Playing around at Golf Course...Critiques welcomed

I am new to photography so I am looking for techniques and suggestions to take better quality pictures.

These photos were taking with a Canon EOS Rebel XS (Lens EFS 55-250mm)

Picture 1 and 2: 1/125, F5.6, ISO 400

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Welcome to POTN.
Although you identify a clear subject matter, the subject is not very interesting. (though #2 is better than #1)
In #1 its also OOF (out of focus) and the blurred items distract as well

In both, the subject is dead centre which is not ideal. Learn about the rule of thirds
Have a look at Ben's Newbie guide

Hi incognito. Have you done much reading on photography? When I first started out I read e-books on lighting, exposure, composition etc, they were invaluable.

My thoughts; The second photo is the better of the two, I'll focus on that. The subject (that ball of whatever) is nicely focused, white balance & exposure look pretty good. The shallow depth of field isolates the subject but the out of focus tree truck (if that's what it is) in the background doesn't compliment the subject, in fact it dominates over it, not really a good thing.

Composition is boring & uninteresting & the subject itself in this instance is mundane.

Have you got any other photo's you'd like to share? Both of these photo's are very similar.

Well for one, ask yourself why you bought a camera.
then read online as much as you can about photography.
Posting a uninteresting subject and then asking what to do is pretty much the same thing as posting nothing at all and asking people what to do.

Thanks for the feedback...and I will check out Ben's Newbie Guide