11/9/23

As the fall of 2023 starts to transition to the winter of 2023-2024 in my hometown, I am feeling the emotions that go along with saying goodbye to another primetime season of golf. I try to play golf throughout the year. However, as the temperatures drop and the snow starts to fall in the Mid-Atlantic region, winter golf becomes a very different experience for me than it is April through October. 

It is an overstatement to say that I become somber when the winter arrives. I think that the emotion that hits me is more like parting with an enjoyable relationship that you know you’ll never see again, at least not in its present form. The warmer months will return, Lord willing, but as this most recent “posting” season fades into history (November 15th is the last date to post scores in Maryland), I am reminded of the passage of time and brevity of life. I have been playing golf since 1985 and have cherished every season since. The reality is that in all likelihood, there are more primetime seasons behind me than ahead of me. I’ll turn 65 during the 2024 primetime season, and “Father Time” is undefeated!  I think that that reality strikes me more acutely nowadays than in the past. Again, I am not stating that it is a time for sadness; truly, it is a time of thanksgiving to God for the gifts I’ve been given.  

Without question, I enjoy the warm weather more than the cold, especially as I have aged. I don’t think that I am unique in that perspective as a golfer or senior citizen. When the temperatures steadily remain under fifty degrees, my joints stiffen and my tolerance for cold weather diminishes. More and more, nowadays, I just don’t have ability to handle the cold like I did in the past. I use to love to play golf so much that winter weather was not a deterrent. I have played on frozen courses with flurries falling. I was hardier and younger then. More and more I am realizing that the cold introduces an element to playing golf that is unnatural. Unnatural is harder to do for me now, maybe too hard…period.  Golf is intended to be a fair weather game. We know that golf can be played in very inclement, uncomfortable conditions; it happens often enough.  However, golf was intended as a leisure activity in mild weather.  Poor weather conditions, including cold, are intended as the exception, not the rule. Since my winter play is decreasing as I age, I look at the winter season of golf as a practice/preparation time, when feasible,, for the new prime season ahead. I look to refine my game and focus is less on my score. Performance takes a backseat, and comfort takes a front seat, in winter golf.

There are some special golf memories to be experienced when your local weather is cold. All is not lost during the “dead of winter.” Over the years, I have been blessed to travel to some warm climates in the midst of cold times in Baltimore. Takin a few days of warm weather and comfortable golf when you know that temperatures at home are harsh can be an oasis in the middle of the winter desert. Also, inevitably, there are a few “mild” and truly comfortable days during the winter months in the Mid-Atlantic region. There’s always a sliver lining for a golfer!!

Winter golf is definitely different than primetime golf. As I bid a fond farewell to the 2023 primetime season, I’ll try to keep it all in perspective. Winter golf can have its moments of blessings and enjoyment, just not as often or consistently as the primetime season. I’ll enjoy the journey that I have this winter and look forward to welcoming the 2024 primetime season in the spring, keeping in mind what Ben Franklin once said, “All things in moderation…including moderation.”