A lot of people think, that it is very easy to get started with golf and within a few days at the range you would be able to hit proper shots that fly nice and high and go a few hundred yards but it’s actually the opposite, it takes really long to manage to get your first flight and takes even longer to try to repeat that shot. The first thing to do when getting started with golf is finding a coach. In India most of the best courses are located on military bases but there are still a few public ones scattered all over the country. To find a proper coach, it would be best if you could ask someone you know for recommended coaches or ask your club is there are any local coaches there. You also probably shouldn’t just start out by playing a round on the course but should instead start out hitting balls on the range. It also helps pick up the game if you first start out on a carpeted mat and then shift to grass.
To find a registered course near you could just google “Golf Courses Near Me” or use this website Where2Golf (https://www.where2golf.com/) that can show you golf courses near you. Now a lot of beginners get confused when it comes out to picking gear and think that they need a full set of 14 clubs to start of which is not true. You could start of just with one club (my recommendation would be a 7 or an 8 iron). You could check out rental clubs from whatever golf course you play at, you could borrow a club or two from a friend or you could buy a used club from this website called Golfoy (https://golfoy.com/).
After you get the hang of hitting shots you should move on to a proper set. I would recommend starting out with a putter, sand wedge, 8 iron, 6 iron, hybrid and driver. These are essentially all the different types of clubs and getting used to all of them would be a good idea. One thing to remember is to always warm up before playing a round of golf or even hitting balls on the range so that you don’t injure yourself in any way. A while after, if you feel like you have got the hang of all these clubs ask your coach to take you out on the course for a round to get the feel of the game. Later once you become really good and get a registered handicap (your average score) it would be the ideal time for you to invest in a nice set of clubs.
There are also a few drills that you can do at the range that can help you pick up golf faster like the gate drill where you place two tees upside down about an inch to the right and left of your ball and then swinging and trying to only make contact with the ball and leave the tees standing to fix hitting it on the toe or heel of the golf club and the clock drill where you try to swing in perfect rhythm like the arm of a grandfather clock back and forth.
The point of the game of golf is to have the lowest score by the end of the round. Each hole has a different par. A par is the number of shots that you are supposed to take to get the ball into the hole. If you shoot a par, you add a zero to your scorecard. There are 3 different pars, par 3’s, par 4’s and par 5’s. If you get the ball in the hole taking one shot less then the par rating it is called a birdie. If you get a birdie, you add a -1 to your scorecard. Remember the goal of the game is to get the ball in the hole with as few strokes as possible. If you get the ball in the hole taking 2 shots less then a par it is called an eagle. You would add a -2 to your scorecard. However if you get the ball in the hole with one stroke it is called a hole in one and you add a -2, -3, or -4 to your scorecard depending on which par it is. If you get the ball in the hole taking one shot more than the par it is called a bogey. You want to try to avoid getting bogeys as they add a +1 to your score. However if you get the ball in the hole with 2 strokes more than par, it is called a double bogey and you add a +2 to your score. You altogether just want to avoid hitting bogeys. When you just start out playing golf it will take you a very long time to get the score you want and your first scores might be up there in the 20’s and 30’s. What most people do after constantly shooting bad scores is getting frustrated and angry and therefore play even worse. It’s completely normal as a beginner to shoot high scores while having high expectations. While playing a round of golf, you cannot move the ball and must always hit the ball where it lies unless you are in a hazard (water, trees, etc..) or a ground under repair section. Then you must take a drop (drop the ball as close to outside the unplayable zone as possible) and add a 1 shot penalty to your scorecard. You must always let the persons whose ball is furthest back hit first. The person who shoots the lowest score on any hole has honours (they get to hit from the next tee box first). If the ball travels outside designated play areas (out of bounds) than you must take a 1 stroke penalty and drop the ball and continue your round. You are allowed a maximum of 14 clubs in your bag.