The Play
Now if you can't tell the difference between a sand wedge and a nine iron the first thing that you need to do is learn how to play. Call the golf clubs in your area and ask what kind of packages they offer to beginners. You will likely find that there are a variety of packages offered and you can learn golf by attending a school, clinic, seminar, or individual attention.

One place that you should not go is to your family and friends.

“I started without lessons and did not enjoy the sport due to my awful swing. I think it is harder to fix a bad swing later. I think the best approach is to set up a recurring schedule with one teacher. This way your teacher can monitor your progress and learn what your recurring mistakes are. My opinion is don't listen to your friends or co-workers on the course. From personal experience they can often make your swing worse since their swing style may be completely different. Only the professionals know how to fix your swing,” says Blair Collins, a CMA in Toronto who has been playing business golf for years.

While you don't need to be an expert to play you should at least be able to hit the ball a hundred yards so that the game will be an enjoyable experience for all of you. If you're still in the beginning stages and you've been invited to play tell your host up front about your skill level.

“It's never embarrassing as long as you bring up all the intangibles up front. [If] you don't have a lot of skills, as long as you tell someone you're not a very good golfer and this is how I play that's absolutely great for the host because he knows how to respect and treat you on that day,” explains Darrell Cook, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Strategic Golf (www.strategicgolf.ca). Cook and President Julie Lashmore, founded Strategic Golf for the distinct purpose of showing executives how they could use golf for business.

The Etiquette
While your skill may be excused, breaking golf etiquette will not. Your ability to observe the rules and traditions of the sport will go a long way towards building a good relationship. Here are the main points that you need to keep in mind:

Safety – Make sure that you stick to the course conditions to avoid stepping into areas where you could get hit by a flying ball. Take care of where you're swinging your club, especially in the practice area where there may be a lot of other people. Lastly, if you're using a golf cart keep in mind that it is a motorized vehicle, don't park on hills or come to an abrupt halt.

Respect – Cook explains that most experienced golf club members treat the course as if it were their own backyard. This means do everything you can to take care of the land while you are playing on, don't leave tees in the ground where they can get chewed up by lawnmowers. If you kick up some turf, known as a divot, replace it so that the ground will be even for the next players.

Consideration – Golf requires a lot of concentration, so avoid doing things that will distract the other players while you are waiting, this would include laughing and talking. When you are on a putting surface do not walk into someone's putting line. This will leave an impression in the ground that the player will now have to play through compromising their opportunity for a good shot.

“Overall, I think if you are polite, ask questions, and hold your temper your fellow players will be glad to provide you with lots of tips,” says Collins.

The community
So you've learned how to play and what kind of etiquette you need to observe, now you need to find somewhere to try out your new skills. Cook recommends that you begin by contacting the governing association for your business, such as a board of trade. Most of these groups will hold an annual golf tournament. This venue offers you the opportunity to meet and possibly do business with people in your own industry.

Branching out from there you could also find out if your local Chamber of Commerce or the city you live in holds a tournament. If it's a charitable event you have the added benefit of being able to write off your fees for the day while building goodwill for your company.

If you are thinking about joining a golf course you should know that there are three types – public, semi-private, and private. Public courses are available for everyone to play on and while they are cheaper you may find that there are more people which could increase the time spent on the course. Semi-private and private courses are more expensive, however, game time will be shorter and the course will likely be better maintained.

“I've been golfing frequently for five years now and have never felt the need for a private membership. Private memberships are always much more expensive overall than just playing public courses all summer,” says Collins.

Golf and business
So, when do you get to talk business? Both Collins and Cook advise that the golf course isn't the time, unless the client brings it up first. Playing golf serves another equally important purpose for your business – building a relationship with your client.

“My opinion is that everything you say and do makes an impression that either improves your relationship with your client or hurts it. To me, business golf is about building relationships and having fun rather than talking about business. People do business with people they trust. Don't expect to close a deal on the golf course,” says Collins.

Your opportunity for business talk is likely to arrive at what is referred to as the 19th hole. Ask your client to have a drink or a meal following the game where you can recap the day and build that relationship further. Cook explains that this is usually the time when your client will bring up business possibilities. However, if they don't you can sum up the situation by saying that you really enjoyed your time together that day and you've got a couple of ideas that you would like to discuss with them in the near future.