Should we play competitions during the winter?

You could set your watch by it. The results of the October medal would be posted, and the back tees would disappear. You wouldn’t see them again until the clocks went forward the following spring.

These days golf is 365 days a year. We don’t just play more, we also compete more and the old competition season – as we used to know it – only really exists in memory.

Where once you might have played in a few fun formats and the odd non-counting Stableford, there is now a decent calendar of events at some clubs stretching right into the spring.

There’s no such thing as winter golf in the World Handicap System. Golfers are encouraged to return scores all year round, and clubs are expected to provide, when possible, a course where acceptable scores can be submitted.

But should they? Is it realistic, even with winter-rated courses, to try and do your best when conditions are against you? Or should we take the chance to play meaningful competitive golf whenever we can? We consider some of the pros and cons of playing winter golf competitions…

Why we should play winter golf competitions

We’re told the World Handicap System is designed to reflect your demonstrated ability. Well, that’s not just between April and October. It’s all-year-round.

If you’re basically putting the clubs away, in a competitive sense, for half the year, how is that truly reflective of how you can play the game?

We all know in the old system how early-season majors would be dominated by the fast-improving junior, or the player who had spent the winter honing their game down the range and had improved much faster than their handicap in a short space of time. 

If you play competitions in the winter, this improvement can be caught by the system before you get an unfair advantage over the rest of the field when the big events swing round again in the spring.

And who does put their clubs away now when the clocks go back? We play as much in the dark days of January as we do in July, so why shouldn’t that be reflected in how our handicaps work? 

Clubs can run winter competitions knowing they are contributing to the records of their members. It means golf continues to be meaningful.

Did you know that expected weather conditions are part of Course Rating? And whether you are a fan of the Playing Conditions Calculation or not, it’s another vehicle that’s designed to make allowances when course conditions are unusual.

Should we forget the idea that a chilly winter day automatically makes a round unsuitable for handicapping? Clubs can take measures if a course isn’t suitable for the submission of acceptable scores – they’re written in the Rules of Handicapping. But if the course is fine, crack on and stop complaining. 

And don’t we all just love a competition? If more people play, that’s more people at the club and more money behind the bar. If the demand is there, and golfers want it, why not cater for it? 

Our membership fees aren’t for seven months, are they? We pay all year round – my direct debit says we do – so why should how we play be restricted too?

Why we shouldn’t play winter golf competitions

Frost, temporary greens, mud, water, plugged lies and partially flooded bunkers – yes, Local Rules can alleviate some of these but it’s a hugely different experience playing in sodden conditions. The ball doesn’t run. It doesn’t travel as far in the air and it just feels more of a slog.

A winter-rated course can make a difference, but does every course do this? I’ve played competitions in December off the whites. That’s just a licence to increase your handicap.

Then there are fairway mats. I completely understand why clubs force their use on fairways and I’ve benefitted from incredibly conditioned surfaces in the spring as a result. But hitting off a mat is a very different experience to hitting off turf. 

Some of you will tell me it’s easier. Some of you will spend the next few months fatting and thinning shots off the unfamiliar plastic.

But should the reliance on something so artificial to the spirit of the game – that you play the ball as it lies – be allowed in a competitive setting?

Governing bodies will tell you that Model Local Rules, for preferred lies, mats, and lift, clean and replace, should only be used where conditions create an unfair playing advantage and should be removed as soon as possible.  

Tell me how many of your clubs do that? Or do they just bring in preferred lies at the first sign of a morning dew and then leave them in place until the spring?

Winter competitions also rely on your club committees being vigilant. Are winter works changing the course too much? Have they sought a temporary rating? Have they forgotten that more than two temporary greens is a strict no-go? And what about a tee that’s two-thirds of the way down the fairway because of reconstruction work? 

Isn’t it all just a bit of a fuss to play a Stableford in January – one which half the field will withdraw from if there is the hint of a shower?

And while it’s a World Handicap System, are golfers in other parts of the world donning layers to put in scores when it’s most inclement? It’s fine in Florida, of course, but what about Buffalo? Are people submitting scores in the winter months in Sweden or Norway? So why should we?

Now have your say

We’re letting you be the ultimate judge. Should we play winter golf competitions or should our handicaps go into storage until better conditions arise? Let us know in the comments, or get in touch with us on X.

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