Winter v Summer

[anotherdouble]

I much prefer summer golf and find it easier. The main positive is the extra roll and ball flight, I'd rather be hitting 7 iron into a green than 5 iron every time.

Chipping out of mud in the winter is no fun at all, in summer you get some forgiveness with the bounce of the club, in winter it just digs in and you get nothing. The tees never seem to be vastly shorter where I play, maybe 10 yards here and there which isn't enough to make a huge difference. And no I don't think the rough is any shorter either. Same length, but wet and muddy making it even harder.

The ONLY positive about winter golf for me is pick and place on the fairway meaning you can tee it up a bit on a nice bit of grass. The negatives outweigh the positives I think.

Sorry please forgive my ignorance but I thought obviously wrongly that the bounce should never be able to dig in.

 

[Orikoru]

Sorry please forgive my ignorance but I thought obviously wrongly that the bounce should never be able to dig in.

I might be getting my terms wrong, I just mean that in winter your club will sometimes dig into the mud causing a duff (if your strike isn't perfect), whereas in summer you get away with those because the ground is harder and it won't dig in.

 

[anotherdouble]

I might be getting my terms wrong, I just mean that in winter your club will sometimes dig into the mud causing a duff (if your strike isn't perfect), whereas in summer you get away with those because the ground is harder and it won't dig in.

Oh ok

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I much prefer summer golf and find it easier. The main positive is the extra roll and ball flight, I'd rather be hitting 7 iron into a green than 5 iron every time.

Chipping out of mud in the winter is no fun at all, in summer you get some forgiveness with the bounce of the club, in winter it just digs in and you get nothing. The tees never seem to be vastly shorter where I play, maybe 10 yards here and there which isn't enough to make a huge difference. And no I don't think the rough is any shorter either. Same length, but wet and muddy making it even harder.

The ONLY positive about winter golf for me is pick and place on the fairway meaning you can tee it up a bit on a nice bit of grass. The negatives outweigh the positives I think.

Very much what I've been saying. That said, it is a challenge in the winter and a different mindset and I think if you can try and go out and be patient you can make a score. It's not easy and the negatives you highlight (plus cold weather and gusty winds, wet bunkers etc) do make if hard and test your resolve. For me, winter golf is nothing really more than a chance to keep the game ticking over and if I'm working on anything such as my pitching or a swing change, a chance to test it without too much bar a few quid in the roll up at stake

 

[Orikoru]

Very much what I've been saying. That said, it is a challenge in the winter and a different mindset and I think if you can try and go out and be patient you can make a score. It's not easy and the negatives you highlight (plus cold weather and gusty winds, wet bunkers etc) do make if hard and test your resolve. For me, winter golf is nothing really more than a chance to keep the game ticking over and if I'm working on anything such as my pitching or a swing change, a chance to test it without too much bar a few quid in the roll up at stake

God, the bunkers, forgot about them as well. Yeah I think in winter it's just nice to get out there when weather allows. I wouldn't get much out of just using the range for a month or two months, it just isn't the same.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

God, the bunkers, forgot about them as well. Yeah I think in winter it's just nice to get out there when weather allows. I wouldn't get much out of just using the range for a month or two months, it just isn't the same.

Definitely. I think range work in winter has a place especially if someone is having lessons in the off season but you need to be able to take the swing out and try it. I'd argue that by actually doing so when the course is as tricky to play and long as it can be, it gives a far better understanding of how well it's likely to stand up and work when the better weather comes. If you struggle, the option to go back to the pro, tweak, practice and repeat is there and with a lot of clubs running no or non-qualifying events, the handicap doesn't suffer

 

[jim8flog]

We have permanent Winter tees ( on a lot of the holes) and a course rating certificate for them so that we can continue to run Qualifying comps through the winter. The positioning of them on a lot of holes makes no major difference to the length of the hole and only one where the difference is very big.

We have one permanent alternate green and alternate tee for the next hole which reduces the par for the course by 2 shots but the combination of the two actually makes the course slightly harder for average players but slightly easier for big hitters.

 

[Mrs Wiggles]

Where do you play? I presume it’s a links course if the markers are going that far back.

I play at Addlethorpe, near Skegness. It is the sister course to North Shore. A very long 9 hole. It is a Parkland, and doesn't have forward tees, and like I previously said, the Tee markers were recently moved back.

 

[Mrs Wiggles]

I was just thinking about this thread after talking to a friend of mine. He managed to drop 7 shots during the summer, and now plays off of 11. It would appear he is dropping winter golf because he can't get near his handicap now. The course that I play is very long, and the fairways are soft. As well as that the area I live in is effected badly by wind. Most of the par fours take three shots to the green, and the par fives four shots. Over 18 holes this is about 8 shots lost just through distance alone. If you take into account the poor condition of the greens, it's easy to add a few shots on top of that. I am a realist, and if I can hit 30pts I go home happy, unfortunately my friend isn't.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I was just thinking about this thread after talking to a friend of mine. He managed to drop 7 shots during the summer, and now plays off of 11. It would appear he is dropping winter golf because he can't get near his handicap now. The course that I play is very long, and the fairways are soft. As well as that the area I live in is effected badly by wind. Most of the par fours take three shots to the green, and the par fives four shots. Over 18 holes this is about 8 shots lost just through distance alone. If you take into account the poor condition of the greens, it's easy to add a few shots on top of that. I am a realist, and if I can hit 30pts I go home happy, unfortunately my friend isn't.

This is what I've been saying. We have holes like our 9th that's 400 yards off the white so not a monster but it plays directly into the wind and with no roll on the fairway, even a good drive can leave 200 yards in so the chances of hitting it in two are slim. Granted it is SI12 so I get a shot but as you say, pitching on and then two putting in winter aren't always a given. I accept winter golf for what it is and just enjoy the roll up banter, try to keep the swing going and monitor aspects like my pitching to see if the trend is positive/negative and then do some work on what is not going well. I always aim to score as many points as I can but if I have 30+ I don't think that's the end of the world for a winter round with nothing really on it

 

[anotherdouble]

I was just thinking about this thread after talking to a friend of mine. He managed to drop 7 shots during the summer, and now plays off of 11. It would appear he is dropping winter golf because he can't get near his handicap now. The course that I play is very long, and the fairways are soft. As well as that the area I live in is effected badly by wind. Most of the par fours take three shots to the green, and the par fives four shots. Over 18 holes this is about 8 shots lost just through distance alone. If you take into account the poor condition of the greens, it's easy to add a few shots on top of that. I am a realist, and if I can hit 30pts I go home happy, unfortunately my friend isn't.

If I hit 30 points in the summer I go home happy

 

[Imurg]

If I hit 30 points in the summer I go home happy

So that's why you're as miserable as sin most of the time....

 

[anotherdouble]

So that's why you're as miserable as sin most of the time....

Both barrels loaded fired and I am dispatched