What to Know
Before Paying For Golf Lessons

As everyone knows, taking up the old, honorable game of golf can be an expensive undertaking. It's a potentially costly hobby, indeed. In addition to purchasing clubs, you must also hire a tutor/instructor. This can often be the most expensive part of learning the game of golf. Because of the potential for such high costs, you should take some time to shop around and find a professional golf teacher or instructor who comes highly-recommended by persons you know and trust.

I suggest starting by picking a reasonable price range for what you are willing to spend on your golf lessons. Remember, you won't want to take just one single lesson on one single part of golf! That means that while you may be willing to pay $75 for ONE lesson, you may not be willing to pay $75 each for a series of 20 lessons.

As a rule of thumb, the more expensive a golf instructor is for his time, the more awards he (or she) has won, and the better he will be at teaching you. This is just a rule of thumb, though, and is not always necessarily true. This is why you should keep an eye out for that bargain on instructors or lessons. There are pros out there who may well be just as good as the best instructor, but they are willing to teach you the specifics of golf for a lower price.

Probably the best way for a golf instructor to sell themselves to possible new students, is through their past students. To find the best instructor, you should ask golfers in your local area who taught them how to play golf. If a certain name keeps popping up, then you should consider contacting that person for lessons.

You can (and should) interview the instructor before you make your decision to hire them. This is someone you will spend a number of hours with, so be sure. Remember: they need you to run a successful business and they will be more than happy to take 15 minutes or so to answer any questions that you may have. That will also give you time to assess their personality and their techniques to see if they are properly qualified to teach you what you really need to learn.

Golf lessons are not the end of the journey to shooting par golf – with the occasional eagle thrown in. A golf instructor can only take you so far in your lessons. You must be willing to spend some time on the golf course and practice when you are not taking a lesson. A couple of hours at the driving range could considerably hone your golfing skills – especially if after you drive a bucket of balls you head to the putting green for some additional practice.

Even if you sign up for a golfing school that is endorsed by a huge golf star, you will not turn into a great golfer overnight. You can start to play golf just minutes after buying or renting a set of clubs. But don't be surprised if it takes a year of playing and practicing until you start to get really comfortable playing. You need to practice and take time to absorb and repeat your lessons.

Before you start your lessons, consider getting a book of the rules of golf and perusing it. I suggest this as it likely will allow you to get more actual teaching from your selected instructor, and less talking about the rules of the game – something you can easily learn yourself.

For a complete listing of Tucson Arizona golf courses, including course information, championship rating and slope click here

For a complete listing of golf courses in the area surrounding Tucson Arizona, including course information, championship rating and slope click here

Golf Sites and Forums that offer more information:

http://forums.golfreview.com/

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/golf/

http://boards.rivals.net/default.asp?sid=1398&p=16

http://www.iznadgolf.com/golfforum.html

http://www.lowprogolf.com/cfbb/

http://www.oilcontrol.it/dg/dgindexe.shtml

http://www.network54.com/Forum/403301

http://www.torontogolfnuts.com/

http://golf.about.com/mpboards.htm

http://forum.ottawagolf.com