreds of yards onto the green that most people can grasp the complexity of playing the game well. That may be true of the majority of sports, but golf does look so unhurried, does it not?

One of the good things about golf is that you can play with people of similar ability to yourself so that you do not feel self-conscious or ‘out of place’. If you join a ramblers’ club after 30 years of watching TV, you will soon feel old and past it, but golf is not the same, because there is no pace, no hurry, you can take as long as you like, you can let others ‘play through’ (go on before you) and you can call it a day and retire to the club house whenever you want.

Many retired people take up golf, particularly if they were used to being active at work, but it is also a hobby, that you can take up if you feel that you are not active enough at any age. It is surprising how much a little bit of extra exercise can help stave off stiff limbs and chubbiness.

A lot of debate has gone on concerning the history of golfing, long traditionally believed to have started in the area surrounding the Firth of Forth in Scotland. A golfing-like game is recorded as taking place on 26 February 1297, in the Netherlands, where the Dutch played a game with a stick and leather ball.

However, modern research into the history of golfing has discovered references to a game very comparable to modern day golfing being played in China during the period of the Southern Tang dynasty, at least 500 years before golfing was first mentioned in Scotland.

It has been asserted that the game was first exported to Europe and later Scotland by Mongolian travellers in the later Middle Ages.

In Scotland the first known documentary proof for golf was in an act of the Scottish parliament in 1457 which banned the playing of ?gowf? and football lest they detract from the vital military exercise of archery practice. In a subsequent ban of 1491 golfing was described as ‘an unprofitable sport’!. Something which Tiger Woods is probably unaware of!

There are reports in the accounts of a Scottish lawyer, Sir John Foulis of Ravelston, that he played golf at Musselburgh Links on 2 March 1672, and this has been accepted as proving that The Old Links, Musselburgh, is the oldest golf course in the world. Mary, Queen of Scots is supposed to have played there in 1567.

The Company of Gentlemen Golfers, later renamed The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers set down the oldest existing rules of golf in 1744. Their “Articles and Laws in Playing at Golf, known as the Leith Rules, after the course at which they played support the club’s claim to be the world?s first golfing club, though an almanac published around 100 years later is the first record of a rival claim that The Royal Burgess Golf Society had been set up in 1735.

The instructions in the Leith Rules formed the basis for all subsequent codes, for instance requiring that “Your Tee must be upon the ground” and “You are not to change the Ball which you strike off the Tee”

After King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England in 1603 the spread of golf to be a world wide sport commenced. He and his courtiers played golf at Blackheath, London, from which the Royal Blackheath Golf Club traces its origins.

The spread of golf world wide was began by Scottish soldiers, expatriates and emigrants who took the sport to British colonies and elsewhere.

The Royal Calcutta Golf Club (1829) and the club at Pau (1856) in south western France are notable reminders of these trips and are the oldest golf clubs outside of the British Isles and the oldest in continental Europe respectively.

Evidence of early golfing in the United States includes an advertisement published in the Royal Gazette of New York City in 1779 for golf discotheques and balls, and the notice of the annual general meeting for a golfing club in Savannah printed in the Georgia Gazette in 1796.

However, as in England, it was not until the late 19th century that golfing started to become firmly established. There are several competing claims to be the oldest club, but what is not contested is that in 1894 delegates from the Newport Country Club, Saint Andrew’s Golf Club, Yonkers, New York, The Country Club, Chicago Golf Club, and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club met in New York City to kind what was to become the United States Golf Association (USGA).

Pattaya is a city constructed for fun on the northeastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand. It is located in Chonburi Province around 150 kilometres south of Bangkok. In the Sixties, Pattaya was hardly known, yet the American soldiers fighting in Vietnam started using it for R&R and it started to boom. Pattaya is most famous for its entertainment and its nightlife, yet in fact it has a lot more than that to offer.

As far as only sport goes, Pattaya offers horse riding, swimming, diving, wind surfing, golf, tennis and jet skiing among others. However, unlike most sporting towns or cities, it does not start to go to sleep when the sun goes down.

The bars, restaurants, discos and strip bars begin to open in profusion at around four o’clock. The bars are of each persuasion to suit each niche market.

There are Welsh bars, American bars, Irish bars, Lady Boy bars and every other sort of bar you can think of. Likewise with the restaurants, there are specialized restaurants for each country. There are bush game restaurants, Chinese, Japanese, American, French, German and fish restaurants. In fact there are thousands of restaurants and bars all trying to be unique.

I am sure that you could stay in Pattaya for months without going the same bar or eating the same sort of food twice. This is just as well because there are representatives from each country in the world there as well. You will hear English, Russian and every European and Asian language spoken in Pattaya on an everyday basis.

Pattaya gets over one million visitors a year. Most of these visitors are men, but the local government is attempting to do more to appeal to women and families by relocating the girlie bars back away from the beach.

Despite it being quite large, you can stay in your favourite part of Pattaya yet find nearly everything you desire near-by. However, if you do have to get about, nothing could be simpler. Most individuals merely hop on a ‘Baht Bus’. These small open-backed pick-ups can be seen going around the city by quite predictable routes when you understand the layout of the city.

The ‘fixed fare’ is ten Baht for as far as you would like to go on the route, although some drivers will endeavor to trick more out of you if you go a long way. Thais pay five Baht. If you do not feel confident enough to forecast where the bus is going, you could get on one of the thousands of motorcycle taxis.

They are more expensive at about forty to sixty Baht, yet they will go anywhere you like. Ask for a quote before you leave to avoid disappointment on both sides. If you do not want to rent a car, there are other options. You could rent a motorcycle or motorbike. A motorcycle costs around 100 Baht a day at the cheapest, but beware the traffic in Pattaya it can be fairly chaotic.

There is a commonly-held belief that golf is the pastime and sport of entrepreneurs and businessmen. It also has the reputation of being exclusive and elite and not being available to ordinary blue collared workers. However, this is not really true, since modern technology and globalization have brought this so-called elite sport into the realm of normal people.

This is because you don’t need to acquire sophisticated equipment to join in. Unlike big game fishing and polo which require a lot of resources – a boat or a horse respectively, golfers just need a set of golf clubs, which are affordable these days. With this in mind, retirement gifts for golfers and aspiring ones are more easily thought of.

Personalized retirement gifts to personalize golfing equipment is quite easy. You could easily make personalized gifts by embroidering such items as golf club pouches or caddy covers. These can be knitted, if you are into knitting or by any similar craft which may require different materials.

A good idea is to think about the fashions of golfing which means to focus on the things worn by golfers. You may even be able to set a new trend in golfing apparel by using your lively imagination and an interesting design for your retiree.

Common gifts. The most common method of buying a retirement gift for golfers is to go to the nearest sports shop and get your retiree one of the things sold there. It may sound a bit impersonal to just get the retiree a commercially made gift, but then this may actually prove really useful, if the retiree is still a novice golfer. Maybe you might want to get him a set of golf clubs since it is the basic requirement to be able to play golf.

Moreover, you may find other accessories there that your retiree golfer still needs, but then perhaps you could also contribute your imagination and think about what you can make to enhance the golfing equipment he may already have.

Commercially available golfing equipment is also useful, if you want to make your retiree feel professional. You could give him a famous set of clubs, making him look like a pro.

Gags and Jokes The fun part of choosing to give a gag present, instead of the traditional gift, is the humour these items can create. It also adds to the brighter side of the golf-playing retiree’s party and his friends will be able to join in with smiles, laughs and jokey comments as well.

The joke present should be bought very carefully as the gag gift may represent a sensitive matter for the retiree, especially if he is still a newbie player. Joke gift in relation to golfing might be taken negatively and discourage or at least hinder their learning and progress as they are disturbed by the idea represented by the joke gift given to them.

However, to more veteran golf players who are already acquainted with the way golfers think, the gift of a good joke present on their retirement day would be quite amusing as they would already know golf not only as a method of relieving their stress and getting some decent exercise but of actually just having a laugh as well.

It’s a good idea to view retirement gifts for golfers as merely a easy way to make your golfer friend see the funny side of life after his career is over.

If you are looking at senior golf vacation packages where you can get golf lessons, a friendly game of golf or watch a PGA Tour, you might look on the Internet to see where the best destinations might be. You could travel to Arizona, Hawaii, Bermuda or Myrtle Beach.

You could have some exciting rounds of golf when you reserve a senior golf package that includes accommodation, airfare and a couple of days of golf. You will not only enjoy your golf, but the many attractions in the area as well. Vacation packages are great and when they involve golf at a very prominent club, you will have an even better time.

Myrtle Beach has some of the most impressive golf vacation packages with diverse activities built into each one. You can play the Big Cat and even have a lesson or two from the former Senior Golf Tour player Gary Cowan. Gary Cowan was the winner of two majors and had eight appearances in other majors.

You may prefer the Big Cat package, the Fanatic golfer package or the four rounds and three-night package. The latter is for the true golfer. Four days of golf and only three-nights in the hotel is what you get with this vacation package.

In Maui, you can play one of the courses designed by Robert Trent Jones; enjoy a day in the warm sun and experience a golf course like you have never experienced before. You can stay at the Kaanapali Beach hotel and take the short walk to the golf course.

The two courses are a senior golfer’s delight. The South Course has an executive style, but with little complexity whereas the North Course runs through the foothills and along the beach and is considered a challenging golf course. It is also home to the PGA Tour.

If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, you might like to try the senior golf vacation package to Bermuda. With nine golf courses spread out on twenty-one acres of land, you will find that this is one of the most exceptional experiences of a lifetime. You can choose from fourteen hotels and resorts that offer senior golf vacation packages. With sea all around, you will feel the warm breeze and smell the ocean as you enjoy a great game of golf. Many vacation packages include at least one day of golf, but you can find holiday package deals with more days as well.

However, the story of senior golf vacation packages does not end there. You could enjoy a trip to Arizona where you can find some of the leading golfing schools. The golf courses in the area put on the PGA and the LPGA. The Scottsdale area is crammed with many senior friendly golf courses that will intrigue even the skilled golfer.

Not only do you have the game of golf, but some of the best entertainment is on hand in the area as well. You can plan a senior golf outing anywhere you can find a great package deal and professional coaching.

Golf is a very dignified game of rules, manners and etiquette, and it’s quite important to know the basics of golfing etiquette before you play golf for the first time.

Whether you are playing on your own, in a twosome or a foursome, the first rule of golfing etiquette is that you must always wait your turn. You must stay aware of the group on the next hole and wait until they are well ahead of you before you hit your ball.

Golfing etiquette also means that it is never correct to “hurry” the group in front of you. If you are playing with others, wait for your turn to hit the ball; never hit at the same time as another player.

While you are waiting for your turn to play, go to your ball and decide which golf club you will select and how you are going to hit the golf ball with it. This is called “ready golf” and keeps the game moving along, but don’t hurry anybody, just be ready for your turn to play.

Another nice piece of golfing etiquette, especially for the novice is ‘playing through’. For example, if your team is holding up the players behind you, say because you are consistently over par, let them play through. You would simply wave them through, or if they are near enough, ask them if they would like to play through. You will never make an enemy by doing this!

When someone is taking a shot, you should be standing behind them and you shouldn’t make any noise! It is so distracting to be about to to tee off and just as you draw back, someone decides to play with coins in their pocket or noisily unwrap a sweet.

Replacing divots. Let’s say you are on the fairway and you hit the ball a bit thick and a clump of dirt and grass goes flying, no problem, but golfing etiquette says that you ought to replace it. On some courses you just put the turf back into the hole and step on it to press it down, but on most courses, there is a sand/seed mixture on the course to put into the divot. Also, if your ball makes a deep impression when it lands on the green, you ought to use your divot tool to repair it.

As soon as you have completed a hole, replace the flag and leave the green quickly so that the next players can play that hole. Count your score and write it on the scorecard when you’re back at your cart.

Of course, there are many more rules of golfing etiquette, but these simple ones will enable you to get through the course without making anyone annoyed. If we all keep to golfing etiquette we will keep the game dignified, right?

I was reading one of those ‘Golfing for Women’ magazines the other day and started wondering where the women are, who wear the golf apparel modeled in women’s golf magazines? I’ve never seen women, professionals included, who would dress in such expensive and outrageous clothing!

It’s easy to spend money kitting yourself out for golf: hats, sunglasses, gloves, shirts, shorts, socks, windbreakers and shoes all add up quickly, even if you shop at the sales. Then add in equipment, bag and cart and you have to play quite often to keep the “CPU” – cost per use down to an acceptable level.

One glossy advertisement showed a beautiful model in very short shorts (like that’s allowed on courses!) that cost nearly $300, a golf shirt at almost $600, a jacket by Ralph Lauren at almost $200 and two-toned Utuser shoes costing $400 plus.

That adds up to nearly $1,500! I know that I could never hope to get the CPU on that outfit down to anywhere near an acceptable limit in my lifetime! Don’t misunderstand me – I love clothes and I really love shoes, but could never afford, or even want, golf shoes or pants that cost more than most people’s weekly wage.

Granted, you want comfortable golfing shoes that don’t look like a pair of clogs, but really, you can buy less expensive and still a la mode golf shoes.

I have bought several very stylish golf outfits, even though none of them are famous brand names. If I were to add up the cost of all of those articles of clothing, it would not add up to the cost of a Tse golf shirt. Personally, I would prefer to have a few nice outfits than one that is priced way over-the-top.

If I were to wear a $1,500 outfit to play golf, I would simply be too worried about getting it dirty or perspiring in it to play a proper round.

Golf is a game of rules and etiquette, and it is very important to know the essentials of golfing etiquette before you go up to the tee to play your first game of golf.

Golfing etiquette dictates that it doesn’t matter whether you are playing on your own, in a twosome or in a foursome, you must always wait your turn. You must also remain aware of the group on the next hole and wait until they are well ahead of you before hitting your ball.

Golfing etiquette also means that it is never correct to “push” the group in front of you. If you are playing with others, wait for your turn to hit the ball; never hit at the same time as another player.

While you wait for your turn to play, go to your ball and determine what golf club you will select and how you are going to hit the golf ball with it. This is called “ready golf” and keeps the game moving along. Don’t rush anybody, just be ready for your turn.

Another useful piece of golfing etiquette, especially for beginners is ‘playing through’. For example, if your team is holding up the players behind you, perhaps because you are playing consistently over par or taking a long time to choose your club, let them play through. You would simply wave them through, or if they are not far away from you, just ask them if they would like to play through. You will never make enemies by doing this!

When someone is making a shot, you should be standing behind them and you shouldn’t make any noise! It is so distracting to be about to to tee off and just as you draw back, someone decides to play with loose change in their pocket or noisily unwrap a bar of chocolate.

Replacing your divots. Say you are on the fairway and you hit the ball and a clod of dirt and grass goes flying, golfing etiquette says you should replace it. On some courses you just put the clod back and step on it to press it down, but on most courses, there is a sand/seed mixture on the course to put into the divot. If your ball makes a deep impression when it lands on the green, you can use your divot tool to repair it.

As soon as you have finished a hole, replace the flag and leave the green as quickly and quietly as possible there may be another team teeing off at the next hole) so that the next players can play that hole. Add up your score and write it on the scorecard when you get back to your trolley.

For sure, there is much more to golfing etiquette than this, but these basic rules of golfing etiquette will enable you to get around the course without upsetting anyone. If we all uphold golfing etiquette we will keep the game nice and friendly, or not?

Golf is a game of rules and etiquette, and it is very important to know the essentials of golfing etiquette before you go up to the tee to play your first game of golf.

It doesn’t matter whether you are playing on your own, in a twosome or in a foursome, golfing etiquette demands that you must always wait your turn. You must remain aware of the group on the next hole and wait until they are well ahead of you before hitting your ball.

Golfing etiquette also means that it is never cool to “hurry” the group in front of you. If you are playing with others, wait for your turn to hit the ball; never hit at the same time as another player.

While you are waiting for your turn to play, go to your ball and decide which golf club you will need to use and how you are going to hit the golf ball with it. This is called “ready golf” and keeps the game moving along, but don’t hurry everybody, just be ready for your turn to play.

Another useful piece of golfing etiquette, especially for beginners is ‘playing through’. For example, if your team is holding up the players behind you, perhaps because you are playing consistently over par or taking a long time to choose your club, let them play through. You would simply wave them through, or if they are near enough to you, just ask them if they would like to play through. You will never make an enemy by doing this!

When someone is making a shot, you should be standing behind them and you shouldn’t make a sound! It is so distracting to be about to to tee off and just as you pull back, someone decides to jingle loose change in their pocket or noisily unwrap a sweet.

Replacing your divots. Say you are on the fairway and you hit the ball and a clod of dirt and grass goes flying, golfing etiquette says you should replace it. On some courses you just put the clod back and step on it to press it down, but on most courses, there is a sand/seed mixture on the course to put into the divot. If your ball makes a deep impression when it lands on the green, you can use your divot tool to repair it.

As soon as you have finished a hole, replace the flag and leave the green as quickly and quietly as possible there may be another team teeing off at the next hole) so that the next players can play that hole. Count your score and write it on the scorecard when you get back to your trolley.

Of course, there are many more rules of golfing etiquette, but these simple ones will enable you to get through the course without making anyone annoyed. If we all keep to golfing etiquette we will keep the game dignified, right?