In the summer of 2017, Hasentree Country Club went from Bentgrass to Champion Bermuda. Other courses in the Raleigh-Durham area did the same thing. Chapel Hill Country Club, North Ridge Country Club and a handful of others were down for the summer because of a green renovation. Unfortunately, the Triangle was hit with one of the harshest winters in recent history and now courses are left wondering what to do if the Champion Bermuda greens do not come out of dormancy.
There is a good chance that Hurricane Matthew is going to wash out my golf trip to Myrtle Beach this coming weekend. The area is expecting winds of 105 mph or higher. With this being the case, it made me think about the highest or strongest winds in which you can play golf.
I love to play golf. I would play 18 holes, seven days a week if I could. That said, the one time that I do not like the game of golf is when I cannot see or find the ball. When the grass dies in the winter it becomes light brown and almost white. Combine that with a sky that tends to be overcast and it is hard to find the ball when it is hit off the tee or the fairway. With so many neutral colors it can be extremely difficult to find the ball even if it is hit in the middle of the fairway.
I never thought I would say this but there is one time I do not like to play golf – during windy conditions. I hit a fade with the driver and my game is best when being able to hit wedges very high and with spin. As any golfer knows, these two types of ball flight do not work well in the wind. If I ever “miss” my driver, into the wind, it turns into a 150 yard slice; sometimes out of bounds. Also, it is almost impossible to hit wedges the correct distance.
This morning I woke up to temperatures in the 20’s in North Carolina. That is damn cold. So cold that most golf courses will not even let you go out. When I first started playing golf I did not realize there was a thing called a frost delay. I was set to play Sequoyah National in Cherokee, North Carolina around 9:15 am. I arrived at the course, bundled up and ready to go. They subsequently told me the frost delay would not be lifted until at least 11:00 am and I could not go out before noon as all the tee times were pushed back. I had no idea how to react.
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