25 reasons you should be playing winter golf
16. There is no rough
One of the greatest joys in life. Fan one out sideways and there she is, sitting up like a peach, on a juicy bit of grass 30 yards to the right of where you hoped you might be.
No matter, this is actually more appealing than a tight lie and you heave yourself back into play and rattle up another couple of Stableford points. This is the time to go and play some of the better courses in your area, particularly if some of them are links.
No hay to either swallow up your ball or hack out sideways from.
17. It’s easier to hit through trees
The birds might not enjoy the breeze while they’re attempting to roost at night, but for us who dwell on terra firma, the sight of a tree, bereft of the dense plumage which made it such a formidable opponent during the summer months, gifts the golfer rare expectations of a successful recovery back into civilisation.
This does require some co-operation from the greens team, but presuming they’ve cleared the fallen leaves from around the base, you can be assured that a wayward stroke is less harshly punished than it would have been throughout the summer.
18. You can wear hats, base layers, boots
Battling against the elements can be fun when you’ve got the tools to do it properly. There’s no fun in not being able to feel your hands. It’s rewarding to be able to get round 18 holes against the odds.
To the untrained eye, you’re stupid for being outside – let alone on the golf course – but you feel smug. It also means you can justify owning that luminous bobble hat and base-layer which have been taking up valuable space in the bottom drawer.
If you look stupid in a cap, this is your chance to shine in the headwear department. Winter golf accessories also offer up some great ideas for Christmas presents – to give and receive.
19. The chance of an eagle
Again you’re mortified at the prospect of having to play a par 5 at 360 yards – they’re putting in an even more distant tee so you are having to drive off from a piece of ground that looks very sorry for itself on the middle of the fairway.
But then you catch one and you’ve left yourself a gap wedge in. You very quickly forget the fact that 200 yards has been lobbed off the hole and begin to practice your speech about how you made an eagle at 12 – ‘I knocked it in to six feet’. Five points.
20. Bucket holes
There’s no denying that winter green conditions vary greatly. The winter golfer is therefore thankful for that small mercy known as the bucket hole – a target to aim your putt at that’s large enough to swallow a basketball.
On the whole, the size is large enough to compensate for any slight bobbles that might knock your ball off line, while the large size allows you to overcome the slower green by just whacking your ball, safe in the knowledge that you’d have to be reaching terminal velocity for your putt to lip out.
