Build only a few holes in the first two years.
Unfortunately, it takes time for new holes to turn a profit: players must discover the holes, play and like them, recommend them to their friends, and so forth, a process which can take months of in-game time during which you must still pay for upkeep and maintenance on these under-utilized holes. It is recommend that you make no more than two or three holes during the first two years; you can add additional holes once your course is established and turning a profit. (To see how each hole is doing financially and otherwise, check out the Course Status Report window. [F1])

Put the tee of your first hole near the clubhouse
If not provided with a pathway to follow, your golfers won't have a clear route to walk to your golf holes. They'll get there eventually, but the time that they spend walking through wild terrain is time they could be paying you greens fees. Build your first tee near to the clubhouse and run a pathway between them. The pathway should then continue alongside the hole and connect with (but not run over) the hole's fairways and greens, and from there continue to the tee of the next hole. You should always have a pathway that connects each hole and club facility to the clubhouse

Give the people what they want. Snacks.
After you've built a couple of holes and are beginning to pick up members, build a snack bar on your course. Your players will be hungry and thirsty, and you can keep them playing if you give them someplace to eat and drink. And you make a profit off of each sale, as well! Make sure that you build a path to connect the snack bar with the clubhouse - the snack bar cannot operate until you do so. You can build more snack bars later on as you expand your course, but you should probably stick to one during the early game.

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