The US Golf Association (USGA) governs the set of rules that golf players have to strictly adhere to. These include scoring rules, penalties and so on. You could visit the USGA website to understand the rules

http://www.usga.org/playing/rules/rules.html

However, as important as the rules or perhaps even more so is the concept of golf etiquette. Anyone playing golf should familiarize themselves with the dos and don’ts of the links so that at the least they do not end up offending someone and at the worst they do not end up getting hurt. You can find a write-up on golf etiquette too on the USGA website. http://www.usga.org/playing/etiquette/etiquette.html

However, just knowing the rules or the etiquette does not mean that you know how to play golf. The best way to learn golf is to actually go out and play. Perhaps you could have a golf professional give you some private lessons. Any golf course will have contact names and addresses of a few golf professionals who are willing to teach on the side. It is best that you get your game up a little before you start playing with other players. It can be very frustrating if you are a beginner who is trying to get his swing straight while the others have to stand and wait.

Of course, you could also pick up any of the numerous instructional books or videos to pick up the basics. There are books that could tell you about the history of the game, books that serve as biographies of the some of the games biggest players and of course, the step-by-step instructional book. If you are going to practice golf using some instructional books then the best thing is to choose books that contain lots of pictures and illustrations of postures and follow-throughs.

You can always read up on a whole lot of basics but only when you see it do you understand the importance of certain moves. The advantage of these books is that they usually give fairly detailed instructions and also provide the reader sets of drills of increasing difficulty that you could practice at your convenience wherever possible, possibly even in your backyard. If you use these books along with instructional videos that is a great way of both understanding the basics and actually viewing how those shots are played. Most of the times, the videos are hosted by top professional golfers or the game’s well-known instructional coaches. Using these books and videos is almost like having a personal coach training you at times that are convenient for you.