Junior Golf Day One: What to Take and What to Leave at Home

A short packing list for a first lesson or first round, and an equally useful list of everything you can safely not buy yet.

The first session is booked. Somewhere between now and then, a parent will stand in a sports store wondering how much of this a beginner actually needs. The answer is: less than the aisle suggests, and most of what matters is not golf equipment at all.

Here is what to pack for a first lesson, clinic or round, what to leave at home, and what the venue will almost certainly provide.

The genuinely essential list

Australian conditions decide most of this. The first four items are about sun and heat, not golf.

• A hat. Broad-brimmed or a cap - whatever your child will actually keep on for two hours
• Sunscreen, applied before you leave and taken with you to reapply. Golf sessions are long and shade is scarce
• Water. More than you think. A full bottle per child per hour of session is a sensible starting point in summer
• Closed, flat, comfortable shoes. Runners or cross-trainers are ideal
• Comfortable clothes they can swing in, appropriate to the venue's dress standards
• A snack for afterwards, and for halfway through if the session is long
• One club that fits them, if you already own one. A 7-iron is the ideal single club to arrive with
• A few golf balls, if you have them. Half a dozen is plenty
• A small towel, which is more useful than it sounds for wet grass and muddy grips

Why closed flat shoes, and not golf shoes

Golf shoes are not needed on day one. What matters is a flat, stable sole and a closed toe. Thongs and sandals are unsafe around swinging clubs and are prohibited at most venues; heavily cushioned running shoes with a raised heel are permitted but make it harder for a child to feel balanced.

Spikes become worth considering once a child is playing regularly on a course in wet conditions, which is a decision for later, not for now.

When golf shoes start to earn their place, and what to look for, is covered in do kids need golf shoes.

What not to buy yet

This is the more valuable list, and it is longer.

• A full set of clubs. A first lesson needs one club, and a coach may well recommend a different size once they have watched your child swing
• A golf bag. If you own one club, you do not need a bag to carry it
• A glove. Useful eventually for grip in the heat, and irrelevant on day one
• Golf shoes. See above
• A rangefinder or GPS watch. Nowhere near relevant yet
• Branded golf apparel. Comfortable clothes that meet the dress code are all that is required
• A putter, unless a putting session is specifically part of the program. Venues that teach putting have putters
• Premium golf balls. Beginners lose balls, and a lost premium ball feels worse than a lost cheap one
• Training aids. Every one of them is a distraction from learning to hit the ball

The general rule: buy nothing until after the first session. A coach who has watched your child swing for an hour will give you better buying advice than any article, including this one. It also spares you the most common regret in junior golf, which is a full set bought in the wrong size a fortnight before somebody knowledgeable would have told you the right one.

There is a second reason to hold off. Plenty of children try golf once and decide it is not for them, and that is a perfectly reasonable outcome that costs almost nothing if you have not yet bought anything. The families who feel worst about a child stopping are the ones who spent first and asked later.

What the venue usually supplies

Most junior programs are set up on the assumption that beginners arrive with nothing. This varies by venue, so confirm when you book, but as a general expectation:

• Clubs to borrow, sized for juniors, are usually available at coaching sessions and clinics
• Range balls are typically included in the session fee
• Mats, targets, tees and any training equipment are provided
• Some entry-level programs include a starter club or a small kit as part of enrolment

What venues generally do not supply is sun protection, water or food. Those are on you, and they are the items most often forgotten.

The packing table

Two things worth doing before you arrive

First, ring and ask two questions: does my child need to bring clubs, and is there a dress code? Both take thirty seconds to answer and remove the two most common day-one anxieties.

Second, arrive early enough that nobody is rushing. A child who arrives flustered and last spends the first twenty minutes catching up socially rather than learning. Ten minutes of buffer is worth more than any item on the packing list.

What to expect on the day

A first session is usually less about golf technique than parents anticipate. Coaches spend the early sessions on grip, on how to stand, on safety around other players, and on getting children comfortable making contact. There will be more standing and listening than a parent expects, and that is normal.

Two pieces of advice for the adult. Watch from a distance rather than alongside, so the coach's voice is the one your child is listening to. And ask them afterwards what they enjoyed, not how they went - the first question gets an enthusiastic answer, the second one gets a defensive one.

If you have not yet chosen a program and are working out where to begin, start here walks through the first steps in order.

School holiday programs are the most common first experience for Australian juniors - see holiday clinics for what is running near you.

If you would rather begin with a lesson than a group program, the coach directory lists coaches who work with juniors.

And if your child is very young and you are unsure whether now is the right time at all, see what age should my child start golf.