When is it too cold to golf?

[cutchemist42]

In Winnipeg last year, being excited for the course being opened after a long Winter, I golfed in -5 C. (23F). I didnt enjoy it that much, but we might have the shortest golf season in NA for a major city so you gotta go out when you can.

[onthehunt526]

41 minutes ago, cutchemist42 said:

In Winnipeg last year, being excited for the course being opened after a long Winter, I golfed in -5 C. (23F). I didnt enjoy it that much, but we might have the shortest golf season in NA for a major city so you gotta go out when you can.

I'm from Upstate New York. It's tough here, because the weather can't make up it's mind, especially in April and May along with October and November. We have a saying, "There's only 2 seasons in Upstate New York, Winter and Construction."

It's too cold to golf when you have to wear so many layers it restricts your movement. But I'm from the school where 60 is T-Shirt weather, and I don't wear a winter parka until it's in the 20s and windy. So if I can get away with a long sleeve shirt, and a hoodie, even if I have to wear a winter hat, I'll play... So I'd say it's too cold to golf, when the ground is so frozen you can't tee a ball up. 

[jsgolfer]

We’ll see when it’s 40 degrees on Friday.

[Pardner]

There's a tournament this weekend that's one of the last one's of the year.  I've been eyeing it for the last 10 days as soon as the 10 day forecast was available.  Initially, I thought that yeah, it's gonna be a bit chilly but I can manage it because it's the last chance this year I'll get to play competitively.  As it got closer to tournament time and things starting firming up with the weather I reluctantly decided to pass.  Initially the first tee time was starting at 11:00 and odds are I'd end up tee off closer to 12:00 with my flight.  It was changed to a shotgun start at 10:00.  It's suppose to be 34 degrees, 7 mph wind, and mostly cloudy at 10:00 AM and 31 degrees at 9:00 which is when I'd normally get there and start "warming up."  The high for the day is suppose to be 44 degrees which I could live with, but the morning temps are just too cold.  I may regret not playing ... but as the OP said, how cold is too cold to play golf?  Guess my answer is 34 with a little wind.

[NM Golf]

There is a tournament we play on the Friday after Thanksgiving every year. We go out regardless of the weather. It's been great weather for the past 3-4 years but 5 years ago it was so cold my wet towel froze on the way out to my starting hole. I have never been that cold in my life, it was like 30 degrees with a frigid little 10-15mph breeze. Won the tournament that year though.

So I guess what I am saying is if your towel freezes on the way to your starting hole it's too cold to play.

[Pretzel]

When you have to call the round due to snow affecting the roll of your putts, it's too cold to play. If you wipe your ball with a wet towel before putting on greens with a dusting of snow, though, you can sometimes get snow to stick to the ball and make it larger.

[Henrik Engvall]

This is how we play during the winter 

 

[dennyjones]

4 hours ago, Henrik Engvall said:

This is how we play during the winter 

skridsko golf.mp4

I really enjoy golf and hockey but would have never thought to put the two together.   Nice but I'll pass.    That's too cold for me  to play golf.

Thanks for sharing.

Please read the instructions for posting video. How to embed videos

[Marty2019]

This morning in Jacksonville, it is 55 degrees with a slight mist falling.  That is too cold for me.  But it's supposed to warm up to a nice partly cloudy 68 degrees. 

Down here, we don't have a lot of "too cold for golf."  We have a lot of "too hot for golf."  Mostly in July and August.  For me, July and August is the depressing time of year, when the weather outside is life-threatening, or at least it seems that way. 

[Vinny Cap]

@Marty2019 Can I trade you my 35* morning for your 55* temps?

I would go play 18 with shorts on and a 6 pack in the cooler!

[DeadMan]

Played in about 36 degrees yesterday for about 5 holes. Then the Sun came out, and it was fine. Those first couple of holes were pretty chilly though. 

[NM Golf]

4 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

Played in about 36 degrees yesterday for about 5 holes. Then the Sun came out, and it was fine. Those first couple of holes were pretty chilly though. 

My wife said it was snowing in Denver?

[DeadMan]

2 hours ago, NM Golf said:

My wife said it was snowing in Denver?

Snowed on Monday, but it was gone by Tuesday afternoon mostly. 

[Pretzel]

3 hours ago, NM Golf said:

My wife said it was snowing in Denver?

 

16 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

Snowed on Monday, but it was gone by Tuesday afternoon mostly. 

More or less this. Tuesday morning I couldn't get my car (admittedly, a pretty low ground clearance vehicle) out of the underground garage it's parked in due to the snow build up on the side of the street from plows that caused me to bottom out trying. By the afternoon it was gone.

[Fourputt]

2 hours ago, Pretzel said:

 

More or less this. Tuesday morning I couldn't get my car (admittedly, a pretty low ground clearance vehicle) out of the underground garage it's parked in due to the snow build up on the side of the street from plows that caused me to bottom out trying. By the afternoon it was gone.

So... you have a car for cool, rather than for Colorado?  J/K. 

My brother bought his dream car right out of college, a 1974 Lotus Europa, working for Amoco in Tulsa, Oklahoma where there isn't a lot of worry about snow most of the time.  A year there and he couldn't stand being away from the Rockies any more, got a job in Idaho, and had to sell the Lotus because it wouldn't go in the snow, no way, nohow.  Traded it on a Datsun 280Z - still not the best snow car, but at least it had more than 2" of ground clearance.

Edited November 10, 2017 by Fourputt

[billchao]

On 11/8/2017 at 6:07 PM, onthehunt526 said:

So I'd say it's too cold to golf, when the ground is so frozen you can't tee a ball up. 

Get yourself a rubber tee. Or an awl.

22 hours ago, Pretzel said:

When you have to call the round due to snow affecting the roll of your putts, it's too cold to play. If you wipe your ball with a wet towel before putting on greens with a dusting of snow, though, you can sometimes get snow to stick to the ball and make it larger.

I once played a round, and I don't remember if it was snow or frost out there, where I would have to hit the bottoms of my shoes every few steps to knock the ice buildup off of my feet or I was going to end up on my rear end.

---

It was too cold to play golf today. 35°F with a wind chill in the low 20's.

[CarlSpackler]

Below 60 is too cold. 

[Buckeyebowman]

On 11/5/2017 at 12:03 PM, Fourputt said:

Back in my checkered youth, I worked at a copper smelter in Great Falls, Montana.  One of the processes was hazardous enough that the whole section had to be open to the air due to the potential for an accident which could release arsene gas, a deadly poison.  I worked that department for a while in midwinter with temps reaching -35° F.  It would have to be about 70° warmer for me to even consider playing golf. 

I haven't played in temps below about 45° for more than 20 years now.  Somehow, when I was in my 20's, 45° was warmer than it is now that I'm in my 70's.  I will start a round with the temperature at around 40°, but only if the expectation is that it will at least warm quickly into the 50's as the morning progresses.  

I'd still rather play in cold than in rain.  In fact, if any significant rain is expected, I'm not even going to consider playing golf.  I love rainy days, but I'd rather go fishing then, or just sit out under the awning on my camper and listen to the rain as I read a good book. 

I feel your pain. Worked a couple of years in a local steel mill. One frigid midnight turn some yutz in a heated shanty kept getting on the intercom and announcing, "Hey guys! It just hit 18 below!" If we could have found him, we'd have brained him!

On 11/8/2017 at 11:10 AM, Hoganman1 said:

A friend of mine said there are three things to consider when playing winter golf: wind, rain, and cold air. He said one can play in the absence of any two. Another friend had what he called the three/nine rule . He would play if the temperature was above 39* F or below 93* F. As I've gotten older, I've become more selective, but rain is my main barometer. I'll play in the cold as long as it's not wet.

Sounds reasonable. A cold rain is miserable, and adding wind to it just doubles the misery. We had all three early this Spring at a Pete Dye design in the area. But, we had booked a Super Saver on GolfNow, so there was no other option. The front was pure Hell! We hit the turn, and though I rarely eat anything, I got a burger just to put something hot in my stomach!

We hung out under the veranda while some rain squalls passed. Eventually the sky began to brighten and the wind started to die down. We hit the back nine and it felt glorious! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves even though the temps never got out of the 40's!