How to Tackle a Cold Course
Feb 6, 2012; 11:28 AM ET
Your course may never look like Augusta National in April, but in winter, chances are you'll face a bleak landscape with grass about as common as blue states in the South. The key is learning how to adapt your game - and your expectations - to the spartan conditions.
Warm Up Your Engine
Don't make your first bogey before you even tee off. Too many golfers don't stretch on frigid days because they're anxious to get under way. "Your body is like your car--it takes longer to warm up when it's cold," says Jane Frost, a GOLF Magazine Top 100 Teacher in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Frost recommends stretching your lower back and hamstrings by gently bending forward. To stretch your shoulders, grab the cart with both hands and lean back. Do five repetitions of each, holding stretches for 15-30 seconds. A brisk walk around the parking lot will also help raise your heart rate.
Trajectory Tip
Cold temperatures aren't all bad for your game -- if you use them to your advantage. "The ball doesn't travel far through the air but does go farther on the ground," says Peter Krause, a Top 100 Teacher in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. "This is one time when the optimum launch angle isn't 12 degrees. It's more like eight degrees." To maximize distance, use a driver with a lower loft and move the ball a bit back in your stance to help play for a draw. "With hard ground, you want the ball hooking," Krause says. "That's a good combination for distance."
Smart Approach
Frozen ground helps off the tee but hurts everything else. Unless you can get approach shots to land like a moth with sore feet, short is your friend. "When the greens freeze, the ball hits and bounces 50 feet in the air," says Gerald McCullagh, a Top 100 Teacher in Maple Grove, Minnesota. And you won't get as much loft on those short-iron approach shots, so take one less club. "You have to get creative about where to land your ball," says Krause. "For the average guy, a cold course is like playing in the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock." Or any British Open, where landing the ball short of the target when you know it's not flying as far as usual is the norm.
Dufner Closes out Byron Nelson with Birdie on 18 for Second Win in Three Weeks
With that long birdie on the final hole, Dufner avoided a playoff.
Outdoor > Golf
More Than 150,000 Methane Seeps Appear as Arctic Ice Retreats
Methane seeps in Alaska alone are releasing 250,000 metric tons of methane into the atmosphere each year, 50 to 70 percent more than previously estimated.
Outdoor > Beach & Marine
