Playing In The Rain
Michigan has been in a bit of a drought for a couple of weeks, so the rain that arrived Friday was welcome to everyone from home gardeners to golf course superintendents.
I spent most of the day indoors, working on various projects and looking wistfully at the weather app radar and the skies.
Finally, just after dinner, I decided that a little rain shouldn’t stop me from playing. I packed up a “Sunday Bag” of seven clubs, three balls and an umbrella and headed to Washtenaw Golf Club (course link) for a go.
I am glad I did. It was easily one of the most fun rounds I’ve had in a while. There is something liberating about playing with a short set. Rather than trying to pick exactly the right club for the job, I was free to create and improvise. If I couldn’t reach a green with the seven iron from the fairway, I choked down on my three hybrid and made a three quarters swing. No sand wedge? Not a problem. It turns out that a pitching wedge works just fine off rain-soaked sand.
Not once did I think “I wish I had brought club ‘x’.”
Ok. Maybe once. I really wanted my Honma five hybrid for one of the par threes. I improvised by choking six inches up on the driver and making a gentle swing.
With my bag on my back and an umbrella over my head, I managed to stay mostly dry throughout the round. I wish, however, that I had brought a second towel to stash in the ribs of the umbrella. That would have stayed dry. I also thought briefly that I should have brought rain gloves, but my barehanded grip on DriTac grips was fine.
Another thought: I should have swapped out my shoes as I made the turn. The waterproofing held up through thirteen holes, but by the fourteenth they were getting soggy.
The round gave me a good chance to test the lightweight stand bag sent to me by the Great Lakes Golf Company. It was perfect. My back didn’t complain at all.
I didn’t have much company that evening at Washtenaw GC. Twilight rounds tend to be less crowded in good weather; in the rain, I saw only the occasional player on a distant fairway.
I finished the round in under three hours, then returned home to work on an article for the upcoming issue of Michigan Golf Journal.
It was a great evening.
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Being mostly retired, I tend to not play when it is raining before the start of a round. I have all the gear for rain. I will continue playing if it starts to rain. Since I typically have 6 days a week to play, I let the rainy days go.Back when I was a 5 days a week worker, I was more willing to go 18 in the rain
Do you ever play with a Sunday Bag?
No. I have carried an abbreviated set a few times. Before I got a trolley this Spring, I walked and carried. I always bought an extremely light bag and limited the “stuff” I carried (e.g. 5-6 balls instead of 10). With the trolley, I stopped worrying about weight.