Winter, spring, summer: one course, three sports
Soft in a Melbourne winter, rock hard in February, grain at its strongest in summer, and a wet season of its own up north.
The same eighteen holes play as three or four different courses across a year, and in Australia the range is wider than most places: the difference between a soft July fairway in Melbourne and a rock-hard February one is two clubs and forty metres of run.
Winter in the south: soft, slow and long
Fairways hold the ball where it lands, so a drive that ran to 230 metres in summer finishes at 205 in July. Greens are slow and receptive, so putts come up short and approaches stop faster than expected. Take one more club, aim at the middle, and expect no run at all.
Spring: the course wakes up unevenly
Couch fairways come out of dormancy through September and October, and the surfaces change week to week. This is also when most clubs core their greens. Coring produces bumpy, sandy greens for two or three weeks and healthy ones for the following year: putt firmly through the break and book the important round for another month.
Summer: firm, fast and running out
Firm fairways add thirty or forty metres of run, which turns a carry over a bunker into a carry into one, and greens get quick enough that the low running chip becomes the sensible shot. On the sandbelt this is not a seasonal accident but the whole design intention: the courses were built to be played firm.
Grain, and why the greens change with the season
Couch and kikuyu greens grow with a direction, and the grain is strongest in the warm months when the grass is actively growing. A putt down grain in February is materially faster than the same putt in July. Look at the sheen: shiny means down grain and fast, dull means into it and slow.
The wet season up north
In Queensland and the Northern Territory the year divides into wet and dry rather than warm and cold. Wet season golf means soft ground, no run, afternoon storms and an early tee time as the only sensible option. The dry season is when the courses are at their best and the visitors arrive.
Read the ground, not the distance marker
Push a tee into the fairway: if it goes in easily the ground is soft and the ball will not run. Look at the sheen on the green. Both take five seconds and tell you more than the card does.
What to change, by season
- Winter in the south: one more club, aim at the centre, expect no run.
- Coring weeks: firm putts, low expectations, no important rounds.
- Summer: land it short, use the run, play the low chip, tee off early.
- Wet season: early rounds, soft ground, and a provisional when the storm arrives.
The course tells you what it is doing every day. Most golfers are too busy replaying their swing to look at it.
