Feckin' Ice

[IrishGolfer]

First off people will think golfers crazy to venture out for a game in sub-zero weather. Well count me in. Our 4 ball tuned up on Saturday for our regular game. The ground was frozen (-1C) and we were on temporary greens, but we decided to go ahead and "do battle". At one stage it even started snowing!!

It was fun!! The air was quite still, it was even slightly errie!! The biggest difficulty was chipping. Anything with height, hit the ground and shot off. Anything low and running caught up in the frost and came to a fairly quick halt. Took a while to figure it out, not quite sure I did. I putted from everywhere. Felt I had a better chance of eliminating the bounce factor.

Anyone any similar experiences?

btw the wife was planning to book me into a sanatorium!!

[Fourputt]

Yeah... it's always fun to hit a perfect 9I approach and watch it bound 40 feet into the sky and 20 yards over the green. It gets especially challenging as the ground thaws during the round. You have to be aware of where the sun and shadows are (shady areas thaw much slower than the sunny spots), and guesstimate how much the ground is softening as you play.

It is quite common here in Colorado to start a round right after a frost delay with with temps in the high 30's (F) and greens that play like a carpeted patio, then by the 8th or 9th hole it's warmed up 15°-20° and they will be holding almost as well as they do in summer. You have to constantly adjust your club selection and shot type as the round goes on. I love those days, but some of my friends never do figure out how to deal with it.

[ManchesterGolfer]

Yes, Winter League is upon us and throws up all sorts of problems. I HATE playing when it's frozen as you described and the putter from everywhere is my answer as well

This Saturaday we had something I've not played in before FOG. It was a great experiance.... you could see approx 150 yards in front of you when we teed off and it got worse as the round went on. You could see your tee shot go up into the air and get an idea of the shape then just hope you've guessed correctly on the line...great to help feel. It was funny when you were 150-200 yards out and playing to the green by memory... even the normal blind approach shots were different, normally you pick a marker out, on the sky line in the distance but obviously these were not visable as well! All over the course people had to shout 'clear on 7' 'clear on 8' etc. There were people shouting all over the place,,,and I couldn't figure this out but because it was foggy we all shouted louder then we needed!!!! By some fluke of nature there wasn't a single lost ball in our 4 ball and we all had a great laugh!!!

[mddubya]

It doesn't get cold enough to freeze the ground here very often. But me and my oldest son played Friday in mid to high 40's and thick fog with 25mph winds. It was a new experience to say the least. Like MG said, you had to watch your ball take off and hope you knew where it was heading. At one point my son looked at me and said this must be what it is like to play over in Scotland in the Open. I laughed and told him imagine this, but 3 times worse.

[VtDivot]

Did someone say ICE???

[Rockford35]

Originally Posted by VtDivot

Did someone say ICE???

This your first year putting in a rink? That ice will crack and be a pain in the ass from day one with big gaps if it gets really cold one night. You need to slowly create a base layer and build it up for a few days a little at a time.

Many a back yard rink I have seen, grasshopper. LOL.

R35

[VtDivot]

Originally Posted by Rockford35

This your first year putting in a rink? That ice will crack and be a pain in the ass from day one with big gaps if it gets really cold one night. You need to slowly create a base layer and build it up for a few days a little at a time.

Many a back yard rink I have seen, grasshopper. LOL.

R35

Sorry to threadjack IG

BUT...

I wish I could do thin layers... my yard (which I thought was flat) turned out to have about a 15" difference in grade. I needed to go deep on one end. I'll add more thin layers once it freezes fully hopefully.

[Rockford35]

Originally Posted by VtDivot

Sorry to threadjack IG

BUT...

I wish I could do thin layers... my yard (which I thought was flat) turned out to have about a 15" difference in grade. I needed to go deep on one end. I'll add more thin layers once it freezes fully hopefully.

Ya, that's the tough part is getting it relatively flat. I worked with a guy that went so far as to build connected boards that he can store in a shed for it after grading his yard. Worked like a charm, and he does it every year. Sets up lights, the works. His kids are now 18 and 20, but he still does it for the neighbourhood kids. It's pretty cool.

R35

[VtDivot]

Originally Posted by Rockford35

Ya, that's the tough part is getting it relatively flat. I worked with a guy that went so far as to build connected boards that he can store in a shed for it after grading his yard. Worked like a charm, and he does it every year. Sets up lights, the works. His kids are now 18 and 20, but he still does it for the neighbourhood kids. It's pretty cool.

R35

I used plywood braced with 2x6.

I bought the whole thing including 10 250 watt halogens and 2 steel nets for 150 bucks!

Some guy was clearing it out....