Today on the blog we have the pleasure of featuring a guest blog post by the Secrets Playa Mujeres Golf & Spa Resort  e-concierge, Cristian Diaz! 

The stunning golf course at Secrets Playa Mujeres Golf & Spa Resort.

Tiger Woods, birdies, clubs, holes in one: these terms sum up pretty much everything I used to know about golf. “Happy Gilmore” and “The Legend of Bagger Vance” were the closest I ever came to the “Gentleman´s Game,” but there was always a little something pushing me to learn more about golf.

My name is Cristian Diaz, and I’m 25 years-old.  I was born and raised in Cancun, Mexico, known for its famous white sand beaches and as one of the principal tourism destinations in the world.

We have many golf courses in the area, but it wasn’t until 2007 that golf actually got my attention when Cancun made golf history by becoming the first location to host a PGA tour event outside the United States and Canada. I had the opportunity to attend to the PGA tour final which was the exact moment that I decided I wanted to learn how to play.

Whether you have friends that encourage you to play, play for business or have a significant other you’d like to play with, there are many good reasons to learn this game. If you’re interested in learning golf and you are planning a visit to Cancun or the Riviera Maya, you must read my “golf for beginners” series that I am happy to bring to the Tan Lines blog this summer!

Here’s what we are going to do: over the next 3 months I will be playing a round of golf 4 times a week, twice with our instructor Jaime, and twice by myself. I will then share the details of my experience so that when you visit a golf destination, you will be able to enjoy this sport as much as I do at our Playa Mujeres Golf Course.

LET’S START FROM THE BEGINNING!

There are two things you’re going to need, hopefully the second one will help you out a little bit…

1. Patience (This game is not easy).
2. A sense of humor.

Golf can seem terribly complicated to a beginner. So many rules, so many different kind of clubs and those words that we’ve never heard before like birdies, bogeys and bump-and-runs. At Golf Digest, this may be the language they speak every day, but it’s also a language that can scare prospective golfers off before they ever pick up a club.

This is the first question I tell prospective players to ask themselves: “How do I know if I have what it takes to be a golf player?”

My reply would be: “Anyone who enjoys a nice walk and doesn’t mind learning a few rules can begin to play golf.”

My goal is to shepherd you through this unexplored world! What kind of clubs do you need? How do you practice? When do you know that you’re ready for the golf course? The way I see it, the only dumb questions about getting started in golf are the ones you’re afraid to ask, or worse, the ones for which you can’t find an answer. The whole point of this guide is to make sure that last part is no longer a problem.

See you in my next post!