Our weather is only getting more extreme – so we need to change our expectations about winter golf

Depending on who is shouting the louder, climate change is either a massive hoax or it’s an existential threat to the planet.

Regardless of the politics, though, it does seem on the ground that the weather at your golf course is more volatile. We’d got used to playing all year round, now a sudden downpour can close a club for days.

But perception is one thing. What does the evidence suggest? And who better to ask than the people who are experiencing it every day – your greenkeeping teams.

For Your Course, produced by the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association, we spoke to three course managers from across the UK to understand how they overcome common problems that arise on golf courses during winter.

We asked them whether we could expect to see more extreme forecasts in the future and, notably, if we had to adjust what we expect from our courses and our greenkeeping teams. Do we need to alter our expectations?

Tackling these golf weather questions are Michael Rogers, course manager at York; experienced greenkeeper Jez Ward; and Antony Kirwan, the course manager at Romford and a BIGGA board member.

Golf weather: Is it going to get worse in the future?

Jez Ward: I’m going 60/40 that it might be extreme more often but, having read and listened to those people believed to be experts in what happens in climate change, the planet is doing what the planet needs to do.
I think there must be an element of everything comes in cycles.

This year, we’ve had a few warmish days, but it’s been a kind of normal summer. They predicted 50 or 60 days of full rain in the summer and we’ve not had that.

Who’s to say this winter is just going to be mild and relatively wet, but not 46 inches by the end of October?

I don’t think we’re able to predict what the planet does. I think we’re going to live by it and see what we get but, hopefully, people are more prepared because they’ve lived through the previous extremes.

So you’ve got some prior knowledge and prior planning. You think, ‘this might happen so let’s make sure that’s working’.

Michael Rogers: I think it will continue. Global warming is definitely happening. Some people still think this is just a warm spell and climate change isn’t real, but all you’ve got to do is turn on the news and see the floods in India or the wildfires in Australia and California.

People are dying as a result of climate change, whether through flash flooding or poverty caused by crop failure. When you put it in that context, our troubles on the golf course are very minor.

Antony Kirwan: You’ll see it steadily get more and more extreme. I think you’ll have a massive north/south divide.

From what I see with weather patterns, you can draw a line from the Severn Bridge straight across to The Wash in North Norfolk. Anything south of that is going to be warm and anything else is going to be a lot cooler and wetter.

Do golfers need to alter their expectations?

Jez: I’m a low-single-figures golfer and I think they are becoming a little bit more sensible. The channels where greenkeepers are posting videos or images on social media and the information that is coming out from greens departments to members is more than it has ever been.

And those messages are passed across to them more often than ever and the information on hand is a lot easier [to obtain]. You see members posting things themselves – ‘this relates to my golf course, this is what’s happening, we’re not the only ones’.

I think golfers are changing.

Antony: It’s hard to put this – I think some golfers aren’t too bothered how you get there as long as you get there. They’re not that bothered if you’re struggling – ‘I pay my subs. I want it like this’. You will get through to some, though.

Greenkeepers are getting more educated – with technology, machinery, irrigation systems, wetting agents, new ways of draining our areas – we’re adapting ourselves with technology a lot quicker than most other sports.

Even if the climate does get more extreme, greenkeepers will navigate our way through it. Sometimes you have to take a step back and realise there’s only so much you can achieve.

At that point mental health needs come into play and golfers and committees must realise their responsibility with regards to not putting too much pressure on their course manager, who isn’t able to control the weather.

Likewise, if you aren’t willing to invest in resources, you need to limit your expectations.

• This article appears in Your Course, the twice-yearly publication from the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association. Your Course invites golfers to gain a deeper appreciation of what preparing and maintaining a golf course really involves. Head to www.bigga.org.uk to find out more.

Now have your say

Golf weather: Is time time golfers gave their greenkeeping teams a break in the winter? Will the weather get worse? Let us know by leaving a comment on X.

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