10 Tips And Tricks To Make Winter Golf Easier Than Ever Before

There’s no getting away from the fact that golf gets trickier in the off-season to varying degrees and for various reasons. As the temperature plummets and conditions become softer (or harder sometimes when the mercury hits negative territory!), this already testing game adds another string to the bow of its many challenges.

Let’s face it – some days you will decide that it just isn’t worth heading out, and on others, that decision will be taken out of your hands as courses close due to either saturated terrain or frozen conditions.

But when it’s merely cold, windy or just a little bit wet, how can you go about neutralising the effects of the elements such that there is still much to enjoy on your winter outings? Here are ten ways to keep things just a little bit easier during the winter months...

Wet-weather gloves

It’s hard to keep your grips completely dry when the rain is falling, but cold hands and damp grips are a bad combination. Your scores and frustration levels will rise if you’re unable to keep hold of the club.

The best wet-weather gloves can help ease the challenge as they’re designed to enhance your grip on the club as the rain is falling and trying to keep everything bone-dry becomes an impossibly forlorn task.

Wedges with more bounce

A big danger when hitting wedge shots - or indeed any iron shot – from soft terrain is catching it heavy, spraying yourself with mud and watching your ball travel a very disappointing percentage of its desired distance.

The more bounce you have in the sole of your wedges, the more forgiving they will be in the strike on soft ground. Not all golfers will be in a position to draft in a fresh squad of the best high-bounce wedges for the winter, but many of us carry wedges with different bounces, and relying more on your higher-bounce models in soft winter conditions is definitely a good idea.

Make good use of your hybrids

In a similar vein, the best hybrids offer a greater degree of forgiveness through the turf than long- and mid-irons. If you alternate between long irons and hybrids, winter is the time to put more of the latter in the bag. Their wide, forgiving rounded soles are far less likely to dig through impact.

If switching clubs is not an option, the ball travels shorter distances in winter so you can potentially hit your hybrids from distances that might normally be a long- or mid-iron for you. It’s even worth considering three-quarter shots with your hybrids rather than flat-out irons to reap the benefits of their extra forgiveness.

And you may well enjoy more success on straightforward greenside chips from soft or muddy ground with a wide-soled hybrid than your wedges or any other iron. But do practise the hybrid chip first as the hollow head means the ball comes off the face much faster than with other chipping clubs.

Layering

Layering has become a really big thing in recent years, although of course, we all did it to varying degrees long before.

Now it’s much more high-tech, with various performance-enhancing fabrics and technologies helping you achieve the warmth you desire via three or four thinner garments from base layer to outer jacket rather than having to rely on bulky clothing that can hamper your ability to swing freely.

Waterproofs with stretch panels

Continuing on this theme, some golfers are reluctant to don their waterproof jackets as they feel restricted when wearing them, particularly over those slightly thicker winter mid-layers.

If you want to play your best in the rain, you need a waterproof jacket that not only keeps the wind and rain out but also allows you to swing unrestricted. Many of the best golf waterproofs achieve this via the clever use of stretch panels or fabrics in the back, shoulders and perhaps sides.

If your waterproof jacket is quite literally holding you back, it may be time to invest if you want to play on through the winter.

Winter mitts

It’s hard to hit the ball well when you’ve lost all feeling in your hands and fingers, so something to keep them warmer when you’re not hitting shots (which is the vast majority of any round, after all!) almost goes without saying.

Some of the best winter mitts even have a pouch or slot for a separate handwarmer for double the warmth.

Manage expectations

We all know that golf can feel easier when you’re not trying too hard and winter is a good time to put theory to test on that front. When conditions are undeniably conspiring against any prospect of playing your best golf, why put too much pressure on yourself to do so?

Better to not expect too much of your game, at least from a scoring perspective, and focus on just being out there with friends enjoying yourself and maybe even experimenting with different shots and swing thoughts when the score really doesn’t matter.

Accept distances will be down

Roll distance will obviously be less in soft winter conditions but your carry yardages will be down too for various reasons. So, how does temperature affect golf ball distance?

First, the ball’s core and other layers will behave differently when cold. Then, cold air is denser than warm air, which creates more drag and resistance. Finally, layering up may still hamper your ability to swing at your normal peak-season speed even with today’s high-tech garments.

The end result is that you will hit the ball shorter distances, so the best thing to do is to accept that, stop thrashing at it to try and achieve your ‘normal’ distance and simply club up as required – not a bad year-round lesson for most of us anyway, as we invariably leave far more approach shots short of the target than long!

Spare ball in the pocket

One way you can help yourself on the distance front is to keep a spare ball in your pocket where your body heat will keep it warmer than it would be in your golf bag. Switching between warm and cold golf balls from one hole to the next could help you retain a little more of your normal carry distance.

However, while putting the ball in your pocket to keep it warmer doesn’t infringe the Rules, using a handwarmer or other device within your pocket to further enhance the warmth would, so avoid doing that if you’re playing any competitive golf over the winter.

Tee it forward

And finally, at many courses you may not get a choice over which tees to play from in the winter, but when various tee markers are still out, it’s time to forget machismo or bravado and tee it forward a little.

There’s plenty of time to really challenge yourself from further back if you so desire from March to September/October, but in winter, give yourself a break and play a course you can still cope with.

As mentioned previously, the ball doesn’t carry or roll as far in cold temperatures and soft conditions, so unless you want to be removing a headcover for nearly every approach shot, give yourself a head start from the tee.