For the golfers who can manage it, rounds played at a private course are a wonderful experience. From exquisitely manicured fairways, greens, and bunkers, to the serene calm of playing golf with hardly a soul around to disturb you, private clubs would seem to embody what golf is meant to be.

Public golf courses on the other hand have a somewhat more dubious reputation in many parts of the world. The landscape is certainly not maintained to quite the same level of care, partially due to the increased traffic passing over it and hacking at it. The experience also lacks the general serenity of the average country club. Public courses are often in the middle of bustling cities as opposed to be being out in the country, and the increased volume of players doesn’t help.

This isn’t to say public courses have no merit though, in fact far from it. Even if you’re the proud member of one or more private courses, you may want to hit some shots at your local public golf course. Below are some of the reasons why, as well as some handy tips for getting the most out of your trip to the public course.

Walk, Don’t Drive – Blasting around the course in a golf cart is loads of fun, but there’s a time and a place for it. That place is usually not on the public golf course, and the time is certainly not during peak hours. Play will likely be congested enough that speeding from shot to shot in a golf cart would simply lead to you sitting at your ball for 10 minutes waiting for the group ahead of you to finish. Use your trip to the public course as a chance to walk the course, get some exercise, and enjoy the day, your company, and the environs.

Put Those Smokes Away – Yes, in some parts of North America, smoking in public places is banned, and this includes public golf courses. Now this may of course appear to be a negative in the eyes of golfing smokers across the continent, but consider it a chance to take a forced respite from the deadly habit, and maybe even turn over a new leaf. If you’re a voracious golfer, you could actually cut back on the amount of smoking you do considerably. Who knew golf could function as such a handy stop smoking aid.

Variety Is The Spice Of Life – This old refrain applies to the golfing world as much as anything else. You may have an absolute favorite course in your area. Heck it may be the most amazing golf course in the entire world hands down. Even so, playing it exclusively will limit your golfing experience, and probably lead to boredom of the course and apathy at its brilliance over time. There may not be a public course in the world that will ever top your favorite, but the sheer experience of exploring the nooks and crannies of a new course, and challenging your game in different ways, will be far more rewarding than playing the same, albeit technically superior course, day after day.

These are just a few of the reasons why your public course may not be quite as bad as you feared. There are many other factors to consider, such as cost, distance from your home, clubhouse amenities, and more. Public courses have their share of cons, but they also boast plenty of pros, and should not be dismissed by golfers from any walk of life.