Winter course conditions

[Voyager EMH]

Tees, fairways, rough and bunkers are all a soggy muddy mess.
Greens are OK.
Par 3s off a mat are the only holes I can take seriously.
Can't see a change to this any time soon.
Roll on May!

 

[sunshine]

I hadn't played in 10 days or so....went out first at Ripon just so I could whip around....lost 2 tee shots in the first 4 holes because it was still too dim for me to see well (started at 7:30). A couple of old farts (I'm 66.....they were fartier than me) that started behind me jumped in front of me after the 5th....I think to avoid a couple of hillier holes....thought they would wave me through...nope. I had to skip 2 holes and go straight to 10. Not that big of a deal...I was just working on a couple of things....but jeez they were slow.

Let it all out

Not sure how this has anything to do with the topic but I hope you are feeling better now

 

[AussieKB]

Tees, fairways, rough and bunkers are all a soggy muddy mess.
Greens are OK.
Par 3s off a mat are the only holes I can take seriously.
Can't see a change to this any time soon.
Roll on May!

I arrive at the end of April so I hope your weather improves soon, send uf the rain and you can have our heat for a month,

Perth​

Close Precis
Forecast issued at 4:00 pm WST on Tuesday 6 February 2024.

Detailed Perth Forecast

	Tue. 6 Feb	Wed. 7 Feb	Thu. 8 Feb	Fri. 9 Feb	Sat. 10 Feb	Sun. 11 Feb	Mon. 12 Feb
Summary	Clear.	Sunny.	Sunny.	Sunny.	Sunny.	Sunny.	Sunny.
Max. Temperature		36 °C	39 °C	41 °C	41 °C	39 °C	37 °C
Min. Temperature		20 °C	22 °C	23 °C	25 °C	23 °C	22 °C

 

[sunshine]

My course is clay based parkland so gets a bit boggy in winter, same as every other local course. But the greens have been excellent this winter, generally rolling nicely at a good pace. I’m no agronomist but the green keepers did put a lot of sand on the greens last year.

 

[Voyager EMH]

 

[patricks148]

48 hours of heavy rain here saw most of the courses closed, even links with flooding. i was looking out onto the kings yesterday lunchtime and that was mostly under water and its on the side of the hill. its a wet course in winter anyway but ive never seen it like that

 

[Crazyface]

I hadn't played in 10 days or so....went out first at Ripon just so I could whip around....lost 2 tee shots in the first 4 holes because it was still too dim for me to see well (started at 7:30). A couple of old farts (I'm 66.....they were fartier than me) that started behind me jumped in front of me after the 5th....I think to avoid a couple of hillier holes....thought they would wave me through...nope. I had to skip 2 holes and go straight to 10. Not that big of a deal...I was just working on a couple of things....but jeez they were slow.

Fairly amazed at how well Ripon is holding up to the wet. It was a lot drier than I expected....the other course I play I'd have to take a life preserver with me in case I sunk in the mud.

My least fav golf course. Poor signage ment we played back nine first, and were followed round by a cloud of little black flies that were washed off in the shower later. Blurgh....

 

[jim8flog]

I arrive at the end of April so I hope your weather improves soon, send uf the rain and you can have our heat for a month,

Perth​

Close Precis
Forecast issued at 4:00 pm WST on Tuesday 6 February 2024.

Detailed Perth Forecast

	Tue. 6 Feb	Wed. 7 Feb	Thu. 8 Feb	Fri. 9 Feb	Sat. 10 Feb	Sun. 11 Feb	Mon. 12 Feb
Summary	Clear.	Sunny.	Sunny.	Sunny.	Sunny.	Sunny.	Sunny.
Max. Temperature		36 °C	39 °C	41 °C	41 °C	39 °C	37 °C
Min. Temperature		20 °C	22 °C	23 °C	25 °C	23 °C	22 °C

View attachment 51749

A right pair of Perths here.

 

[2blue]

There is no good reason you can't hit off a winter mat. It's simple.......and divot free. You get a good lie without tearing the heck out of the ground until the grass starts growing decently again.

Many folks at our place are realizing this..... SPURK is doing very well out of it.
We must only have closed just a handful of times this winter. Playing, for the first time, from high-quality winter mats onto full greens all winter. Buggies & trolleys are allowed on the buggy paths that are on every hole otherwise its carry & get on with it. With nearly 60 in the NQ (due to mats used in General Area) weekend Comp (usually 80 in Summer) its pretty obvious that there is quite a it of enthusiasm for Winter golf.

 

[Mandofred]

Let it all out

Not sure how this has anything to do with the topic but I hope you are feeling better now

Eh....about the same. I noticed you cut off my comments about the winter conditions of the course I was playing...or did you read the whole post? Here.....let me help you......
Fairly amazed at how well Ripon is holding up to the wet. It was a lot drier than I expected....the other course I play I'd have to take a life preserver with me in case I sunk in the mud

 

[Mandofred]

My least fav golf course. Poor signage ment we played back nine first, and were followed round by a cloud of little black flies that were washed off in the shower later. Blurgh....

Let it go already....although I agree with the signage after the 1st....if you aren't paying attention I could see somebody walking straight to 15 or 11. I think there is a map on the scorecard.....can't actually remember since I don't look at the card accept to put scores down. Of course....there's always the hole sign that has a number on it...

The bugs? Hey, it happens. It's happened to me on other courses....several times at Knaresborough I hit the lady bug bad day or so.....covered with the little buggers. It doesn't mean that Knaresborough is a bad golf course, it just means I was playing when they were getting frisky?

 

[Mandofred]

Many folks at our place are realizing this..... SPURK is doing very well out of it.
We must only have closed just a handful of times this winter. Playing, for the first time, from high-quality winter mats onto full greens all winter. Buggies & trolleys are allowed on the buggy paths that are on every hole otherwise its carry & get on with it. With nearly 60 in the NQ (due to mats used in General Area) weekend Comp (usually 80 in Summer) its pretty obvious that there is quite a it of enthusiasm for Winter golf.

Playing with a mat just makes things more pleasant. It's winter....the ground is horrible, why not just relax and avoid fairway destruction?....you still have to hit the right shot the right distance to score well. By some opinions, playing in sloppy mud and taking huge wet mucky divots is the manly thing to do.

 

[JonnyGutteridge]

Our greens at the weekend were unbelievable for February, “the best they have been at this time of year in memory” said by a few different members.

I honestly think in terms of speed, they’d be faster than most courses achieve in summer.

The course has been fantastic all winter, closed just a small handful of times, very few restrictions on trolleys etc. A lot of members acknowledge how lucky we are, as shown by this thread, many clubs have struggled this winter

 

[Mandofred]

Everything around Harrogate is clay based soil..... the course closest to me has a real issue with water and sucky mud during the winter. I don't think adding more drainage would do a whole lot....water just doesn't move through clay. The only way I can think of to fix it would be to spend zillions of Pounds on adding sand over a period of years until at least the top 6 inches of soil gets enough sand in it to allow for water movement. No idea how much that would cost.....

 

[Deleted member 35599]

Just on the way back from the course now..

 

[jim8flog]

Another course closure today.

I have been a member of the course long enough to remember when we never closed.

Trolley bans and all temp greens yes but course closures no.

 

[DonRixon]

We have been on mats since December and the talk is that'll continue to 1st March subject to change.

Some members whine about mats, the majority understand the benefit of protecting the course.

 

[Skytot]

Ours has been closed last 4 days , it has barely been open this winter . Clay based

 

[Genu9]

We have a Met Office rain gauge on the 9th hole. Can access data on website. Total rain for December was 292mm. (That's 11.5 inches in old money) Total for year was 1620mm. Hose pipe ban coming.......

 

[Imurg]

Being built around the base of one of the highest chalk hills in Bucks were extremely lucky when it comes to drainage
The 3 holes furthest away from the hill have clay mixed in with the chalk so they do get a bit sticky but are probably the same as the best parts of most other courses right now.
We have trolley bans just like most places but they are minimal and do protect the course.
The Greenys managed to cut and roll the greens on Friday and they were superb..they've been a bit bobbly for a while but they were very good .
We've been closed for 1 day this winter due to the rain - to be fair it wasn't really the rain, it was after a storm took down several trees and the buggy store roof.
The course was playable.
We're too high for valley fog and too low for hill fog - still get some occasionally but not much...
We only, generally, close for snow - and we don't get much of that either......wonder why we joined .?