When my dad was teaching my brother and I to play, we would get to hit a wood 3 or 4 (we didn't have drivers) from the ladies tee. He would pick the ball up and drop it in the middle of the fairway at whatever our 7 iron distance was and we could finish the hole. It worked well for us, we got to tee off but didn't have to take 5 or 6 shots to reach the greens.
This is excellent, and exactly what I tell my newer players when they accompany better players and are expected to maintain normal pace.
"Skip the MIDDLE of the hole" if they hit a poor second or third. But don't just pick up.
But always tee off-and always play the last part of the hole-at least putt out, and preferably hit a pitch or a chip and a putt.
The WORST advice is to pick up your ball to a beginner-because they never get to use their short game or putt. Hit 3, 4,5 shots whatever and keep pace-they don't have to be consecutive.
There are many ways to start new players, and I deal with teaching new players all the time.It is VERY common for our members to write a check, then start golf-as adults.A 45 year old reasonable athletic man isn't hitting a wood from 25 yards or 50 yards.
Sure that's great for a 5 year old, but few adults want to walk 350 yards between 25 yard shots.
If someone else has had success with that, more power to them.
I can't imagine teaching that way-seems very time inefficient on a walking course.
All newer players are different, as some are aged 4,8,12,25, 45, or 75, but they ALL want to experience different shots on the course and see what it is all about.
I take nearly all my brand new players on the course by the second or third lesson, to dangle the carrot and let them see what the property, challenge and intrigue is all about.
There are many ways to introduce people to golf, but it has to be fun and engaging to all levels of athleticism.
Hitting a ball 25 yards x 9 holes may make sense to some(if you're 6), but definitely not in my 40 years of teaching and introducing golf to players of more advanced ages.
Now I'm not knocking a short course or courses, I'm just knocking ONLY playing from 25 or 50 yards on EVERY hole(by walking to that point).
Not using a driver at all on the course until they manage "36" as their score may lead to a phobia about hitting a driver on the course later on.
Why neglect one area(full swing)while becoming reasonably proficient at another(25 yards and in)?
In a perfect world you'd have an Old Barnwell-like setup with a kids course that even adult beginners can use, or a Holiday course like they are building later.
At The Bridge we use our range target greens to set up a dedicated kid's course for events, but it's impractical to close the range very often. Perfect for 2-3 young junior events per year.
We also have a par 3 course, but it's just too hard for most beginners. And the scale is only wedges for a strong adult beginner-seems simple until they skull or chunk one-way harder and more demanding on precision than hitting a teed driver for a beginner. A great asset but can really be frustrating for an unskilled wedge player.
The big course provides the most variety of shots and the most room-certainly for adults.
A regulation course can work fine and new players can work on ALL kinds of shots, just only hitting 3-8 shots per hole from various places-not just from 25 yards.