How To Get Ready For Your First Round of the Year
It’s every golfer’s favorite time of the year. The snow has melted, the grass is turning green, and superintendents are sharpening mower blades. Thanks to El Nino, spring has come early to much of the country. As many of you venture out to the course in the next couple of weeks, utilize these helpful tips to help get your game back to where it was in the fall.
1. Get Your Equipment Ready-Although you can chalk this up to good housekeeping, it is important to get your clubs and bag ready for the upcoming season. Empty out your bag completely and vacuum out every pocket. Before placing items back into the bag, decide if you really need them. You don’t need 15 gloves, 30 balls, 6 divot repair tools, etc. and your back will thank you for not having to carry such a heavy bag. Draw a bucket of warm water mixed with a very light amount of dish soap. Using an old tooth brush or club cleaning tool, go over every inch of your golf clubs, making sure to wipe them off with a dry towel once you’re done. If you do use the club cleaning tool, DO NOT use the copper wire part on the painted tops of woods/hybrids. Let everything dry before putting them back in the bag. Once drying is complete, check your grips for tackiness. If they feel remotely slick, have your local pro shop replace them. Grips should be replaced at least once per year for the average player. If you can see the shaft under a worn out part of the grip, it's too late.
2. Create a Checklist for the Golf Course-By the time summer rolls around, you don’t have to think too much before heading to the golf course. When you haven’t played for months, it can be easy to forget the essentials. Make sure to have items that you always need such as a hat, sunscreen, headphones/speaker, sunglasses, cash for side bets, and most importantly your golf shoes. In all the excitement of getting to play your first round of the year, you would hate to overlook something simple.
3. Arrive Early and Warm Up-Even if you rarely hit balls before you play, it is important to do it before the first round of the year. You may have been hitting balls indoors all winter, but you were not able to see what your shots look like in full flight. Pay attention to how much movement the golf ball actually has. Once you've gotten back into the swing of things (pun intended) you can make changes to your flight pattern and work on fixing your swing. During your first round of the year, you will not have that ability. If you have a 20 yard fade, plan on playing it for every shot that day. This is also the perfect time to check your alignment.
4. Lower Expectations-I’ve never heard of anybody having the best round of their life after having not played all winter and I expect that to continue. You will probably have some good holes, but they will be mixed in with bad ones. Just try to relax and concentrate on what you worked on during the winter. A good goal for the first round should be to make your normal amount of birdies. Reaching this goal will help you to feel better about having a few high numbers on the scorecard. Additionally, you should make it a goal to hit every shot on the intended starting line, as your distance control might be terrible.
Please remember to not complain about the conditions of the course. In a year where we are fortunate to be playing golf a month earlier than usual, courses are stressed trying to get the course ready for the season. Unfortunately, they also have to keep in mind that it will still be cold at night and could possibly snow again. Superintendents are forced to leave the tees, greens, and fairways cut at a higher height to help combat potential damage from cold. The Grounds Crews are also at a lower strength than usual, as the warm weather cannot be accurately predicted. Most golf course employees are not year round and they most likely have a few more weeks at their winter jobs before they can return to the course. If you think to yourself, “well it shouldn’t take them that long to get the course ready,” here is a little math for you. Figure out how long it takes you to get your yard ready for the first time each spring. Remember to include maintaining the mower, reseeding damaged areas, cleaning brush, planting, laying down bark mulch, replacing all of the furniture, making sure the hose is connected and isn’t leaking, and finally watering your lawn and flowers. Took a long time didn’t it? Well if you’re like most Americans, your lawn averages about 1/5th of an acre in size. The average golf course is 150 acres. Now that you realize how many man hours it takes to get the course ready, give the Superintendent a break.