Golf for complete beginners, starting indoors.

Yes — for most people a simulator bay is an easier place to start than a golf course or an outdoor range. You get a private bay rather than a mat in a row, nobody is waiting behind you, and a duffed shot travels four metres into a screen instead of sideways in front of strangers. Beginners top the ball, and indoors nobody sees.

It's also cheaper to find out whether you like golf. There's no club to join and no membership: a bay is £27 an hour per bay, including one player, plus £8 an hour for each extra player whether one of you plays or four, clubs are £10 to hire, and balls are included. Bring three friends and an hour costs about £12.75 each — roughly two pints, and you'll have hit a hundred golf balls between you.

The screen helps more than an instructor's first lesson usually can, because it shows you what actually happened: carry, launch and curve on every shot, so a slice stops being a mystery. And you can play a real course from day one. Most beginners find that far more fun than hitting into an empty field.

Two honest caveats. A simulator won't teach you to putt on real greens, read a lie or play out of a bunker — you'll want to get outside eventually. And perfectly flat mats are kinder than turf, so your numbers indoors will flatter you slightly. Neither matters much for a first swing; both are worth knowing before you decide golf is easy. If you're weighing it against the alternative, we've written up simulator vs driving range and how accurate the numbers are.