5 Ways for a Solo Golfer to Make Their Course Debut

What options does a beginner solo golfer living near Tokyo have for making their round debut?
I've looked into various possibilities.

1. Join a golf circle
Joining a circle that claims to welcome beginners is one option. But which circle should you join? It's a dilemma. There are so many concerns, such as the age group, skill level, and whether the golf courses the circle plans to visit are close to your home! If you join, and the circle doesn't hold practice sessions, your debut will be a 'nice to meet you' situation right from the start. I couldn't find a circle that met my needs (no Chiba, golf courses within an hour of home that are accessible without a car, and preferably with many people of the same age and gender, no smokers).

2. Find someone on a dating site to accompany your round debut
Another option is to make golf friends on golf SNS sites like Golf-ya or After Golf and ask if they would accompany your round debut. I've registered wanting to make golf friends, but choosing to 'like' someone when you don't really know what kind of person they are is even harder than choosing a potential romantic partner 🤣, so I still haven't 'liked' anyone, haha. You also need to make sure there's no misunderstanding about whether they purely want to enjoy golf, as it seems you can also look for romantic partners on sites like Golf-ya. It's quite a high hurdle for women to use dating sites for their debut match. Men have to pay, and it seems even less likely to find a match for a male beginner, as there seems to be even less demand for that 😅

3. Try booking a solo golf slot
I also think this has a very high hurdle. I haven't done it yet, but I'll try it someday.
As a true beginner, your rules and such are still shaky, and the mental hurdle of having everyone you're playing with be a complete stranger in that state is too high 🤣

4. Rely on acquaintances or announce it at work to find loose connections
There is a certain number of people who play golf, especially men, so if you keep saying you want to make your round debut and want someone to take you, someone might pick you up. However, these would also be people you barely know, and since it might be work-related, you might end up feeling awkward again. This seems best for men.

5. Join a tour
Some companies plan and host what are called golf tours, and you can join one that claims to be beginner-friendly.
I looked up two golf tours, and in one of them,
I found several tours that allow beginner round debuts 🤩
This is the site.
They take you from Tokyo in a wagon, and since you participate by disclosing your profile, such as your score and golf history, you can participate with some idea of what kind of people the other participants are.

You can search by date, departure location, golf course, etc., among these, but
I entered a plan that said round debut is okay. Looking at it now, the menu looks like this.

The company operating this site also offers round lessons, which seem to be their main business, and this solo golf booking seems to be a relatively new service.

The site is stylish with a friendly atmosphere for women, the UI is good, and I feel like it encourages women to participate.
Since it targets people who don't have a car or don't drive, you'd think there would be many women, right?
But when I read the profiles of the people actually participating, it felt like about 80% were men. As expected, the gender ratio in golf is the same here too.

It includes transportation costs (highway tolls and gas money if going by car), and the driver's fee and play fees are all included, so it feels reasonable if you live in Tokyo 😀

Furthermore, there is someone called a round navigator who encourages the progress of the play, and there is also a give-up system if you hit too many shots,

making it easier for beginners to try (I'll write another article about whether this system actually works 😅)

So,
I decided to take the plunge and enter this solo golf thing ✨
Well, let's see how it goes 😆