It's that time of year in the Northeast part of the country where only the true die hard golfers are still playing.
Most golfers have put their golf clubs away and are getting ready to nestle into their warm homes for the winter. Only to dream about what next year's golfing is going to be like.
For many who are retired they are now flocking down into the warm sections of our country, where they are able to keep playing golf.
While a number of players put away the sticks after Thanksgiving, there are still golf courses that remain open year round. Their virtually crying out for your winter golf business.
There are golf courses that are frequently free of snow much of the off season. Some of these courses might have temporary greens, and many others allow play on the regular greens and tees.
There is no reason to be blue with cabin fever come January. There is a fraternity of golfers who still get together even with snow on the ground with a stick as a flag stick that allows for the game of golf to continue.
Golf can be played despite a layer of crusted snow over much of the area. The ground maybe hard and the golf ball is frozen dead. Which doesn't allow it to fly very far.
There's just too many ways to spice up the remaining days of Old Man Winter with a bit of Old Man Par for that to happen.
However, you get that phone call from your friends lets go play 18 holes and the next thing you know you can't wait to get to the golf course.
The first time you play winter golf and your all bundled up. You can't even move there is no flexibility and the cold winds that are howling blows right through to your bare bones.
You shiver and shake from the freezing cold but, your out there because you love this game and quitting is not an option.
So you slip on a pair of woolen winter golf gloves. Then you're forced to tee off in front of strangers. Shadowy silhouettes bobble in the windows of the pro shop shelter watching you.
You twist yourself like a fool sadly mimicking your golf swing. Timing and Tempo is non-existent. You are a fool or public clown to be out there in the cold weather.
Unlike playing in warm weather your out there on your own in a solitary way. The pro shop itself is closed for business and the tee markers are in the shed.
There are snow piles everywhere and you might lose more than your share of golf balls wherever they land. It's beyond being quite. Coffee isn't enough to keep you warm and a flask of brandy might do the trick.
The trees are bare, and the greens are ringed in winter fungus brown. Now no one watches you, even the guys you play with. You tee off into a kind of friendly abyss.
You walk quickly, though there's no one behind you. You are playing winter golf, the most private game of them all.
I've never much cared for winter rules. Kick the ball with your foot wedge as you poke it out from under a bush. Drop a new one out of your pocket for all I care, but don't hide behind some notion of those dopey winter rules.
A Key to playing in January and February are the toughest months for golfers. Just keep moving. Who wants to risk hitting a long iron thin and leaving his frozen hands feeling like they've been massaged with an ice pick?
Your hands are more important then your head in keeping warm. You lose the most heat through your hands. Being ungloved I had hit the point where they seemed like only reminders of hands. Stinging with every shot you take. That's how it goes in winter golf.
The golf course is painful and arctic, a grim testament to the permanence of the game laid out on the tundra landscape of a dormant golf course.
Winter golf wears you out, no matter how many layers you wrap yourself into. "What's the attraction?"
You play winter golf because the golf fever gets too bad. You get a sense of what you've lost in the dark cold months of winter. It had been eight weeks since I'd last played, and I was hungry for it.
When you want even the dimmest sliver of summer. You put layers of clothing on. You carry the golf bag the way a mountain man carries his hides. Like something purposeful and a bit heavy from being wet.
You creep up on the familiar spots of summer, and they offer an entirely new challenge. You begin to see the things you've wanted to do. The framing of golf shots that can't show themselves to you unlike in the summertime.
There is something new about the golf course in winter. Sometimes you can find me out there getting ready to sooth my aches and pains in private.
So there I am about 150 yards out with the sun creaking through heavy dark clouds. I stick my hands inside of my pockets where I have a couple of pocket warmers and walk up to my next shot not thinking about how cold my mind and body is.
My ball lies on a thin patch of crusted snow and I have less than 180 yards to the green. The wind starts up again So I take my address to the golf ball, focused only on my swing thoughts, and draw my club back. I could sense the frost on my face. The grass below looked like wounded and forgotten needles of grass.
Turning through the shot, I could see my frozen hands giving me the dimmest correspondence of contact. I believe the ball rose in a stiff arc. I could not tell you, as I was moving forward out of balance before it landed.
I didn't listen to my friends shouting encouragement. I was alone with my thoughts, with my golf bag, and the season around me.
Another alternative is the sunshine state of Florida and the desert areas out west. There are package deals that includes air fare, hotels, and a number of rounds of golf for a manageable price.
I encourage you to pursue the best deals through travel agents and the internet. To find the best deals do your searching on the internet for golf vacations in the designated area you want to travel to. At least this way your in warmer weather and not have to wear warm clothes being bundled up
Happy Holidays To All Of My Fellow Golfers! I hope 2010 will be even a better year in all of your endeavors including shooting the best golf of your life.
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