Golf Etiquette Every Junior Golfer Should Know
Safety, pace, care of the course and green manners - the on-course courtesies that get a junior golfer welcomed back.
Golf has more unwritten social rules than most junior sports, and a child who does not know them can feel conspicuous long before they do anything wrong. None of it is complicated. Ten minutes of explanation before a first round covers almost all of it, and a junior who has the basics is treated as a golfer rather than as someone's kid.
Etiquette also has a practical purpose. Nearly every convention exists for one of three reasons: keeping people safe, keeping the round moving, or leaving the course in the condition you found it.
The quick reference
| Situation | What to do | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Someone is near you as you swing | Wait. Never swing with anyone inside a club length plus the club's arc | Safety - this is the one absolute rule |
| Your shot heads towards other people | Shout 'fore' loudly, immediately | It gives them time to cover up |
| Waiting for your turn | Be ready - club chosen, glove on, ball marked | Pace of play is the main complaint about junior groups |
| Your ball is in the bunker | Rake it smooth afterwards, and enter and leave from the low side | The next player deserves the lie you would want |
| Divot taken from the fairway | Replace it or fill it, depending on what the club asks | It grows back; an unfilled scar does not |
| Pitch mark on the green | Repair it before you putt | Unrepaired marks take weeks to heal |
| Another player is putting | Stand still, stay off their line, and keep your shadow off it | Movement and shadow are genuinely distracting |
| Group behind is waiting on every hole | Wave them through | Everyone's day gets better, including yours |
The conventions are broadly consistent across Australian clubs, though individual clubs have their own rules on buggies, dress and where juniors may play unaccompanied. Check with the pro shop the first time you play somewhere new.
Safety comes before everything
A golf club moving at speed is dangerous, and children are shorter than the adults watching them. The rules for a junior are simple and non-negotiable: never swing a club when someone is standing nearby, never take a practice swing without looking around first, and never hit until the group ahead is clearly out of range.
If a shot does head towards anyone, shout 'fore' as loudly as possible straight away. Children are often too embarrassed to yell, so it is worth practising once, out loud, before their first round - it needs to be a reflex.
Pace of play
Pace matters more than most beginners realise, and it is what makes clubs hesitant about juniors on the course. The standard to aim for is not speed but position: stay in touch with the group ahead of you, rather than merely ahead of the group behind.
- Play ready golf - if you are ready and it is safe, hit, rather than waiting for a strict honour order
- Walk to your ball while others play, and think about your club on the way
- Limit ball searching to the three minutes the rules allow, then move on
- Pick up when a hole is beyond saving, if the format allows it - most junior competitions set a maximum score
- Park the buggy or bag on the side of the green towards the next tee, not the side you walked in from
There is more on this, including how to handle a group pressing behind, in understanding slow play for junior golfers.
Care of the course
A course is a living surface maintained by people who are usually there before dawn. Juniors pick this up quickly when it is framed as leaving it good for the next person.
- Repair your pitch mark on the green - a tee or repair tool pushed in around the edges and folded towards the centre, never levered up from underneath
- Rake bunkers after playing, including your footprints, and leave the rake where the club asks
- Replace or fill divots on fairways and tees
- Keep trolleys and buggies off greens, tees and their surrounds
- Do not lean on the putter on the green - it leaves a mark
On and around the green
The green is where etiquette is most visible, and where a junior is most likely to feel unsure.
- Never walk on the line between another player's ball and the hole
- Watch where your shadow falls when someone is putting
- Stand still and quiet while someone plays, and avoid standing directly behind them or behind the hole
- Mark your ball with a coin or marker if it is in someone's way - and know that you can ask them to mark theirs
- Attend or remove the flagstick if asked, and put it back gently when the hole is finished
- Move off the green to write down scores rather than standing on it
Playing with adults, and with strangers
A junior playing in a mixed group has a couple of extra things worth knowing. Introduce yourself on the first tee; it is normal and it makes the round easier. Play your own game rather than trying to keep up with adult distances. And if you are unsure about a rule or a convention, ask - every reasonable golfer would rather answer a question than watch a child guess.
Most Australian clubs are more welcoming to juniors than families expect. Where friction happens, it is almost always about pace or about a group being unsure whether a child is supervised, both of which are easy to pre-empt with a word to the pro shop.
Phones, noise and gadgets
Phone use on the course is governed more by club culture than by rules. Keeping it on silent, using it for scoring or photos between shots, and never taking a call in a group is the safe default. Music through a speaker is not acceptable at most Australian clubs; headphones may or may not be, and are worth asking about.
Distance devices are a separate question and are governed by the rules as well as by the club - see rangefinders and GPS watches.
Dress codes
Dress requirements vary widely, from essentially none at a public course to specific expectations about collared shirts, tailored shorts and socks at a private club. A junior turned away at the pro shop for the wrong shirt remembers it, so it is worth a phone call before a first visit somewhere new.
What clubs typically expect is set out in dress codes and attire for junior golfers.
Honesty is part of it
Golf is one of the few sports where players call penalties on themselves, and juniors take this seriously when it is explained as a point of pride rather than a rule. It also removes a lot of anxiety: a child who knows they can simply say 'I moved it, that's a penalty' is far more relaxed than one worried about being caught out.
The rules underneath all this are covered in golf rules every junior golfer should know.
Letting a group through
Waving a faster group through is a normal courtesy and not an admission of anything. The mechanics are worth explaining, because a junior who has never done it will freeze.
- Wave them up from a safe position, standing well to the side
- Wait until they have played and are clear before you play on
- It usually costs a couple of minutes and removes the pressure for the rest of the round
A young golfer who does this smoothly is often complimented for it, which is a much better first experience of the etiquette conversation than being asked to hurry up.
Where juniors learn it
Where juniors learn it
Most junior clinics build etiquette in from the first sessions, so a child who has been through an introductory program will usually have the basics before their first real round.
The national entry-level program is described in MyGolf explained.
Parents watching from the side have their own conventions, which are worth knowing before a first event - see junior golf etiquette for parents.