Gear for Playing in Rain

The USGA runs a great series of TV spots during their championships. I think my favorite might be the one with the guy sitting at the starter’s hut waiting out a downpour saying things like, “it’s letting up, it’s just going to blow right over.” Been there, done that. I bet you have too.

Here in the northeast, it seems like it’s been raining for weeks at a time ever since the middle of August. If you’re an avid golfer – and I mean really avid – you don’t let anything like a heavy dew slow you down.

But whether drizzle or downpour, you need some special gear to cope with the conditions. Here’s some of my favorite equipment for playing in the rain…

Umbrella
Umbrellas have come a long way since the days of the heavy, rusty, steel-shafted, wooden-handled, rainbow-colored numbers of my youth. My favorite today is any of the GustBuster versions. The original double canopy umbrella, you can spot them by their teardrop shaped vents.

Wind tunnel-tested up to 55 miles an hour, they’ve won awards and clearly established themselves as a leader in the category. I’ve met the company owner and he’s a terrific guy. And while his personality won’t keep you dry in wind and rain, his umbrellas will.

They come in both 68- and 62-inch versions. I much prefer the smaller size. It’s handier when riding in a cart, it’s obviously lighter, and, unless you’re playing with a caddie who’s also seeking shelter, it’s plenty big enough to keep you dry. That said, GustBuster does make the big tour umbrellas for some equipment makers like Titleist and Precept.

The 62-inch “generic” version is available from a number of online retailers and runs about $39.99.

Drizzle Stick
If you’re riding in a cart and it’s not equipped with one of those pull-down rain hoods, the Drizzle Stick is just the shiz. It’s got a telescoping shaft that makes it handy to keep in the bag (or your trunk) until needed.

With its deep canopy it works great at keeping rain out of the bag. There’s even a little handle on the top that you can pull up on with one hand while you pull or replace a club with the other.

While the Drizzle Stick is nearly ideal, another solution is to stuff your bag into a soft travel cover and strap the whole shebang to the cart. A quick unzip lets you grab your club while your whole bag (and everything in it) stays dry.

The Drizzle Stick is available from various online retailers for a very reasonable $11.95.

Towels
When it’s really raining, you can’t have too many towels. And that’s the problem. Whether riding or walking with a lightweight bag, there’s not a lot of room to carry four or five big terry cloth towels. And once they get soaked, they become worthless and turn into a heavy, messy load.

A solution came to me thanks to my sea kayaking days. A camping gear manufacturer – MSR (Mountain Safety Research) – makes a line of microfiber towels that are very light and soak up water like a sponge. Even better, they wring out nearly dry so they keep on working.

Their “UltraLite” version comes in sizes ranging from 9″x20″ to 27″x50″, although I think the small size and a couple 20″x36″ towels may be all you need.

They fold down to nearly nothing and all come with a Velcro strap. And that’s really handy for hanging the small towel from the spokes under your umbrella. The small towel weighs only two ounces dry and the largest size is just four ounces.

If there is a downside, it’s that they’re a lot more expensive than the collection of white terry towels you’ve swiped over the years from Howard Johnson and Mr. Marriott. The smallest towel goes for $9.95, the 20″x36″ size is $19.95. They’re available directly from MSR’s web site and most camping stores.

Spikes
When metal spikes went away, so did my traction on wet grass. The early versions of plastic spikes were downright scary in the rain. Thankfully, the two major manufacturers of spikes have come up with more aggressive models that work much better in the wet.

Softspikes makes the Pulsar cleat that, in my experience, gives better traction in the rain than their Black Widow model. They’re even running a promotion now giving 12 months of Golf Digest with the purchase of a set of 16 in specially marked boxes. They’re available from most online golf retailers and places like Dick’s and Golfsmith for around $14.99.

Champ makes a different looking cleat that also looks like an improvement in wet weather traction. It’s called the Scorpion Stinger, seen above on the right, and is available at online golf stores for a discounted price of $10.99.

One word of caution: both these spikes tend to mark up a green – especially a wet one. Tread carefully.

Gloves
Blessed be the golfers who, like Freddie Couples, play without a glove even in the rain. I wish I were one of them. Unfortunately, I really do need a glove and I especially need one when it’s wet.

For many years I relied on FootJoy’s WeatherSoft glove. It is relatively inexpensive and it more or less does the trick. What I don’t like, however, is that the synthetic material always feels a little slippery against my skin. I know… picky, picky.

More recently, FootJoy came out with their RainGrip gloves that, to me, work a lot better. The palm is a non-woven microfiber material that really seems to work better the wetter it gets.

They’re sold in pairs for use on both hands. But I can’t handle that. I save the right hand gloves to give to left-handed friends.

They’re available from most golf shops at a suggested retail price of $22.

In the End…
I’ll save my ideas on rainwear for another dreary day. But the gear covered here is a great start on making rainy days golfing days.

You might consider packing up a small duffle with your rain suit, hat, gloves, old shoes with new spikes, and towels to keep in your trunk along with your umbrella so you’re always ready for whatever nature throws at you.