My kids were barely old enough to grip a club when our family vacations began to include modest forms of golf—putt-putt, driving range detours, eventually nine-hole rounds in which the boys teed off from the 150-yard markers and we jammed three to a golf cart.
Before long, there were real tee-times and 18-hole rounds that began with great anticipation but occasionally ended with someone hurling a 7-iron into a hazard. The dynamic has continued to evolve—longer drives, fewer tantrums. Both of my boys now hit it miles past me, and when my wife has dabbled in golf, she’s proven more adaptable than all of us.
None of these weeks would qualify as pure “golf trips” owing to the assortment of other activities, yet the game has featured prominently enough for me to develop theories on how family golf on vacation should work—either because I can point to success, or because my series of miscalculations has illuminated a smarter path.
Rule No. 1: Adjust to the group, Part 1
For golf to work on your trip, you need to account for the range of perspectives. The first time my wife played a full round of golf with us, we pulled into the parking lot five minutes ahead of our tee time and she couldn’t understand why we showed up so early. Contrast this to my oldest son, a college golfer who prefers to build in an hour to hit balls, putt, and clean his grooves with a toothpick. A reasonable solution is probably somewhere in between, but as a rule, core golfers are the ones who need to let go of certain routines.
More Low Net 
Golf Digest Logo The stat that points to the quickest improvement? Strokes Lost Stupid 
Golf Digest Logo Every practice session ask yourself, am I looking to get ready or get better? 
Golf Digest Logo A Hall of Famer’s valuable advice for teaching your kids golf Rule No. 2: Consider where and when
You might notice a consistent thread is to make the game less intimidating for people who don’t play often, and that extends to the environment you place them in. The late Dan Jenkins once famously wrote about his disdain for a family of golfers slowing down a course (not a matter of interpretation—the title of the Golf Digest article was “Why I hate family golf””). Dan liked to hammer an angle for effect, but still: Depending on the level of golf experience in your family, this might not be a Sunday morning at 8 a.m. activity, nor does it need to be at the nicest course around. Far more important is having some breathing room without a foursome of curmudgeons waiting with their hands on their hips in the fairway.
Rule No. 3: Leave them wanting more
My golf obsession is strong enough that 36 holes a day every day on a trip is appealing, and yet it helps to remember that 18 holes tends to be more than enough for people who don’t play much. Attention wavers, golf muscles get sore. My habit has been to book tee times two days apart, allowing enough time for everyone to decompress after one round and generate excitement for the rest. If logistics allow, a 9-hole escape clause is also a great solution so that one group can bail at the turn if it wants, and the die-hards can keep going. Especially with new players, you want the golf experience to be engaging and not feel like a five-hour slog.
Rule No. 4: Tread carefully with competition
Every family is different, but mine is competitive enough that a cordial atmosphere can deteriorate rapidly if one side is trouncing the other. I learned this the hard way a few trips back, and ultimately decided a worthy goal is being able to shake hands and share the same dinner table that night. One solution has been to arrive at a competitive format in which you’re all on the same side; last week, I proclaimed our goal as a threesome was to shoot a net best-ball score in the low 60s, which was successful in keeping everyone engaged, and one son’s fist away from the other’s head.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
