Cold weather produces the best playing conditions

[Jerry Kluger]

I was reminded this weekend that in my area the best playing conditions are when the weather starts getting cold.  The fairways and greens firm up nicely while the greens are at a good pace.  I would guess the reason is that the watering needs are diminished so the members who love green can be appeased without making everything soggy.  The only problem is that an old guy like me has a hard time staying loose in the cold so I need the firm fairways to get some distance on my shots.  Now if the snow will just hold off!

[Chris Tritabaugh]

I was reminded this weekend that in my area the best playing conditions are when the weather starts getting cold.  The fairways and greens firm up nicely while the greens are at a good pace.  I would guess the reason is that the watering needs are diminished so the members who love green can be appeased without making everything soggy.  The only problem is that an old guy like me has a hard time staying loose in the cold so I need the firm fairways to get some distance on my shots.  Now if the snow will just hold off!

Jerry,
What part of the world are you in? I would agree with you and I think your post states the exact why these types of conditions are not found during the summer in many parts of the US. Golfers and dare I say superintendents obsession with the color green. Or being more specific the obsession with a consistent very bright green color.

[Bill_McBride]

I love winter golf in the South on fairways and greens that have NOT been over-seeded.

On 419 fairways and surrounds, and ultra dwarf greens, the conditions are about as fast and firm as you could hope for.

It requires a membership (or owner) that can be "down with brown."

It's as much like links golf as you can get without actually playing a links course.

[Dan Kelly]

I think your post states the exact why these types of conditions are not found during the summer in many parts of the US. Golfers and dare I say superintendents obsession with the color green. Or being more specific the obsession with a consistent very bright green color.

The Wizard of Oz had the answer, a century ago, for golfers and superintendents who demand bright green.

Everyone entering the Emerald City was required to wear a pair of green-tinted glasses, to humbug them into thinking that the city was a beautiful place, instead of the dismal city that it, in fact (and fiction), was.

[Jerry Kluger]

I live in the DC area and it isn't even a question of being brown - everything just firms up and the course plays great - even better when the leaves are blown away. It is also quite amusing when you're playing with guys who have no idea what the ground game is all about.

[Terry Lavin]

Yeah, it's great when the ground gets crunchy and you get a lot of bounce and roll, but the problem is when it's cold, you can't get nearly a full turn on the ball and your hands get so cold and stiff that you don't get a good grip on the club...You get the picture.  These "best playing conditions" are only good for a short period of time for anything resembling normal golf.

[Bill_McBride]

Yeah, it's great when the ground gets crunchy and you get a lot of bounce and roll, but the problem is when it's cold, you can't get nearly a full turn on the ball and your hands get so cold and stiff that you don't get a good grip on the club...You get the picture.  These "best playing conditions" are only good for a short period of time for anything resembling normal golf.

In Chicago yes.  In the deep South, no.

[archie_struthers]

 


In defense of all our supers out there, after late August in the Northeast the disease pressure drops dramatically , and they can aggressively cut and firm up the greens.  As we know it's really a hard thing to do during the stressful weather of summers like we experienced this year.

[Jerry Kluger]

Archie: Believe me when I tell you that it's the membership that wants the green and soft conditions not the super.  When they see a brown spot or the greens are firm they start complaining. 

[Tim Martin]

In defense of all our supers out there, after late August in the Northeast the disease pressure drops dramatically , and they can aggressively cut and firm up the greens.  As we know it's really a hard thing to do during the stressful weather of summers like we experienced this year.

Archie-Those greens at Greate Bay must be awesome right now considering how good they were in early October.

[JESII]

Don't you guys find that it takes exponentially longer for the course(s) to actually dry out this time of year? After just a little rain...

I feel like a rain that would normally take a day or two to get the course firm again now takes 5 or 6 days because it's so much cooler...we don't go many 7 day stretches without a little rain this time of year.

[Jeff Spittel]

We are starting to get the dormant Bermuda and biscuit brown look, but the golf course is never as firm during the wet S. Texas winters as it is during a nice dry spell in August.

[Will MacEwen]

Don't you guys find that it takes exponentially longer for the course(s) to actually dry out this time of year? After just a little rain...

I feel like a rain that would normally take a day or two to get the course firm again now takes 5 or 6 days because it's so much cooler...we don't go many 7 day stretches without a little rain this time of year.

I am NW of the PNW.  I feel like every week now, the course gets a little (or a lot) wetter, and that trend is unlikely to reverse until April or so...unless we get snow.

[Jerry Kluger]

It's raining in DC and I agree that it will take longer for the water to be absorbed - say farewell to firm and fast for at least a few days.