Is anyone else here crazier enough to play in 10 degree weather?

[shihtappens]

Hands can be a problem, but we just wear gloves and reduce expectations a wee bit. Complaints are met with the predictable coarse and vulgar name-calling, bullying and feline accusations (quit bein a *****) that we all enjoy so much.

The courses that stay open here have some of the best greens in the area, so the argument about not letting players on frozen greens cuz it wrecks the greens does not appear to be true. Frost is another story. Our club has us play some temp greens (especially those in the lee of a little mountain here that shades several greens from the sun) and we tee off in front of the tee boxes, to allow them to recuperate over the winter. Power carts are not always allowed.

Yesterday was basically perfect and we had a great time playing.

[Archie Bunker]

Played many a round in freezing conditions when I was younger. Our goal was to play at least one round in every month of the year. Pretty difficult in Connecticut, with February being the hardest. Warm clothes and a flask of favorite beverage made it fun and interesting. Several brands of balls were known to crack and shatter when hit in subfreezing temperatures.

[Dave2512]

This is how we do it in CO, pics from when I played last Sat. Only a few greens didn't have some snow on them. They were kind enough to put the holes away from the snow. Amazingly I didn't need relief but I did lose one ball that I think landed in snow to the side of the fairway. But I knew it was there so I played a provisional. The flag was frozen into the cup on a few holes and couldn't be removed. Others were full of ice and there was no flag. I hit my approach wedge to what would have been inside a few feet below the hole in good conditions and it bounced straight up about 20 feet and rolled back to where you see it.

[LBlack14]

Still surprised they let you out. Looks like the greens haven't healed from aerification yet.

[Foursum Golf]

Looks like it was a nice day.

[Dave2512]

The greens have been that way since Oct. and won't change until spring. The only time courses wouldn't let people out is if the grounds were very soggy to avoid carts tearing them up, that happens frequently in the winter. Frozen greens are only an issue for the golfers. That's what makes winter golf so tricky in CO. Depending on how recent the snow melt is and the temps different areas of the course could be frozen solid and others squishy on the same day.

[shihtappens]

Frozen greens are hilarious to play! We usually play low shots into the green, landing them short and running them up. Low shots bounce truer. But if you ever hit onto the green - BOING! - you are way past. Prodigious drives can occur, just as prodigious side-ways bounces can put you in a neighboring pasture. We use rubber tees (like the ones driving ranges have) cuz u can't stick a peg into the frozen turf. It's a whole different game, and yet, it's still golf.

We also suffer from the dreaded variable conditions u play in CO. You play it to be frozen and it's not -- the top crust often thaws out -- and it plugs 20 yards short instead of kangarooing up to the green. We've learned to look at the place where u r landing on our heavily treed track and figure out if it's been in the sun for a while -- that generally means a sloppier landing. But there are no guarantees, except that some cinnamon whiskey will get consumed.

[MS256]

The greens have been that way since Oct. and won't change until spring. The only time courses wouldn't let people out is if the grounds were very soggy to avoid carts tearing them up, that happens frequently in the winter. Frozen greens are only an issue for the golfers. That's what makes winter golf so tricky in CO. Depending on how recent the snow melt is and the temps different areas of the course could be frozen solid and others squishy on the same day.

It's almost like course superintendents from different parts of the country went to different schools and have totally different ideas. I played a round one time in Missouri at 10 degrees and yet there's no way anybody in this area is even going to let you play (or even walk on a green) when the greens are frozen.

I would chalk it up to different grasses but they were bent grass in Missouri and many are bent grass around here. I even tried arguing with a superintendent one time (in a friendly way) and I told him it wouldn't hurt anything but he wasn't buying it at all.

[Dave2512]

I wouldn't doubt region and climate plays a part. Here once the freeze comes the ground stays pretty hard all winter. There will be a little surface thaw on nice days but not much. I carry an awl just to get a tee in the ground. Less about the temp during the day than the lows at night. Here we may reach a high of 50-60 during the day and temps usually still fall well below freezing at night. The nights being longer the sun never catches up.

[lumpuckeroo]

I play when it's that cold. For me, it has to be a windless day. The wind really makes things uncomfortable at those temps.

And it's a different kind of golf, for sure...

Same for me, I walk and have gloves attached to my push cart, if the wind isn't blowing I can play in pretty cold temps.  Here in Kansas we can get cold temps anytime from Thanksgiving to Easter, a lot of the time we will go from a few days of 50 to a few days of 20, if you catch it on the first day, you can still have some decent ground conditions so it isn't terrible.

[Wardy]

The winter golf over here in the UK has been great so far. Temps in the morning are still about 3-6 oC, but we've had a lack of rain where I am and therefore the course is still great to play on.

Only annoying bit about winter, is having to put extra layers on, which hampers your swing so much!

[geauxforbroke]

There are exactly two acceptable things to do when it's 10* outside:

1. not go outside

2. stay inside

I kid, of course. Duck hunting and skiing are still acceptable. But no golf for me.

[Pretzel]

Dave2512, today and yesterday had really nice weather about an hour north of Denver. I know tomorrow is supposed to stay the same and I can't wait to play since I've only managed four rounds since all the flooding (my home course was turned into a lake for the better part of two weeks).

[Dave2512]

Dave2512, today and yesterday had really nice weather about an hour north of Denver. I know tomorrow is supposed to stay the same and I can't wait to play since I've only managed four rounds since all the flooding (my home course was turned into a lake for the better part of two weeks).

Yeah super nice. I was stuck at work but tomorrow may be possible if I can dodge my partner. I left for dinner last night after 6PM and it was still 54. If it doesn't snow I'll be out Sat when it gets cold again. I'm sure the courses were packed today.