How Cold is Too Cold?

[R_Paulis]

Ask me how cold while I lived back in the Northeast for my first ten years of golfing and I remember playing Thanksgiving day with snow flurries - probably under freezing with the windchill.

Ask me now in SoCal and I doubt if I would play if it got close to 50. However, even that's a bit untrue for I have teed off when it's 40 at Rustic. But that never lasts much past the 4th hole...

[bstark]

Shivas is right on again. My buddies will go sit and watch a football game but say it's too cold to play golf....pussies

Count me in for the Reverse Jans Dec 31st.....

[K. Krahenbuhl]

I'll play in anything as long as there isn't enough snow on the ground that it becomes too hard to find the ball.

[Anthony Gray]

   If it is open I'm there.

[Mark Smolens]

Can I have my cart covered with a heater in the cup holder?  About 4 years ago we played on New Year's Day, and the temp was 7.  With a heater on each side of the cart it was about 60 inside. . . jump out, hit a shot that would run forever, and jump back in. . .

[Kalen Braley]

I dont know if I'm totally buying the football/golf comparison.

Some things you can do watching football in bad weather that you either can't/or is too impractical while walking 18 holes.

1)  Bring and wear a blanket
2)  Wear a movement limiting parka and snow pants
3)  Heated Seat warmer
4)  Frequent trips for Hot Chocolate/coffee
5)  Halftime warm up under the heater lamp
6) Jump up and down while non-stop screaming your head off!
7)  Hi-tail it to the car when your lousy Bears are losing by 30 in the middle of the 3rd qtr.  

[Will MacEwen]

I too cannot imagine weather that would keep me from playing if I intended to play.

That being said, I live in wussy California and not only do we not tend to face this issue often, but when we do they tend to close courses.

TH

For me, the use of temporary greens will generally put me on the couch, or make me reduce and 18 hole outing to 9.

[Matt_Ward]

Rick:

As a fellow Jerseyan -- it's not the temps as much as the velocity of the wind.

We routinely used to head down the Jersey Shore in mid-Jan and mid-Feb and play with temps in the 30's -- so long as the wind was down.

[Brian Cenci]

I play in anything....and I mean anything...unless there is snow on the ground.  Last year Dave Neveux and I played a round in Michigan on January 2nd and the ground was literally frozen and there was snow in areas.  Wedges were going 200 yards because the ground was like a rock.  I played last weekend in Michigan and it was 35 degrees out and rain / snow mix as I played.  I belong to a private club that leaves its pins in all year round so access isn't an issue.

[Dave_Miller]

I live in NJ and its starting to get a bit colder here- 35 today with flurries.  And of course it gets dark at 5pm , which sucks.  So I was wondering how many of you guys play all year and at what temperature is it too cold- if there is such a thing?

50 degree rule with light wind.
Dave

[D_Malley]

i play all winter and agree that it is more about the wind then the temp.  
30 degrees with no wind can be a good day, but 40 degrees with a 25mph wind can be unbearable.  

BTW what is about that guy you always see wearing shorts on these kind of days?

[Andrew Mitchell]

Forecast to be sunny and just above freezing in Yorkshire tomorrow.  I'll be there for my weekly fix.  Cold & wet would probably to convince me to watch England v South Africa on TV instead  

[John Pflum]

If it's raining - 50

If it's not raining - I'll go down to 35, assuming I'm walking.  Even on days where you think it's going to be too cold, once you get a few swings in and walk a couple of holes it's amazing how much you'll warm up.

I'll play in the cold, and I'll play in the rain.  But play in the cold rain?  No thanks.

I'm the same way.  I need an opponent next week.....

[Ian Andrew]

Just above freezing if travelling...
I still only have long underwear and a cotton shirt under the rainsuit.

I can add skates and a sweater if it get below freezing - adding contact makes it hockey...

[Greg Chambers]

I once played in a tournament where the temp was 35-40 and the wind was blowing 40-50 mph with gusts to 70.  That was too cold.  It was a little too windy as well.  I remember hitting my driver into the wind on a 165 yard par 3 and then hitting my approach shot with an 8 iron.

[Jay Flemma]

Matt's right, it depends on the wind, but generally speaking 40-45, but I've played after plenty of frost delays too.

[Dan Herrmann]

35F

I grew up in Buffalo, but you really couldn't play in the cold because a lot of the courses that I played back then didn't open till May.  So it was hitting wedges in the local park back and forth.  Actually, it was a lot of fun to get out after all the snow we used to get.

Unfortunately, we had lake effect snow all the way from Lake Erie here in Chester County PA today.  Got about 4 inches in an hour, so no more golf till it melts or sublimates.

[Ken Moum]

A relative of mine has it nailed.

There are three specific conditions that benefit golf:

Temp above 50* F.
Light Wind
No Rain


If you have any two of them in your favor, golf is good.

Ken

[Joe Hancock]

When the beer gets slushy........

Joe

[Matthew Mollica]

I was an observer (not player) today for a Club Championship match. My digital wind and temp gauge told me that wind chill had it down at 5.1 degrees Celcius which is a shade over 41 F. Wind and rain aside, I was quite happy I wasn't playing. Whenever I can't feel my hands, my golf gets real bad real fast.

MM

[Doug Wright]

Whenever this topic comes up I always think of this:

http://www.icegolfgreenland.com/index.asp?page=252&vpath=252|

Or this (Sarah Palin's husband probably plays in this one):

BERING SEA ICE GOLF CLASSIC
Play six holes on the frozen Bering Sea. Sleds pulled by huskies are used as caddies.

21 Mar 2009

[Greg Chambers]

we have an annual ice golf tourny on our irrigation pond, and we keep the beer in coolers to keep it from freezing, but it's never too cold for ice golf

[Anthony Fowler]

2 of us squeezed in a quick 9 holes in Boston yesterday in sub-30 temps.  Mild wind and nobody else on the course made it pretty enjoyable.  Once you get moving, it's pretty fun.

I've been forced to play 6+ hr. tournament rounds in sub-30 temps with sleet and ice falling from the sky and horrible winds.  That's not a fun experience and where I would certainly draw the line.

[Anthony Gray]

  I have played when the greens were frozen and when the ball hit the green it bounced like a ping pong ball......And loved it.

[Rick Sides]

Maybe we need a GCA golf outing on a frozen course!! Kind of like the Polar Bear club that jumps in the ocean on New Years Day