I’ve never heard anyone say they love winter golf, maybe people have, but out of my earshot.
I know that when we talk about winter there are definitive months in the UK, however last year and this year I didn't find December and January too bad. Cold, but the greens are nowhere near as tricky as they were last February and March when the rain was relentless and the rough really penalised you!
The cold, damp and sometimes the wind can really affect your distance. You do need to do more shot assessments, clubbing up etc and it’s a journey of upskilling, just when you feel like you’ve learnt stuff it suddenly feels like you haven’t!
As a less experienced golfer these few months can feel pretty long. The extra run and distance from each shot on the firm summer greens give you a bit of a boost and your scores get lower, you feel and see the progression, but then that goes away.
In the wetter and colder conditions, we really are talking about how far you can carry the ball in the air and it can feel like you’ve taken a step backwards - which can be discouraging.
However, there are some positives and I think as frustrating as it can be at times, it’s important to keep going. Here are my top three reasons to not stop playing in the winter months.
Track Your Progress
It’s a chance to see where my game is really at. I love the summer and the fairways that run and run, which obviously makes me feel good. In the winter I can see what’s really happening. I track all my stats and a little look back shows me the difference between my performance average this time last year.
Even if I don’t feel like it, there is improvement! The data doesn’t make as exciting reading as it does in the summer, but it is giving me some important information so it’s good to keep tracking it even when the numbers are not what I want!
Don't Go Back To Square One
I have to keep swinging because even when I have two weeks off my swing gets rusty. I never swung a golf club as a child, so I don’t have muscle memory to lean back on. I need to keep playing so that I don’t feel like I lose the confidence to swing properly. It means when summer comes I’m not starting from scratch.
Range confidence and course confidence are two different things, so I think it is important to keep going out. When I see myself in a rain hat with waterproofs I don’t even recognise myself! I like nature but generally when it’s warm and dry. So, I know I’m obsessed with golf.
Work On Swing Changes
I can work on the parts of my game that need it and it doesn’t feel like I’m sacrificing playing time. In the summer the range never seems as fun as actually getting out there and getting a game in. But with the shorter days there's less playing time, so after work instead of playing you can get to the range - yes and amen to the ones with heaters! You can also work on the swing changes that take a bit more time to groove in as in the summer you don’t want to feel that frustration of playing through a change with less practice time.
These past few months have felt really challenging, Christmas then a new job has meant less time to play, so I feel like I’m going backwards, and without run it has been a bit discouraging.
I feel like my scoring has gone back up from the back end of autumn. I am focusing on the glimmers. Like the good shots that feel great because the distance is all me, the chance to dig deep and build up my playing resilience and work on staying positive even when things aren’t going well.
If nothing else gets me motivated it’s that in a couple of months things will be better on the course and my game will be improved too! Golf is meant to be enjoyable on some level so I’m thinking about changing my thinking from a winter grind mindset to a progression opportunity!
My List Of Winter Essentials
- Electric hand warmer - better for the environment than the disposable ones and also a phone charger!
- Feet warmer for the coldest of frosty days. They don’t happen often, but stops your feet feeling like ice blocks.
- Waterproof socks - hate having wet feet and in the winter even the best waterproof shoes can leak a little (happy to be proven wrong if there’s a pair that NEVER leak).
- Ear muffs - I get warm sometimes, so a full woolly hat is too much, but so are cold ears - ear muffs are the best accessory.
- Waterproof trousers - if you’re not always finding fairways the mud can be too much.
- Spiked shoes - having face planted once and being on my backside another time, I always wear spikes now.
- Thermos flask for a coffee or soup to keep me warm on the way round.
