Andrew Coltart has been a professional on the European Tour since the early 1990s.

Here he passes on his tips on getting involved in golf to the BBC Sport Academy.

Andrew Coltart

European Tour professional golfer

If you want to become a really good golfer find a friend who is keen too.

Playing together and against each other can help develop your competitive edge.

The main thing is to just go out, have fun and play regularly.

There isn't much point in trying to give anyone technical advice at a young age.

As long as you are getting the ball up in the air then you will gain confidence and you can develop your game from there.

Early starter

Make sure you get a sensible set of clubs and you can get help with getting the ball into the air by cutting them down.

It doesn't have to be an expensive sport when you start out, I used to go on the course with any old club and that's how I got started.

My grandfather was a founder member of a golf club, and my father played off a handicap of one so I had a good grounding in the game.

Andrew turned pro aged 21

I had even been registered as a member of Thornhill golf club in south west Scotland, near Dumfries, before I was born, so you could say I was destined to play.

I used to go with my father to the club and sit on his bag while he pulled me around the course.

When we arrived at a green I used to have a go at putting and that is how I got into golf.

When I was 10 I was playing around 54 holes a day in the summer holidays.

When I reached my teens I started to enter competitions, the hardest thing then is actually getting to the tournaments.

You have to try out as many different courses as possible - it's no good just being handy round your own course.