Playing In The Rain....Yucky - Mucky

[GregHanrahan]

WET WEATHER CONDITIONS Just thought i would throw an article up that i wrote for a magazine many years ago about playing in the rain.....since it is raining now !

How many of you fellow golfers would tee it up in the rain? You don't play during rainy season?

On Tour we have to play in the rain until the greens are unputtable or the fairways are underwater or perhaps the lightening meter goes off.

We get wet! How do we play to the best of our ability in the rain?

We don't wear our leather footjoys, but a good waterproof pair of shoes and of course our rain suit.

I always like to carry two umbrellas so the caddy could have one and I could walk alone under my own.

Under my brolli I hang a dry towel and my wet gloves to dry. I also take my glove off after each shot and hang it under my umbrella.

Yes, I always carry a few all-weather gloves for these days when wet leather ones became useless.

Naturally I have several dry towels and in a plastic bag many extra gloves-- even old holy practice gloves are better than wet new ones.

Save your old gloves for a rainy day…......cliche.

Another reason I use cord or half-cord grips on my woods and long irons is for less slippage with full power during wet conditions.

In practice though, they will hurt the office hands, but make the strong ones stronger.

The chip 'n' runs don't work well when the greens are very wet, so use the sand wedge and pitch the ball straight to the hole.

Wet fairways cause a lot of 'fat shots' as the ground is softer, a slight miss-hit will send the club deeper into the turf.

Avoid this by standing slighter further away from the ball at address

and even a shallower club head takeaway will bring the downswing plan slightly flatter for a cleaner hit – thin is better.

Casual water allows you a free drop:

Your ball lies in casual water or when you take your stance and you see water = free drop to the nearest dry area and no closer to the hole.

However you can't stand on one leg and jump up and down to draw the water out!

In a sand bunker the same thing applies, but you must drop your ball in the bunker at the nearest dry area no closer to the hole.

When your ball lies on the green and there is water visible on the line of your putt

you are allowed to move it to the nearest equal distance from the hole to a dry portion of the green.

I seem to outplay 80% of fellow professionals in the rain because I am prepared, but mainly because I focus better, becoming more deliberate.

I get wet yes, but I have never been one to get depressed because it's raining.

I hope that some of these wet weather tips and rules will help you on the course in the rainy season.

[kenny999]

I played in the wet last week it was horrible, and as you said you have to prepare, never enjoyed wet conditions in the UK mainly because it was also bloody freezing cold, love it here in the hot weather but will still try to avoid rain.

[Forethat]

Plenty of good advice there Greg, I do exactly the same thing with my setup and stance when it's soggy. To me, there are a few things that are more important than the others, but they are all related to keeping myself and my grips dry. Most players don't carry an extra towel in their bag, they have only the small bag towel hanging OUTSIDE the bag. Myself, I always have at least a spare big towel in a plastic bag. During the rainy season I have THREE towels in my bag. I always play better when it rains, I don't know why, but just as Greg I think it's because I'm prepared to a point where I know I can manage the rain. I am always in contention when it rains. Every tournament. I love playing in rain.

Here's two more tips:

Make sure the caddie wipes the ENTIRE club (including the shaft) before putting it back in the bag (I assume you have a good rain cover for the bag), otherwise the drops will start to run down the shaft and eventually reach the grips. On the tee, make sure you don't stress your routine in order to get back under the umbrella. A lot of players do this, but my advice is that you stick to your routine, despite a little water down your back.

[Tanaka]

Now why on earth would anyone sane want to make this silly game even more stupid by doing it in the rain? Sane? I think I withdraw my question.

[chuckd]

Now why on earth would anyone sane want to make this silly game even more stupid by doing it in the rain? Sane? I think I withdraw my question.

Never mind Tanaka, fellows. He is probably delusional.

I remember a couple of times in dreary Scotland playing in the rain. The first was at Muirfield when you had to hold the umbrella sideways because that was where the rain was coming from. High winds that day. Not particularly cold though so I played on and the rain stopped at the turn. Had a nice second nine.

The other was at Royal Troon. We quit after the 12th hole and walked in. Could not beat it that day.

Edit in: I just remembered a third incident. This one was at Royal Dornoch.

My caddy and I struck out and there was a slight bit of sleet coming down. After a few holes it turned to light rain. Around the turn the sun came out for a few holes, then turned back to slight rain and it was beginning to sleet when we finished.

My caddy mentioned that the few holes in the middle when the sun came out was their summer.

True story.

[Forethat]

Now why on earth would anyone sane want to make this silly game even more stupid by doing it in the rain? Sane? I think I withdraw my question.

Never mind Tanaka, fellows. He is probably delusional.

I remember a couple of times in dreary Scotland playing in the rain. The first was at Muirfield when you had to hold the umbrella sideways because that was where the rain was coming from. High winds that day. Not particularly cold though so I played on and the rain stopped at the turn. Had a nice second nine.

The other was at Royal Troon. We quit after the 12th hole and walked in. Could not beat it that day.

Edit in: I just remembered a third incident. This one was at Royal Dornoch.

My caddy and I struck out and there was a slight bit of sleet coming down. After a few holes it turned to light rain. Around the turn the sun came out for a few holes, then turned back to slight rain and it was beginning to sleet when we finished.

My caddy mentioned that the few holes in the middle when the sun came out was their summer.

True story.

I once played Western Gailes, just off Ayr, on a crazy windy day when the bridges in Glasgow were closed. A tractor on the 11th fairway was flipped over by the wind.

(we lived at the bottom of a lake and ate a fistful of luke warm gravel for breakfast...)

And you try and tell the young people of today that ..... and they won't believe you.

[chuckd]

Now why on earth would anyone sane want to make this silly game even more stupid by doing it in the rain? Sane? I think I withdraw my question.

Never mind Tanaka, fellows. He is probably delusional.

I remember a couple of times in dreary Scotland playing in the rain. The first was at Muirfield when you had to hold the umbrella sideways because that was where the rain was coming from. High winds that day. Not particularly cold though so I played on and the rain stopped at the turn. Had a nice second nine.

The other was at Royal Troon. We quit after the 12th hole and walked in. Could not beat it that day.

Edit in: I just remembered a third incident. This one was at Royal Dornoch.

My caddy and I struck out and there was a slight bit of sleet coming down. After a few holes it turned to light rain. Around the turn the sun came out for a few holes, then turned back to slight rain and it was beginning to sleet when we finished.

My caddy mentioned that the few holes in the middle when the sun came out was their summer.

True story.

I once played Western Gailes, just off Ayr, on a crazy windy day when the bridges in Glasgow were closed. A tractor on the 11th fairway was flipped over by the wind.

(we lived at the bottom of a lake and ate a fistful of luke warm gravel for breakfast...)

And you try and tell the young people of today that ..... and they won't believe you.

I, too, have played Western Gailes and really enjoyed the course. I particularly remember having a putt where my caddy instructed me to turn my back to the hole and putt away from it. The putt actually made a complete U-turn to end up pretty close to the hole.

The sand dunes were everywhere as I recall. WG has always been a favorite of mine although I only played it one time.

The wind wasn't howling that day though.