Baby, it’s Cold Outside

[Tim Fitz]

Today the high temperature in Chicago is -12.  As I type this, the actual temp is -21, which with the wind chill feels like - 49.


What is the coldest weather in which you have played golf?  Did you make it through 18 holes?  Was it worth it?


Stay warm my fellow Midwesterners.

[Jason Topp]

-29 F when I got in the car this morning in Minnesota.  Downtown is very quiet today. 


It has been a strange winter for golf courses here - very little snow and generally mild temperatures with a few cold blasts.  It feels like courses could be pretty beat up in the spring.  However my instincts are often wrong on that front.

[Kyle Harris]

40 degrees and windy at Morgan Hill on February with Cory Lewis.
Snowfall at Cobb's Creek on Christmas Eve. Same at Llanerch on Thanksgiving with Joe Bausch.
45 degrees and rain at Tot Hill Farm with Cory Lewis. That one was a blast, actually.

Might be looking at similar this upcoming Saturday morning at Rustic Canyon.

[Brad Tufts]

Probably right around 34-35 degrees.


Tedesco covers our greens in the winter, but they put pins in the fairways and large cups so one can play a 2500y 9-hole winter course if there is no snow on the ground.


Many courses on Cape Cod stay open all winter, and there is one 9-holer on the North Shore, Kelley Greens in Nahant, that stays open all winter pending snow.  Most of these courses allow play on the greens, but the tee will be in the rough somewhere in front of the real tees.  I also noticed in Upstate NY in early January that most courses just heavily sand their greens as opposed to cover for winter.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I used to play when the temperature was in the thirties. Now I very seldom play when the temperature is below fifty.

[Ira Fishman]

High School Conference Championship in 1975--in the 30s with the wind howling in Suburban Chicago. A well hit 3 iron traveled maybe 70 yards.


Also played once in Eskimo Open first week of January. Probably in teens with snow on ground. I don't think it really counts as golf though.


Ira

[Kalen Braley]

Not to play the one-ups-manship game, but I've played several times in the 20s, mostly in Spokane.

I was in my early 30s so I didn't really mind, but i wouldn't do it now.  We always walked as it was the only way to keep warm enough to play, but we always played 18, although I do recall hanging in the clubhouse for a good 15-20 minutes at the turn to warm up.

It was certainly fast and firm and I hit some of the longest drives of my life! 

[Sean_A]

I routinely played in well below 32F temps plus bracing wind chill in my 20s/30s....at the Blue Collar CC and few other places around Ann Arbor that didn't close in the winter.  The coldest in recent years was last year at Alnmouth & North Berwick.  The temp was hovering around 32 with quite strong wind...had to be at least 20ish with wind chill (-9ish C).  I didn't remove my sleeveless winter coat!  Before you ask, yes, too cold and too windy....still better than playing in the damn rain.  On the plus side, the courses were in great nick and empty    Hell, I played last Sunday and it was damn cold, maybe 38-40 plus a harsh wind..4 layer golf. 

Ciao

[J_ Crisham]

Fitz,
       Haffner and I will play at Bev if the temp is over 40, not windy, and the ground is somewhat firm. So,since the middle of October we have not played:( Brutal Fall and Winter even by our standards

[Pete_Pittock]

Once at 32 when it started to snow on the final hole. Once (early 30s) in the mid 20s with everything frozen and a 2 club wind.


I see that they are having to set fire to the railroad tracks. Only experience like what is currently happening in the Midwest was on a Canadian National train that froze solid overnight in the Rockies. Walked from the train to the depot in Calgary or Winnipeg only layered up to a sweater. Wasn't toooo bad until I was back in the train and looked at the thermometer.

[Thomas Dai]

Extreme cold in North America and extreme heat in Australia at the same time. Maybe golf really is a seasonal game after all and we should adjust our expectations accordingly.
Atb

[Tim Martin]

Played a lot of rounds in New England where temps hovered just above 32 degrees. Add even 10 miles per hour of wind and the effective temps are in the 20’s.

[Greg Hohman]

Sean A, Blue Collar CC?

[Mark Smolens]

Once played an Eskimo Open on New Years Day. Temp was 0, wind chills were -20.  Two propane heaters in the covered cart - we took off layers after 9 b/c it was so hot in the cart. Long drives on frozen fairways.

[Matthew Rose]

My junior year in high school, I played in the Springs Invitational in southern Wisconsin. The Springs is an old RTJ design that had a ton of water on it.

At 7 AM it was about 45 degrees and raining; by 8:30 it was a mix and had dropped down into the 30s. On about the 10th or 11th hole it had changed to snow completely and they called us off the course and counted nine holes. I shot about 50 and we finished close to last place. By the time we got in, I'm sure it was below 32. We ended up with about 3-4 inches of snow.

The next day, it was 75 and sunny. It was May 1st.

[Steve Lang]

Played in 25 degF once... parka and boots... most fun was playing across water hazards...

[Tyler Kearns]

This deep freeze is wild, last night the temperature in Winnipeg was -39C (-38F) with windchill of -53C (-63F)!!


I've played in temperature hovering around zero many times, never by choice, usually due to a scheduled match.  I remember playing a singles final at my home club in mid-October on what ended up being the last day for golf.  The snow began around the 11th or 12th, and when my ball came to rest on the 14th green it was about 4" in diameter as it accumulated snow with each rotation.  We shook hands and shared the title that year.


Tyler

[Scott Warren]

I played Royal Cinque Ports on January 2 2010 in the midst of an absolute freeze (by SE England standards...). From memory it was 1 or 2 degrees Celsius.



The ground was frozen and, carrying my bag, I slipped on the top of the punchbowl front of the 3rd green and slid all the way down onto the putting surface on my arse.


My wife (then fiancée) was walking around with me and at dinner that night pronounced my slip-and-slide as the only highlight of her day.

[Jason Topp]

A GCA Trip to Sutton Bay in May is one of the coldest weekends I have ever experienced.  It snowed when we were near the water on 9 and the wind was strong.  Each morning I woke up and was convinced we would not play that day. 


I once played in a four ball team event with snow flurries.  My only contribution to the team was getting up and down from the water on the 17th to halve the hole to keep us alive in the match.  That 18th hole was rough.

[Greg Tallman]

Chilly here in Cabo today as well. Slept under covers last night and high of only 75 today.