The best resource for learning golf at any level
Straight to the guide. No signup, no email.
New to golf? Start here.
Eight guides that cover everything you need in your first year, in the order you’ll actually need it.
Golf for Beginners: The Complete Guide
What Clubs Does a Beginner Actually Need?
How to Grip a Golf Club
Golf Swing Basics
Golf Rules for Beginners
Golf Etiquette: What Nobody Tells You
How Much Does Golf Actually Cost?
Your First Round of Golf
What golfers tell us.
I'd sliced every tee shot for two seasons. Turned out I was holding the club in my palm the whole time. One range session after reading the grip guide and it was gone.
The cost guide is the only honest one I found. Everyone else tells you to spend two grand to start. I got a full second-hand set and a season of green fees for less than that.
I nearly didn't play my first round because I had no idea what was expected of me. The etiquette guide covered every single thing I'd been quietly worried about.
Tom Ashworth
Tom Ashworth is a PGA Professional who has taught golf since 2012, working mainly with beginners and mid-handicappers at club level in Surrey. He reviews the instruction guides on Learn Golf for technical accuracy before they publish.
Most of his teaching is with players in their first three years of the game, and most arrive having been told too much: six swing thoughts collected from videos, half of them contradicting each other. His approach is to check the grip and the alignment before touching the swing, on the basis that most bad ball flight is decided at address.
The kit that’s actually worth it
No sponsored picks. Just what works, and who it works for.
Best Golf Clubs for Beginners
Best for: A first full set under $625Read the guide →
Best Golf Balls for Beginners
Best for: Losing four a round without caringRead the guide →
Best Golf Rangefinders
Best for: Knowing your real yardagesRead the guide →
Best Putting Mats
Best for: Ten minutes of practice at homeRead the guide →
Best Golf Shoes
Best for: Wet mornings and walking 18Read the guide →
Best Golf Training Aids
Best for: Fixing one fault, not fiveRead the guide →Common questions
What people ask before they start reading.
Is Learn Golf free?
All of it, permanently. There is no signup, no email gate, no paywalled tier and no course to buy at the end. Every guide and every gear breakdown is open to read.
Where should I start if I have never played?
The beginner guide. It covers what to buy, what to wear, how to book a tee time and what happens on your first round, in the order you will actually meet those things rather than in the order a coach would teach them.
Do I need expensive clubs to start?
No. A beginner needs roughly seven clubs, not fourteen, and a sensible used set will play the same as a new one for your first year or two. What matters far more than price is that the shaft flex and length suit you.
Do you test the gear you recommend?
Not first-hand, and we will not pretend otherwise. Our gear pages are buying guides: we compare published specifications, explain the fitting logic behind each choice, and say plainly who a product suits and who it does not. Where we cite performance data we name the source.
How do you make money?
Some links to retailers earn us a commission when you buy. It costs you nothing extra and it never decides what we recommend or what order things appear in. Any page with commercial links says so above the fold.
Who writes the guides?
Every instruction guide is written against a named coach and carries the date it was last checked. If something is genuinely contested in golf teaching, we say so and explain the trade-off rather than picking a side and hiding the argument.
How often is this updated?
Instruction guides change rarely, because the fundamentals do. Gear pages are reviewed as new models land and prices move. Each page shows its last-updated date at the top, so you can see how fresh what you are reading is.
I think something here is wrong. Can I tell you?
Please do. Corrections are welcome and we would rather fix a page than defend it. Get in touch and tell us which page and what looks off.