My last round of 2021 came a few days before Christmas on a decent December day in Maryland. I walked nine holes and enjoyed what I knew would be my last holes of the year, even though one of the holes I played had a temporary green. I also had to use a mat for shots in the fairway and on par 3 tees, a requirement as my club prepares to host a PGA tournament next spring. But I really didn’t care – I was walking and playing golf, and even though we were traveling for the holidays with no golf on the agenda, I looked forward to coming back in early January to start off 2022. But what I failed to realize or accept is that it’s…winter.
While winters in the Washington, DC area can have their warm days and warm spells, they can also have snow, ice, rain and just damn cold weather. I sometimes forget that while it’s not Buffalo or the UP of Michigan, I also don’t live in Palm Springs or West Palm Beach. We do have winter some years.
My thoughts of being able to play through the cold months in my first year as a member of a club have therefore so far been thwarted. Snow the first week of January, followed by wintry weather, more snow and ice, continued cold temps, rinse/repeat, have left my course closed and me wistfully looking at the calendar as I try to plan golf trips for later in the year.
This was going to be the year I kept at it and didn’t spend March and April trying to get back in “golf shape” (not that I know what that it is or have ever achieved it). This was also the offseason I planned to dedicate more to the mental game – I’ve read all of the key books, subscribed to podcasts, etc., so I was ready to develop that go to routine. Instead, with only a few Headspace sessions under my belt and some lackluster attempts at Peloton yoga, I have instead been back at just hitting golf balls to stay in golf shape.
And by that, I mean hitting into a simulator screen, which I admit I am at least fortunate to have as an option. So, for these past few weeks, I’ve taken advantage of my club’s Trackman setup and bashed balls into a screen. I even went into this with a plan and tried to follow a practice regimen, but that quickly fell to the wayside after a few sessions (and it’s fun to play Royal County Down in under an hour). I also tried to work on a pre-shot routine, and while I’m sure someone somewhere knows how to do it, I just can’t bring myself to working on that in a room that formerly was a wine vault (but I applaud the club for repurposing it).
So I am instead now doing everything I shouldn’t – trying to figure out on my own how to increase driver swing speed and decrease spin rate. I’m quite sure it will work out well for my game in 2022.
But I am also keeping an eye on the weather forecast as there just has to be a break in the winter pattern that hopefully corresponds with a day I’m able to take a few hours away from work. Until then, though, I will continue to hit balls indoors – it can’t hurt right? Right?
