Spring Is Coming To Southeast Michigan

In this last week of February, it looks as though Southeast Michigan is getting a bit of a break from the relentless cold and snow. Temperatures are reaching into the upper forties and the white blanket is turning into large puddles of water.

I stopped by Washtenaw Golf Club yesterday afternoon to take a look at the “progress.” The photo at top shows the course at that moment.

Then, this afternoon, I stopped by again:

A couple more days with temperatures above freezing and the white should all be gone. Then it is just a matter of how long until the course drains.

This is not by any means to suggest that winter is over. March, April and sometimes May in Michigan are prone to cold snaps and snowstorms. I remember coaching my high school girls in the state regionals in May with flurries in the air. The players were ready to quit before the first ball was hit.

One of the coldest rounds I ever played was at Greywalls in June. With the wind howling off Lake Superior, the temperatures never got out of the fifties — and it felt much, much colder.

On my first July in Michigan more than thirty years ago, there were flurries in the air at the cottage just north of Gaylord. Seriously. I had to go to town to buy a pair of jeans because — as a Marylander / West Virginian — all I brought for a summer vacation were shorts.

But enough of the Midwest weather kvetching. I’m genuinely excited at the prospect of getting back to the course on a regular basis. This will be the first spring in more than thirty years when I have not been shackled to the classroom. It will be fun to visit a bunch of courses and see how spring unfolds across the state.