Another thread here, "Snow Storm-Yikes" and my constant inability to read and understand, best story of 05 or best story in 05? prompts me to relate some winter golf experiences of the past.
Maybe one of them will qualify me for the promised prize, which I interpreted as a $1,000,000 and a new car!
I, after maybe 3 rounds of golf in Illinois, learned to play golf in the Philippine Islands around 1955. Small sand greens that had to be raked before each putt and upon exiting the green, actually tan greens. In Okinawa these tan greens were almost black as the high wind speeds at times would blow all the sand from the surface unless the sand was saturated with old motor oil. White balls weren't white for long!
My memory of winter in the P.I. was sometimes it was as cold as 72* F. When I returned home from a round on these days my maid would be sporting my military overcoat!
I spent two winters in Newfoundland, the island not the mainland. There were no restrictions on winter play, temperature or frozen tundra but when spring arrived and we put away the blue Maxfli balls, always played w/ 3 blue balls, it became mandatory to fill a bucket with rocks as you played each nine. Snow must be fertilizer for rocks.
My winter in S.D. , as I remember , ended about June. You could not play until the ground/greens thawed. They thawed from the top down and walking on them defrosted above, frozen below, was like walking on mush and ruined the grass/topsoil. During one July trip to the driving range, was above 70* F., suddenly it clouded, temp. dropped dramatically, started to hail, was ankle deep in minutes and remaining outside was risking a concussion.
I joined a Tri-State Golf Assn., Mont., Wy, S.D. and for one outing drove to Wy. for a dogfight. Was a really nice day but snow forecasted. On the back nine it started to rain, then sleet, then snow ........... Think it was on the 13 th. green I became so cold I decided not to mark my ball and just wait for the other 3 to putt. By this time the temp. had really dropped and everything imaginable was falling from the sky. I had about an 8' putt. When I struck it I came up about 6' short. Upon examination, my ball had a chunk of green frozen to it. End of outing!
Finally, in my old age which started about 1981, I was 50, I adopted a rule about playing in cold weather-I would play when it was no less than 50* and zero wind. I would play when it was no less than 55* with a little wind. Unfortunately as most resolutions go by the wayside, I have since wrapped the cart top supports with Saran Wrap, bought cart covers, hand warmers, gloves, propane heaters...................Real golfers are certified......
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What a fun read, Wally! Lol'ed several times, especially when that eight-footer pulled up six feet short 'cause it had a piece of frozen green stuck to it.
I can relate to cold weather...the first 25 years of my life, I grew up in a suburb of Milwaukee, WI and played college golf for the Univ of Wisconsin-Whitewater WarHawks! In our Wisconsin conferece schedule, we had tourney each spring in Stevens Point, WI which was about 3 hours north of MIlwaukee. As we were hitting balls on the slightly rainy day, the rain turned to snow and the fun started!
As we were called to the first tee, the host coach/pro gave us some great advice, "Please treat casual snow like casual water." At first, I thought it was a joke...on the fifth hole, a guy in our group rifles an iron over a par=-three. As I go back to help him find the ball, we see a patch of snow about the size of a area rug. In the middle, a nice round hole....he looks and me and says, "I can blast it out like a bunker, but hell if I know the ball is even in the white sh_t."
I told him, "Maybe you can hack it out like a hazard...if its the wrong ball, no penalty."
Our other playing partner finally comes over and says, "Guys, just stick your hand in there pull the ball out and see if its yours! Its 34 degrees with snow flurries....even if its not your ball, just hit it. I'm cold and want to finish this round as fast as possible!"
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