I’m ashamed to write this but it is my truth: I have become a fair-weather golfer.
I barely set foot on a course now when the weather turns. I’m a light snow shower away from packing the bag up until the winter months pass.
This was not always the case. A generation ago – yes, it is actually that long ago – I’d have dusted off the hand warmers and been out playing golf in any weather and at any time of year. That was then.
There is a lot about winter golf I really like. A shorter course for one, but when it starts to get really cold and damp I can think of any number of things I’d rather be doing than tramping round a sodden layout in the drizzle.
What’s fun about just being able to see someone’s eyes through a snood, or only a pair of heavy-duty gloves stopping my fingers from succumbing to frostbite?
After a summer of events, which have depressingly seen my handicap soar yet again, all I want to do is really accentuate the ‘off’ in off-season.
Some of you, though, clearly have got the taste for it. You can only be masochists. Lots of clubs now have winter rated courses and there is the chance to put in scores that count for handicap all year round.
This was one of the big things that came out of the introduction of the World Handicap System. Qualifiers do not exist. There is only golf.
They’re all just acceptable scores these days and it’s a rare day indeed that the weather, or course conditions, conspire to prevent you from putting a score into the system.
I understand the reasons for it. It’s a long time between the end of the old traditional season in October and the birth of a new campaign at the start of April.
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Anyone who has been hitting the driving range, or has suddenly found ‘the secret’, can improve dramatically over that time.
Winter qualifier competitions? I hope I don’t see a scorecard until the spring
It’s wasn’t unusual back in the CONGU days to see the same faces sweeping early season tournaments as the system raced to keep up with their improvement.
England Golf, among other governing bodies, have long encouraged clubs to take a firmer stance with winter leagues as well as those who are performing just a bit better than their index would suggest.
I get all that. I really do. I’m on board with the sentiment. But, and I’m sorry, I just can’t muster up any enthusiasm for it. The game is hard enough for me without adding a scorecard to the winter weather as well.
Greenkeepers perform small miracles to keep us on proper greens as much as they do through January, February, and March, but let’s not try and pretend they’re in the same league as they are during peak season.
Some people putt well whatever the conditions. I’m not one of them. Slow and bobbly is not what I signed up for when a card is on the line. Pop a couple of temporary greens in there as well, as you will inevitably have to, and you can just forget it.
I’ve said the shorter golf course suits me well, but that says somewhat more about the state of my game than the principle at stake. In winter, you take on your track with its defences lowered.
One hole at my home course, which off the back tee causes me kittens, is nothing more than a hybrid and a flick at the moment. I’m genuinely disappointed when I don’t come off with a birdie.
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Until I have to face a tight tee shot through a chute of trees again, or feel a shiver of terror as I take on 190 yards of par-3 over water, it’s basically not proper golf.
Add tee mats into the equation, and let’s be honest some of them can be of variable quality, and you’ve got an unpleasant mix.
It’s golf, but not as it should be, and that’s OK for me in the winter. I’m happy to be out there at all – when the mood takes. So, and I’ll say this as politely as possible, I hope I don’t see a scorecard again until the spring.
Now have your say
What do you think? Do you put scoring rounds in all year round, or are you happy to give your handicap a rest? Let us know on X.
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