Find golf lessons near you
Like any other after-school or weekend activity, you’ll want a golf program that works for your family. Ideally, you’ll find one in a convenient location, near where you live or work. Below, we list golf programs and lessons by city.
Search golf lessons in ANY CITY
Other ways to pursue an interest in golf
For those with a passion for golf, there are many ways to pursue this. First, there’s always recreational golf: for instance, playing rounds at the local club (and there are many public golf courses). If you’re looking for a more organized way to learn and play golf, there are several options besides golf lessons. For instance, you might consider one or more of the following:
Schools with golf programs: high schools with intensive golf programs. Most are boarding schools.
Camps focusing on golf: summer camps with a special focus on golf.
Golf day camps: day camps offering golf as an activity.
Golf overnight camps: sleepover camps offering golf as an activity.
Your child might also consider
In addition to golf, your child may enjoy other sports and fitness programs. Luckily, there are enough of these to satisfy the most athletic of kids. We list just a selection below.
Health and fitness programs focus on practical education in nutrition and fitness. This can involve personal training that targets specific muscle groups used in golf, or may simply improve overall fitness, manage weight, and promote healthy living.
Leadership training programs encourage self-improvement and develop skills like sportsmanship and leadership. They’re great for kids interested in growing, developing, and maturing, whether that’s on the golf course or somewhere else.
Basketball programs can be a fun way to improve fitness, compete with other kids, make friends, and learn skills. They develop skills important for many sports, such as footwork, hand-eye coordination, defensive and offensive positioning, and focus and awareness.
Tennis lessons are a great way to improve your skills in this racquet sport. Whether you’re registering for group or private lessons, you’ll learn serving, returning, net play, positioning, strategy, forehands, backhands, lobs, passing shots, and much more.
Skills learned in golf lessons
Golf lessons, whether in a group or one-one, teach a wide range of skills. They also teach the rules of the sport for beginners or those who need brushing up. Some of the skills your child will learn or continue to develop in golf lessons include the following:
- The golf swing: it’s extremely difficult to even learn the basics of the golf swing. It requires tons of repetition and practice.
- Driving: also known as the “long game,” this involves striking a ball for distance with a driver, for instance, from the golf tee.
- Chipping: this is part of the “short game,” which requires hitting the ball with irons using finesse and precision.
- Putting: this is another part of the short game, which involves putting the ball with touch and dexterity on “the green,” reading how the ball lies, and how it will move.
- The rough and bunkers: hitting the ball out of the bunker using a sand wedge, and out of the rough using an iron. These are some of the finer points of the game.
In addition to learning and developing golf skills, there are other potential benefits of golf lessons. Some of these are fairly specific to golf, while others are also characteristic of other sports and fitness programs. These benefits include:
- Patience and discipline: golf is a notoriously frustrating sport, requiring a specific temperament. Your child will need to develop a level head to get the most out of it.
- Golf etiquette: learning when to say “fore!”, when to pick up your ball, what to wear, when to be quiet, and the other ways to conduct yourself on “the links.”
- Sportsmanship: how to not get too caught up in the competition and enjoy the sport for the fun of it.
- Social skills: making friends, working as a team, cooperating, being supportive, etc.
- Focus: like all sports, golf is as much mental as physical and requires laser-like focus to excel, especially at the higher levels.
- Confidence: the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with learning a sport, developing your skills, and practicing a craft to become the best golfer you can be.
To learn more about golf and its benefits, check out these resources:
Golf for Beginners
Life Skills Kids Learn from Golf
Choosing a program
A number of programs listed on this page exhibit at the Our Kids Camp and Program Expo, held annually every winter. There, you can meet camp and program representatives face-to-face, to get your questions answered. You should also look through our events calendar for camp and program open houses.
You can also find more advice on choosing a camp or program on OurKids.net:
How to choose a camp
Sports programs
Camp and program guide
Questions to ask golf programs
You should also make sure you visit golf programs you’re seriously considering. Go to the site of the lessons. Talk to directors and instructors. Ask a lot of questions: there are several crucial ones.
Some of these are the kinds of questions you should ask almost any program or at least sports program.
General questions
- How much does it cost?
- Where will it take place?
- What are the hours of the program?
- Do you offer extra hours?
- How are you supervised?
- Do you offer transportation?
- Do you offer meals or snacks?
Other questions are more specific to golf programs.
Specific questions
- What are the credentials of the instructors?
- What skills will my child learn?
- What level should my child be at?
- How much time will be spent playing golf versus receiving instruction?
- Will my child compete with other kids? If so, what level will they be at?
- Will my child participate in golf tournaments?
- What equipment will my child need?
- Are you affiliated with any professional organizations such as the PGA or LPGA?
- What training facilities and equipment do you have?
- What do you do when the weather is bad?
