Winter Golf Tips: 8 Ways to Play your Best in the Cold

Cold weather makes playing golf even more challenging.

But if you’re an avid golfer like myself, you don’t let chilly temperatures stop you from playing this great game. Whether you are playing golf in the rain, playing in the wind, or playing golf in the snow, serious golfers are still trying to get their fix. Always trying to make birdies, save pars, and hang out with friends or family.

However, things are very different when you’re playing winter golf. But if you can play great in these conditions it can increase your confidence and belief within yourself.

The ball doesn’t travel as far, the conditions are wet, and you might not get as loose as quickly when you’re warming up. If you’re wondering how do you play golf in the cold I’ve got the answers for you.

Here’s everything you’ll need to learn about playing winter golf.

Adapting Your Winter Golf Game – 8 Proven Tips

When it comes to winter golf, it’s all about managing what you can on the golf course and accepting the rest. You can’t control the weather, so there’s no reason to fight it once you’re committed to playing golf in it. Stay patient, keep your cool and use these tips before you head out to the course.

Key Takeaways

• To play your best in winter rounds, you need to make adjustments with your equipment, clothing, and even course management.
• Since cold air doesn’t let the golf ball fly as far, you need to take more club on tee shots and approaches.
• Wearing the right clothes – like golf pants, sweaters, and layers – will help improve body heat to help you swing closer to a warmer weather day. The right golf glove can also help keep your hands warm so you can focus on golf, not your body temperature.
• You need to stock your golf bag with extra layers, hand warmers, extra gloves if it’s rainy, more towels and other accessories to make the most of the round.

Keep reading to learn proven tips to improve your golf game this winter.

1. Show Up Prepared to Play Golf

The biggest thing you can do to get ready for winter golf is to stay prepared and be ready for anything.

There’s nothing worse than having it pour down rain mid-round only to not have an umbrella or rain gear. Or have it get windy and cold and you only have your polo and no jacket to keep you warm.

To play your best golf in the winter, your top priority is to stay warm.

When you’re cold, you’re stiff and not swinging with 100% power or flexibility as you do on a warm sunny day. This leads to high scores and higher chance of injury as well.

The key to winter golf is to wear layers and not big jackets or coats. Playing in a hoodie or big coat is awkward and nearly impossible to swing a driver when you’re wearing something big and loose fitting.

Instead, you want to layer up so you can easily remove or add clothing as the conditions change throughout the day.

For your golf pants, you can add long john thermals under slacks if it’s super cold or opt to have a pair of rain pants to go over your pants. Or, rain pants over shorts if it’s not as cold but might rain on/off during the round.

For your upper body, you want to have a good set of Under Armour or tight-fitting clothing underneath your polo. Then you can add on a vest, sweater, raincoat or windbreaker depending on the conditions. Again, you want to always have more gear than not enough when you’re playing golf in cold weather.

How to Stay Warm and Dry On the Golf Course

You also want to keep your feet, hands, and neck warm as well. When your neck gets cold, you get shivers that run down your entire body, making it really hard to swing the club.

Another good idea is thick golf socks, a beanie, golf gloves made for colder temps, and hand warmers. It goes without saying, make sure you have waterproof golf shoes too. A knit cap or beanie can help keep your ears warm as well.

Always bring stuff for the rain too if there is even a slight chance of it happening. Make sure to always bring an umbrella if you’re playing in a location where the weather can change quickly. Otherwise, it seems like when you don’t bring, it inevitably rains.

Also, always carry your rain hood (which comes with your golf bag), so your golf club grips stay dry, or else you’re in for a long, tough round. Lastly, have more than one traditional glove and buy rain gloves, mittens, or cold weather gloves.

You want to be able to rotate them and let them dry by hanging from your umbrella if you’re walking or dry out in your golf cart. If you’re in a golf cart, you might consider a golf cart heater too.

Make sure you head over to our recommendations on the best cold weather golf gear next. We deep dive into the exact gear you need to have a better round of golf in colder conditions. If it looks like rain, also check out our favorite golf rain suits.

2. Spend More Time Warming Up

Getting the right gear is step one of learning how to play winter golf.

The next part is about spending enough time with a good warm up routine. I always recommend spending time at the range when it’s cold to avoid injury and not hit your first tee shot cold.

Prior to getting to the course, I recommend spending time at home doing stretches and doing light exercise to get the blood flowing as well. Once you arrive, spend time slowly warming up at the range.

If you have a speed training device (like SuperSpeed Golf or The Stack System) these are great tools as well. As always, start with your wedges, then irons, and work your way up to your driver.

Again, don’t be surprised if the ball is going a fraction of the “normal” distance and it takes you a few more balls to get loose. When temperatures drop, the golf ball won’t travel as far, so make the mindset shift on the range so you can have the right attitude the entire round.

3. Understand Winter Golf Rules

Once you’re warmed up and ready to tee off, it’s important to know the difference in winter vs. summer rules. Winter golf is typically more wet and sloppy conditions that have different rules to make it easier for players.

Make sure you know these winter rules for your next round:

Preferred Lies

Preferred lies, commonly known as golf winter rules, allows you to lift, clean, and place your ball. Often times there is all the mud on the golf ball, which makes it nearly impossible to play without cleaning your ball.

Make sure you know the specifics to the rule before you play in any tournament or event as well. Usually, after you clean the ball, you can move it within six inches, no closer to the hole, but can’t move it to a different type of lie.

For example, you can’t move the golf ball from the rough to the fairway. Or, move the ball from the fringe to the green.

Some events will allow you one full club length as long it’s not closer to the hole, so make sure that you know the rules before teeing off.

If you can’t remove mud from the ball for some reason, remember this rule. If mud is on the left side of the ball, it’ll tend to drift right. When mud is on the left side, it’ll tend to go right. The longer the shot, the more the mud will impact the golf ball during flight.

Casual Water

Cold temperatures can also bring rain and causal water. Depending on where you play, some courses will have much better drainage systems than others.

After a rainy day or even during the round, you’re bound to run into some casual water, which can get pretty messy. If your ball lands in a puddle or your stance are affected by casual water (when water comes out of the ground and surrounds your feet) here’s what to do:

• Mark the ball with a tee and find the closest point of relief, as long as it’s not closer to the hole.
• Once you establish the point, drop the ball from knee height.
• Then, you can go through the normal lift, clean, and place procedures.

If you’re ever having doubt of what’s casual water and what’s a bad break of a lie, make sure you confirm with your playing partners before taking relief.

For more info on the rules of golf, head over to our Dead Simple Guide to the Rules of Golf.

Embedded Ball Rule

The embedded ball rule isn’t specific just to winter rules and can happen any time of the year.

When the conditions are wet, the ball is more likely to plug into the turf, sometimes making it hard to even find. If this happens, you do get free relief unless the ball is in a hazard.

When you notice the ball is embedded, make sure that you clean the ball and take relief one club length no closer to the hole.

Now that you have the basics of winter golf, here are some other helpful tips to help you shoot your best scores in the blustery conditions.

4. Take More Club

When it’s cold or raining, the ball just isn’t going to go as far.

If it’s cold, the air is heavier and won’t allow the ball to travel as far. If it’s raining, the ball will get beat up by the rain and also not travel as far. And if there’s wind, good luck!

The biggest thing you do to play great during winter golf is to put your ego aside and take the club that’s needed. Don’t try to hit it hard and act like bad weather won’t affect your game. Swinging hard when it’s wet almost always leads to fat shots that are going to end up way short.

For irons and wedges, it’s a good idea to club up at least one club and plan for roughly 5–10 yards less per club.For woods and driver, expect an even bigger drop in distance of roughly 10–20 yards, as you won’t get any roll out once it lands.

It’s even more important in these conditions to hit your driver properly. That means hitting up on the driver, not down.

5. Walk Instead of Ride

To non-golfers, this is going to sound like crazy advice, but you’ll understand. To stay warm in winter golf, a good idea is to ditch the golf cart and switch to walking the course. You’ll stay warmer and looser than freezing in the cart between shots.

Plus, most courses are cart path only, so walking should save you time instead of driving to your ball. Walking will make it easier to find your ball. But if you are riding and walking to your ball, make sure to have a towel and always take enough clubs. When you’re riding, it’s easy to grab a few clubs and not have enough time to head back to the cart if you find you have a different lie.

6. Practice Indoors

Most public courses in the winter make players hit off of mats to save the turf from too much wear and tear in the winter. If this is the case at courses near you, then it’s probably easier to practice indoors if possible. It might cost more money, but you won’t have to deal with the elements of practicing outside.

Golf simulators are a great way to help your game, even if it’s subzero temperatures outsides. Find an indoor studio or golf store near you with a simulator to compare prices and packages.

Often times they will offer a monthly membership or some sort of discount if you plan on going more than once. Check on Yelp or Google to find an indoor practice facility near you.

If you are really into golf, check out our article on golf simulators for your home. Having one of these at your house is the best way to play winter golf!

Another alternative to a simulator or playing golf in colder temperatures is buying your own practice golf net. If you have a big garage or space outside, this is an awesome way to keep your game sharp. Convert your garage into a golfer’s paradise by adding a TV to watch highlights of Tiger in 2000 to really step your practice facility up.

7. Sharpen Your Mental Game

If you want to give your body a rest when it’s cold and rainy, you should train your mind. The majority of amateur golfers struggle with the mental game as much as the swing and short game.

Which makes the offseason a phenomenal time to improve your mental game. If you don’t feel like braving the elements and don’t have a simulator near you, another way to practice in the winter is to work on your pre-shot routine at home. This will help you stay focused and ready to have a great pre-shot routine once spring hits.

Remember, as top golf psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella said, “Your pre-shot routine should be your best friend, it should be your wing-man on the course.”   Plus, having a top-notch pre-shot routine will help reduce tension in your swing when you are back on the course.

Another way to improve during the winter months instead of banging golf balls is to read golf books. Changing your mindset, routine, and way of thinking on the golf course can positively affect your game as much as a new driver or swing tip.

Here are a few of our favorite mental golf books:

• GYRA Golf
• Putting Out of Your Mind
• Golf is a Game of Confidence
• How Champions Think: In Sports and Life

8. Keep Your Golf Balls Warm

While this sounds silly, it’s true – a warm golf ball flies much farther than a cold one. While you need to keep your hands warm, you also want to keep your golf balls warm too.

Keep the ball you’re playing golf with, in your pocket at all times. Throw another ball in your pocket and rub them together to keep them warm.

Depending on how harsh the cold weather conditions are, switching to a firmer ball is a great way to help. Otherwise, soft balls will spin more and not travel as far.

Additionally, it’s not a bad idea to keep your golf balls inside vs. your garage, which is prone to colder temps. This is a little secret of the golf industry and can make all the difference when playing golf.

Or, you can switch golf balls in the winter months. Make a switch to one of these other golf balls and if you’re having visibility problems, switch to a yellow ball to make it easier to find your golf ball.

Other Winter Golf Tips

Want even more tips to play golf in the cold and bad weather? Here are a few other tweaks to play well in colder temperatures.

• Keep swinging. Pick up a golf club and make a daily goal to take at least 30-50 practice swings per day in the winter. You can also invest in a Momentus swing trainer or Orange whip swing training aid as well. This can make all the difference in playing better when the weather gets better.
• Adjust your fairway woods. To help you offset some of this lost distance on colder days, you should adjust your woods and driver by increasing loft. Adding loft will give yourself more carry and also make it easy to hit it slightly straighter than normal.
• Work on your short game (indoors). Another way to keep your game sharp in winter is to do putting and chipping drills in your house or backyard. Invest in an indoor putting green or chipping net to help keep your short game sharp.
• Book a golf trip. Just because it’s snowing where you are doesn’t mean it’s like that all over the world. Check out some of the top golf destinations like California, Arizona, or Florida for year round golf and plan a trip for your buddies. If flying with golf clubs scares you from taking a golf trip, read this article next. Having a bucket list trip booked can help you stay motivated and make use of indoor simulators to prepare for a fun trip in winter months.
• Have fun. The last tip of winter golf is to make sure you’re having fun. Expect to shoot a few shots worse when it’s cold and windy, even the pros don’t play as well in tough conditions.

My Experience

Growing up in Oregon, I know what it’s like to play golf in cold weather and wet conditions. Most of my junior golf days were battling it out in the cold, rain, windy days, and sometimes even finding cover if it started to hail.

My biggest tips that will help many golfers is to show up prepared.

Having multiple layers when the temperatures start to drop will ensure you don’t get cold as the weather changes during the round. It’s also important to have a hand warmer (or several) in your golf bag at all times, alongside an extra towel.

In terms of playing when the temperature drops, make sure to take an extra club, don’t let ego get in the way, and don’t make each round feel like life or death. When playing conditions aren’t as good, some a bad round is inevitable, so don’t let it get you down.

Final Thoughts on Winter Golf

Hopefully these winter golf tips will make it easy for you to enjoy the winter even if conditions aren’t that great. Remember, the biggest key is being prepared for whatever mother nature throws your way.

Be prepared for the conditions, the new rules, and the way the ball reacts when it’s cold and wet outside. If you use these tips, I’m confident you’ll play some of your best golf yet and be prepared once it gets warm again. For more, read our article on when the official golf season is and make sure you understand the frost delay rule in golf.