I managed to get out to play Monday afternoon, which made it 12-for-2012. That is, I have managed to get in at least nine holes every month this year in Michigan. That may not mean much to guys living south of the Mason Dixon, but up here it’s a combination of luck, perseverance, and the willingness to play in 40- degree temperatures.
It wasn’t at all cold on Monday—temperatures were near sixty—but a thick fog layer added its own set of challenges. I could often barely see a hundred yards ahead. Every shot was swing and pray.
In that thick soup, distances were cut considerably short. The guys I was playing with—regulars at Fox Hills—moved up a set of tees to get the same distances they were used to in warmer, more clear weather. For my own part, I scaled it down quite a bit. Driver off the tee seemed foolhardy, since I couldn’t track the ball to its landing. I turned par fours in to fives and fives into sixes. Five wood off the tee; nine iron, and then perhaps a wedge, all in the name of keeping the ball where I could see it. The strategy worked pretty well. I played the entire round with a single orange Nike.
If the snow holds off, I’m going to try to get at least one more round in before the end of the year.
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Your course has considerably more green that mine does right now.
But I played in shorts on Friday and Saturday. (70 and 76)
And it looks like shorts again this Friday and Saturday. (high 60s)
A couple years ago, I managed to play in shorts on 11/30, 12/31, 1/31, and 2/28 – every day was over 60. I played the days after as well, every 1st was at least 20 degrees cooler.
As we are saying at my club now, we have a little less than 3 weeks to the end of the world, might as well have good golf days for all of them.
Congratulations! I also qualified, playing at Hilltop and Fox Hills this past weekend. I figure the 9 for 12 occurs once every 10 years or so. With rapid climate change, however, it may be more frequent. As much as I like playing golf, we really need the cold temperatures for 3-4 months to get everything in order.