What's the craziest weather that you have played in?

[Ogre41]

After reading the topic about the best states in golf, it got me thinking about some of the insanity that I subject myself too playing in the winter. The worst that it has ever gotten was last winter when my uncle and I took a day off to play a muni near his house (in VA, not MD, but same weather). The temp was in the low 40's and the wind was gusting really hard, I would say close to 15-20 mph at times. I hit a good drive that left me like 125-130 to the green so I hit a 9 iron. I hit a beauty of a high arcing shot that just flew when it hit the green! The green was frozen (we didn't think of that before I hit the shot) and the ball jumped like it hit cement. Utterly hilarious. It was a great time, but wearing 4 layers including Underarmour Cold Gear made things difficult to swing. Anyone have anything similar?

[littlepingman]

I have played with snow on the ground but I wouldn't consider that crazy. Last time I played The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island the wind was blowing at least 35-40 MPH constantly. You could barely keep your balance during some of the gusts. That was pretty wild, but it was a ton of fun since the score didn't really matter...

[JoeF]

My favorite would be when the ponds are frozen over and the wind has cleared the snow off of them. The sound they make when a golf ball hits the ice cannot be duplicated. It sounds like something from a sci-fi movie.aaaa good times

[coco]

New Year's day 2001 (Mind you I live in Charlotte NC). Played Veredict Ridge, temp never left the high 20's-low 30's. Ponds were frozen enough for an adult to walk on. Greens-hard as tables. Wind about 10-15 MPH felt **** getting hit on the face with ice chips when moving on the card. Shot an 81 from the tips (probably because I was so numb and stiff once I made a passable swing that was the motion that stuck, I guess).

I love golf in the rain, a sunny day, in the desert, but at freezing temps it is no fun!

[ripsid]

My family is from Rochestor NY and we play each morning we're there for about 4 or 5 days. Anyways, we went out one morning @ 6:45 about 3-4somes of us all and on the 2nd hole it started raining.. just nuts! Full on down pour for the next 14 holes (until about 16 it was just buckets).. most everyone was getting off the course and we pressed on. Great round though, shot an 83 that day.

 

1 other time, my buddies wife had bought him new clubs for christmas and we played (here in nj) in February freaking 40Degrees and just pure hell. But we got 18 holes in.. man brutal weather.

 

SiD

[mat562]

Snow here. When I was young and stupid and they still made orange balls. Permafrost greens are not good... even with square grooves.

 

I once played at Flamborough golf club (on the clifftop coast of the North Sea) in East Yorkshire when the wind was blowing 40-60 mph and the temperature was about 40 or so before wind chill. We also had hail and torrential (literally horizontal) rain at various points too.

 

Sadly, the match was abandoned owing to balls being blown about on the greens after I'd broken 50 for the front 9...

 

I once played there in similar winds (warmer and without rain) and drove a 400 yarder with a 3 wood. A hole runs exactly parallel and opposite and is 380 or so. That played a couple of woods and a punched short iron into the teeth of the gale...

[Grimace45]

Last time I played The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island the wind was blowing at least 35-40 MPH constantly. You could barely keep your balance during some of the gusts. That was pretty wild, but it was a ton of fun since the score didn't really matter...

 

 

Played it in college the day before a hurricane made land fall just south of Charleston. We stopped keeping score after my uncle made a great 11.

[j2nielsen]

I played High School Golf in Ellensburg, WA where the wind got over 40 MPH a couple of times a year. I have also played when it was snowing, but not sticking to the ground. Last winter my brother and I played and it was 29 degrees in Seattle, but the greens were frozen solid, we had to hit all aproach shots to the fringes.

 

Maybe I AM really an idoit! Who would PAY to play in those conditions? I need help!

[woodlandsgolfer]

In a tournament about 10 years ago in College Station, TX. First day wasn't too bad, temperatures in the upper 30's and low 40's. Next day the temperature was never above 35. Alternating betweening rain, freezing rain and sleet the entire round. Wind was blowing a constant 25 with gusts to 40. I was walking with the umbrella straight out in front of me, not over my head. Anyways. On one 600 yard par 5, I hit driver, 2 iron, 2 iron, 2 iron. It was brutal. Tournament was called after 9 holes the second day. Still to this day, this was the only time I've ever drank coffee and it was just to keep warm.

 

Last November, playing WildCat Golf Club in south Houston, we were playing with a client who just had to play. It wasn't cold, I think it was about 60-65. But it was windy. Constant 60 mph winds, with gusts to 80. A pro tournament that teed off in the morning was called because it was too windy. Nothing quite like looking at a dead uphill dead into the wind 290 yard par 4 with water that you have to carry about 180 off the tee, and just hoping that you clear it. Hit the driver about 190, and then a 4 iron in. Putting on the practice green I had a few balls blow off the green and across a cart path 10 yards away. All the sand from the bunkers was blown out into the fairway or on the green. That day, I hit a couple of drives well over 375 and some well under 175.

[cmusic]

I've played in 25-30 degree weather when I skipped balls across ponds to the greens.

 

However the craziest time I have ever played was about 15 years ago when my club had a 18-hole nighttime members team scramble starting at 10pm and lasting until about 4:30 in the morning. We were allowed to use one hunting light with each team to illuminate the course. Each flagstick had glow-in-the-dark sticks taped to them. It was real fun until about 12:30am when the fog rolled in. That was the first and last nighttime tournament the club has held.

[progk1]

the only time i have ever stopped after playing 9 holes and not continuing on was one of those early season days in chicago. super windy and super cold. wind was knocked over our golf bags a couple of times. stoped in the clubhouse for something warm to drink and never left.

 

craziest was again in chicago at waveland (marovitz), we were playing around when it started to hail! luckily it passed but listening to the hail pound on the metal roof of the shelter that we sought out was interesting. i am from SoCal so this is insane.

 

i also never understood the lightening warnings that you see on some of the USGA materials until i lived in the chicagoland area. never really got too close to lightening in my part of SoCal but sometimes in chicago it was too close for comfort. luckily never a problem for me on the course.

[itw419]

We have a family tradition of playing golf every Thanksgiving morning. Keep in mind i live in Michigan. There are about 12 of us that go each year. Two years ago there was so much snow on the ground that we ended up getting together a bunch of old clubs from my uncles garage and dragging them around the course with sleds(along with an assortment of alcoholic beverages to keep us warm inside). We couldn't see golf balls so we hit tennis balls. We marked holes in the snow about the size of a basketball hoop around the pins. It was ridiculously cold out but we had to keep the tradition alive.

[ripsid]

You know I should add this...

 

When I was in the navy the only time I came home on leave was christmas or transfer to new commands which for me was feb/jan/dec time frame.. Well, this is where the game brought my dad and I together.. we never got along when I was in high school and the only time we could do it was at that time. So we'd be out christmas eve/christmas day new years eve/day feb.. jan you name. Just because the only time we could get out was then... and you know what, we loved every freaking minute of it! The weather didn't matter at all it was about father and son...

 

SiD

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

I played last November in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Snowing, windy and I was READY to walk 18 holes! We got into our 5th hole and the greens were covered in snow so we quit.

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

I played last November in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Snowing, windy and I was READY to walk 18 holes! We got into our 5th hole and the greens were covered in snow so we quit.

[cp325]

fountain hills AZ, we-ko-pa. Aug 07, nice sunny day, 90's with some clouds in the distance. hole 5 clouds closing fast, wind picking up a bit. hole 8, hail the size of marbles covering the course. cactus doesn't make good cover.

[Onebulldogs]

After reading the topic about the best states in golf, it got me thinking about some of the insanity that I subject myself too playing in the winter. The worst that it has ever gotten was last winter when my uncle and I took a day off to play a muni near his house (in VA, not MD, but same weather). The temp was in the low 40's and the wind was gusting really hard, I would say close to 15-20 mph at times. I hit a good drive that left me like 125-130 to the green so I hit a 9 iron. I hit a beauty of a high arcing shot that just flew when it hit the green! The green was frozen (we didn't think of that before I hit the shot) and the ball jumped like it hit cement. Utterly hilarious. It was a great time, but wearing 4 layers including Underarmour Cold Gear made things difficult to swing. Anyone have anything similar?

 

In the winter, I walked 18 under similar conditions. The highlights were my inability to get my tee in the ground (frozen) and the pins frozen solid in the cup. On a par 3, hit a gorgeous six iron to the front of the green only to see it bounce 10 feet in the air, clear the bunker, hit the carpath and fly into the creek behind the green.

 

For this year's version, I have little rubber tees and will use cheaper golf balls.

[apprenti23]

back when i played college golf... i think it was spring my freshman year... we where playing in Iowa with (no bull) 35+ mph gusts of wind at about 40 - 50* temperatures... the kicker... it rained, sleeted, and snowed on multiple holes and was sunny... thank god for dryjoys rainsuits, hand warmers, and debuchette's blackberry brandy hahahaha

[Swingtheclub]

On and April day in Wisconsin in 1974

 

I was playing in a tournament at the Maple Bluff CC in Madison.

 

When we teed off it was 37 degrees out the wind was about 10 to 15 and it was raining. When I got to the second hole it poured and we stopped for about and hour.

 

The rain stopped until we went back out then it rained steady all day long. Out of eighty something assisstants that teed off only forty something turned a card in.

 

I birdied the last hole to shoot 74 and win by two I think there was four other rounds under eighty. I was never so cold and miserable in my life.

 

Ken

[wkuo3]

1991 Superbowl Sunday, I was a walked on single with another single and a 2-some at a local daily fee course.

Weather forecasted stormy, by the time we made the turn, the course was half empty because most had rushed home or to a sports bar for the Super Bowl, we decided to finish the back 9 and catch the second half or the last quarter of the game.

The sky opened up on the 10th tee, raining buckets with wind picking up. By the 11th tee, we stood on the tee box and watching sheets of rain coming down, going almost 30 degrees sideways pushed by the wind.

Rain gear and umbrella did not protect us from the down pour so we just abandon them.

I had never see my shots so clearly all day, going through the curtain of rain, bending by the wind like rainbow.

Soaking wet, but had a great time.

[golf9596]

Living in upstate NY, We will play anytime there is an open course and no snow on the greens, so yes I've played in every condition you can imagine, I've come to enjoy the game no matter what the conditions. About 2 or 3 seasons ago we were having an on again off again winter w/limited snow. I got home from Sunday mass about noon on a very sunny January day and decided to play a quick nine. Walking down the first hole it felt a little chilly, but had the thremal underwear and was well layered. On the ride home I heard the weather forcast, air temp 25 w/ a wind chil in the mid teens, yes it was a very enjoyable round, LOL.

[naylor]

Years ago, when I had absolutely no sense, my buddy John G. and I played 9 in about 35 degree temps with the wind gusting 20 mph. It was extremely cold and the fact that we walked probably made it possible to finish the 9.

 

Another story would be the round me, JK, Mickey and Jamie played at Riverside in a steady rain. The course was closed from torrential downpours and part of the 8th fairway was under 8 inches of water. It was a blast.

[ajwerner]

In Wisconsin you get it all...frozen greens, frozen pins, hail, snow, bugs.

 

The few that stick out. Played a pro-am at West Bend about 12 years ago. Started snowing hard on the front nine. They called the tourney off because you couldn't putt thru the snow. The golf ball started to snowball.

 

Played up at St Germain this summer. The deerflies were so bad they had to close the course.

 

I can't count the number of times I have hit a golf ball off of a frozen water hazard. Played just north of Madison about five years ago in December. On one of the par fives, one golfer hits his drive about 80 yards past the green. He hit the frozen pond the runs alongside the fairway, must have drove the ball 600 yards.

 

Gotta love it here.

[Golfchicago]

Back when I was a teen I'd play in any condition. The most fun was playing in a foot of snow. I would look for my point of entry and start digging with an iron. Then I'd clear an area and swing. That was back in the day in the 70s. I had to play with an orange ball, otherwise it took forever. It was fun, though. The best part was the price was right.

[Bobcat43]

Back in the 90's took a golf trip with my Dad and Father in Law to Hilton Head. It was nasty and spitting rain on the first tee (but we were there and that wasn't going to ruin the day). By the time we got to the 12th tee we were in a full blown Nor' Easter. Trees were bending rain was horizontal and it dropped about 30 degrees in a matter of a half hour. You couldn't see more the 100 yards.

 

I would never play in that kind of weather normally but it came up so fast on us that it was hard to even stand up in a matter of minutes. The final straw was the lightning. I'm not Trevino or Goosen so we hit the 19th hole rather fast.

[bstevens2008]

I was playing the Sandhills GC in Nebrasaka which is a links course with no trees. We were about as far from the clubhouse as possible and the wind was howling, and then........... Hail for 30 minutes at least. Without out a doubt I can honestly say, I have see golf ball size hail. We might have escape a few of the punishing blows of frozen balls of water from the roof of the cart. BUT WE WERE WALKING!!!

[cloudlx]

I play every year in this golf tournament up in Kansas City called The Idiot Open, it is a charity tournament that benefits the KC Hospice. It is called that because it is played in February and is often so cold that the number of layers you have to wear to survive prohibits a full should turn. It is played on this short 9 hole course. Well, two years ago it was below freezing and it was snowing so hard you couldn't see the green from the tee box, it was so cold you couldn't get a tee in the ground to use a driver. Needless to say they had to pass out colored balls so everyone could finish.

[csiachos]

I played at Bull's Bay in Charleston, SC in August, before my brother's rehearsal dinner. Nice 80* day, but clouds started rolling in. For those who live near the coast, you know how fast the weather can change. Well, it must have been some sort of microburst or something, b/c the wind started gusting to(what we could guess) around 60-70 mph. It was shaking the carts like crazy, blew my headcovers off my woods, broke the rain hood on the back of the cart, and blew a couple of flags off the sticks. It was amazing to aim 50 ft. to the right of your target and watch the wind move the ball in. A 270 yard drive easily could turn into a 130 or 340 yard drive. The great thing was that there was no rain at all. We never got to finish because the pace of play was so slow, and people were losing so many balls, that we had to leave to make it to the dinner. Very fun though.

[chippen]

Two stories. Once when I lived in the central valley of cali (Bakersfield) we played at 7am on Thanksgiving morning and the valley fog was so thick and 40 deg. you couldn't see more than a 100 yds, so we had the group in front of us yell out so we knew they were clear. The other time was on one of our annual August golf outings to mecca (Palm Springs) the temp on the second day was 112 deg. That night a strong thunderstorm with about 2" of rain came through, the next day the clouds hung around, but no electricity and it never hit over 80 deg, we almost got nose colds.

[larrybud]

All kinds: sub 30 degrees, 20+ mph winds. It started snowing on the 8th holes and put a dusting down.

 

Also played in 35+mph winds, gusting to 50. We had to move a tree that was blocking our path to the next green. Hit a solid 5 iron that went about 90 yards into the wind (right into the drink). Then hit a wedge about 160 with the wind. Hit 9 irons crosswind that blew sideways about 30 yards. Made 3 ridiculous birdie putts that day too.

 

Now with my cart cover and heater, playing in sub 40 degree weather is nothing.