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Golf in the Cold
‘You can’t play’ says the wife from somewhere underneath the enormous duvet, ‘it’s far too cold’. ‘Nonsense women’ I reply as I throw back the curtains, ‘It’s blue skies and bright sunshine. What more could I want for a round of golf?’
These words haunt me as I step onto the first tee and a frozen blast of wind has my testicles soaring up into my body cavity like a couple of untethered weather balloons. The blue skies are still there and the course is kissed by bright sunshine, but it’s the sort of weak sunshine that only the northern hemisphere has during winter. Anywhere else in the world these sort of conditions would have people breaking out the shorts and T-shirts but here I am bent over, London’s very own hunchgroin, trying to swing a club while dressed in 14 layers of clothing.
There are a quite a few other people prepared to brave the weather – people who have been looking forward all week to a round of golf and who are damned if they are going to let some iffy weather get the better of them. Everyone is dressed like Scott of the Antarctic and many have some sort of handwarmers in an attempt to prevent freezing to death. One of old boys with handwarmers was once told as a joke by one of the club pro’s that handwarmers only work properly if you expose them to sunlight and now looks like he is either making an invisible pot of tea at head height or is waving his sweetheart goodbye in a 1940’s war film.
I join a couple of other lunatics at the tee box who just happen to be two of the club pros. They wouldn’t be out in this weather if it weren’t for the fact that they have money on this game and neither can back down. They both stripe one down the fairway and I somehow make it on to the short stuff too. An interesting side-effect of all the layers of clothes I’m wearing is that my back swing has been shortened considerably so while I’m hitting the ball a fair bit shorter, I’m also hitting it straighter. So far so good I think as I tighten my belt in an attempt to stop my balls from lurching into my gullet like a set of fleshy gobstoppers.
This short and straight hitting accounts for the fact that I’m on the green in regulation. Due to the sunshine, the fairway is in pretty good nick but unfortunately the green is still in the shade. Now if you haven’t had the pleasure, putting on frozen greens is an art form. You must be able to read not only the normal slopes and undulations but also be able to read whether the icy surface will speed up or slow the ball down. The smoother sections of the green are like… well ice really, while other parts are covered in dew that has frozen into tiny feathers of ice that can grab the ball and make it almost stop dead.
My first putt is straight through a treacherously slick part and a 10 yard putt rockets 20 foot past. ‘Not a problem’ I think and caress my next putt gently, expecting it to sidle nicely up to the hole. Of course it hits a rough patch, the ball leaps vertically off the putting surface like a salmon and screeches to a halt before it’s even moved 6 feet. Resisting the urge to smack the ball back down the fairway I take a moment, clean the ball and line it up for a 14 footer that looks slightly uphill and through a mix of smooth and grabby surface. A gentle tap has the ball rolling directly on line until it magically picks up speed, skids to the right, shoots past the hole and ends up 4 feet away. With a face burning bright red from the combination of anger, embarrassment and wind-burn I stalk to the ball and try to think of all the 4 footers I’ve made in the past. It’s dead straight and this part of the green looks almost normal. ‘I’m calm I’m calm I’m calm’ I tell myself as I try to put a nice stroke on the ball and send it home and end the misery. It all looks good until it picks up a little clump of ice on one side of the ball and turns in a neat little arc, spinning away from the hole like a urethane Wayne Gretzky.
Now at this point, I will admit to having said some nasty things about the ball, the golf course, my ability to putt, the weather and the otherwise fine products of Scotty Cameron. I also may have possibly called into question the parentage of my playing partners when they suggested that I should consider taking up a more appropriate sport like knitting after I finally hole out for a 5 putt.
After the jeers and derision that such a woeful passage of play deserved, I immediately get the chance to redeem myself at the next hole. The others both tug their tee shots into the left rough while I find myself sitting pretty in the middle of the fairway. From a perfect lie I somehow catch a 6 iron so sweetly it’s sickening and watch the ball crawl all over the flag to pitch dead in line and a couple of club lengths short of the hole. Normally this would stop pretty quickly and I would be left with a solid (if all too rare) birdie chance but the frozen green means that the ball bounces off the concrete-like surface and ends up off the back of the green.
This becomes the story of the first 9 holes. Balls fired at the pin ricochet off the green and low runners skitter off the glassy surface time and time again. The pros’ superb wedge game makes up and downs simple but one of them nearly breaks his wrists playing a slightly buried ball out of a frozen bunker while my short game resembles a man digging for gold and my score is astronomical.
At the halfway point my face is raw, my nose a fluorescent red and my voice a couple of octaves higher and I am thinking of jacking it in when I realise that I can feel my hands and feet again. The previously watery sun has suddenly strengthened and we are no longer apparently playing on the tundra but across beautiful green swards under a kind blue sky.
As the warmth creeps into the day and I can shrug off some of my layers, I find that that my shots are going longer but are still going straight. Magically I find that I have driven to the front of a short par 4. A simple chip and I have a tap in for the first birdie of the day and to repair a tiny part of the damage done earlier in the round. An educated power fade gives me another birdie chance which I fail to take and the game is fun again.
Having spent the early part of the morning approaching unforgiving greens, these ones seem to be the size of football pitches. The finesse and delicacy that I needed to get chips and pitches to within 10 feet of the holes at the start of the day now has me less than half that from the pin. Putting across the treacherous ice means that I’m now seeing the hole like the Grand Canyon and can’t seem to miss. It’s impossible to undo all the damage but my score is suddenly respectable rather than embarrassing.
Anybody can have fun golf when the weather is perfect but that enjoyment is a pale thing next to the fierce enjoyment of playing golf in less then perfect conditions. Taking on both the course and the weather and winning, or at least not losing too badly is something I’m sure that the sports Scottish originators would understand. The demands of the game are higher in bad conditions as you need to think far more about playing from less than perfect lies, the effect of the cold and the wind both on the ball and yourself, bad footing and the precision required to play a good shot in all of the above can only make you a better golfer.
‘How was it?’ asks the wife when I get back home, ‘Gosh it was cold out there. I bet you froze your tits off’.
‘Not quite’ I reply, being completely anatomically honest and check my trousers just to make sure.
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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
So, with a couple of weeks off following his latest start at the 2024 RBC Heritage, Thomas sought to re-address his driver setup with the remote help of Titleist Tour fitting expert J.J. Van Wezenbeeck. About two weeks ago, Thomas and Van Wezenbeeck reviewed his recent driver stats, and discussed via phone call some possible driver and shaft combinations for him to try.
After receiving Van Wezenbeeck’s personalized shipment of product options while at home, Thomas found significant performance improvements with Titleist’s TSR2 head, equipped with Thomas’ familiar Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60 TX shaft.
Compared to Thomas’ longtime TSR3 model, the TSR2 has a larger footprint and offers slightly higher spin and launch characteristics.
According to Van Wezenbeeck, Thomas has picked up about 2-3 mph of ball speed, to go along with 1.5 degrees higher launch and more predictable mishits.
“I’d say I’d been driving it fine, not driving it great, so I just wanted to, honestly, just test or try some stuff,” Thomas said on Tuesday in an interview with GolfWRX.com at Quail Hollow Club. “I had used that style of head a couple years ago (Thomas used a TSi2 driver around 2021); I know it’s supposed to have a little more spin. Obviously, yeah, I’d love to hit it further, but if I can get a little more spin and have my mishits be a little more consistent, I felt like obviously that’d be better for my driving…
“This (TSR2) has been great. I’ve really, really driven it well the week I’ve used it. Just hitting it more solid, I don’t know if it’s the look of it or what it is, but just a little bit more consistent with the spin numbers. Less knuckle-ball curves. It has been fast. Maybe just a little faster than what I was using. Maybe it could be something with the bigger head, maybe mentally it looks more forgiving.”
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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The 2024 golf season is in full swing with the warm weather settling in and those long summer days right around the corner, but what if we told you that you should be thinking about golf this fall? While it may seem to be a ways away, now is the perfect time to start putting together your end-of-season fall golf trip.
Courses are in great shape, the weather is more enjoyable as temps cool off, and your golf game is in peak condition after playing all summer! The best part about fall golf trips is that there are some great deals to be found at golf destinations across the country! Additionally, you can get away to the Caribbean on an all-inclusive trip or travel across the pond for some links golf in the UK or Ireland before the end of their golf season in October.
If you are happy to stay stateside this fall, here are the best golf destinations you should book for your fall trip.
Myrtle Beach, SC
Commonly known as the “Golf Capital of the World”, this coastal destination is home to over 200 golf courses making it the ideal location for a golf trip! If you’re looking for golf and accommodation onsite, choose from a wide range of resorts including favorites like Barefoot and Legends. Alternatively, you could rent a house or stay by the beach and play top tracks like Caledonia, Grande Dunes, Pine Lakes, True Blue, TPC Myrtle Beach and many more! With a plethora of options, you will be able to customize your trip to stay within budget! Fall in South Carolina is a golfer’s paradise with minimal rain, sunny skies, and temperatures in the low 80s (dipping into the 70s in later fall with lower humidity), the perfect combination for a golf trip.
If you’ve never played golf in the desert, fall is the best time to do so and there is no better selection of desert layouts than Scottsdale. With a wide variety of golf resorts, courses, and attractions, it is easy to see why many professional golfers call this place home. Enjoy a golf and city trip with a stay close to the nightlife in Old Town and a tour of the local courses like Raven, McCormick Ranch, and Ocotillo. Head north of the city with a resort stay at The Westin Kierland or Hyatt Regency and play some Championship courses like TPC Scottsdale, Troon North, or Grayhawk. Or head out to the fabulous We-Ko-Pa Resort and Golf Club and indulge in the ultimate desert golf experience. The weather in Scottsdale will be very warm (mid to high 80s), with cloudless skies and green grass contrasting the desert landscape.
The golf mecca in the state of Florida, Orlando is a great golf destination any time of the year, but fall is really where it flourishes. Course conditions are impeccable, the weather is warm with fading humidity, and there are a multitude of off-course activities for the whole family. Stay & play at some of the best golf resorts like Reunion and Omni Championsgate or tick off a bucket list course when you visit Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill. A few other reasons this destination is so popular is the wide variety of rental houses throughout the area, perfect for a large group and the quality courses to choose from including Waldorf Astoria, Celebration, Shingle Creek, and the three Disney courses! With easy accessibility through the MCO Airport, Orlando is a no-brainer for a fall golf trip.
PAIUTE GOLF RESORT – LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
A destination often overlooked when it comes to golf, Las Vegas in the fall is a wonderful treat! A stay on the iconic Las Vegas Strip gives you a wide range of 3 to 5-star hotel options within walking distance to the city’s biggest entertainment venues, casinos, restaurants, and more! For golf options, you will need to travel outside of the city (roughly 20 mins) to play some incredible desert layouts like Rio Secco, Revere, Cascata, and the trio of courses at Paiute Golf Resort. If you fancy a longer day trip, you can always take the hour-long drive up to Mesquite and play Wolf Creek and Conestoga for a pure desert golf experience.
Alabama – Robert Trent Jones Trail
If you’re a golf nerd (like me) and you’re looking for something a little different for your trip, look no further than the incredible RTJ Trail in Alabama. The Trail spans 11 different locations across the state with over 400 holes of golf all designed by legendary course designer Robert Trent Jones, Sr. The more popular courses on the trail are in Birmingham, Montgomery, and Auburn, making it perfect for an extended trip. Some of the best courses on the trail include Ross Bridge, Grand National (2 courses) and Capitol Hill (3 courses).Weather-wise, fall is the best time to hit the trail with average temps hovering around 80s (dipping into the 70s as fall goes on) with a limited amount of rainfall. The summer months are usually where the pricing is the highest so you can find the best deals in the fall with courses still in good condition.
There has already been a huge uptick in fall golf trip bookings, so make sure to start planning now to get the travel dates and tee times you want for your group!
Editor’s note: This article is presented in partnership with Golfbreaks. When you make a purchase through links in this article, GolfWRX may earn an affiliate commission.
RELATED: 7 PGA TOUR courses you need to play
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Bigsmoke
Feb 28, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Great read!