Closing the season when the course never shuts
Clean and store indoors, submit every card, book the regrip at off-season prices, and treat winter golf as company rather than work.
The last round of the season is usually played and forgotten. An hour of work in the fortnight afterwards protects the equipment, keeps the handicap honest and makes the following spring considerably shorter.
Clean everything before it goes away
Wet grass, sand and mud left on clubheads through a winter corrode ferrules and clog grooves. Wash the heads in warm soapy water with a brush, dry them properly and wipe the shafts. Grips get washed too: most of what makes an old grip slick is dirt rather than wear.
Store the bag where the temperature does not swing
An unheated garage or a car boot takes clubs through repeated freezing and thawing, which is hard on epoxy and harder on grips and glove leather. Indoors is better. Take the balls out as well.
Fix the things you noticed in August
Everybody finishes the season knowing about a wedge with dead grooves, a grip that turned and a gap in the bag. The off-season is when workshops have time and last season’s stock is discounted. A fitting in November costs less and takes less time than one in April.
The handicap and the record
Submit every card you were meant to submit before the season closes, including the bad ones and the nine-hole rounds. A handicap index that reflects a full season will not embarrass you in a spring competition. If you keep statistics, total them now: fairways, greens, three-putts, up-and-downs and penalty strokes across a season point at the winter’s work.
Rest is part of the plan
Three or four weeks with no golf is not lost time. Anything that has been aching stops aching, and enthusiasm recovers, which matters more than most training plans.
Winter golf is not the off-season
British courses stay open, which is a mixed blessing: playing every Sunday on temporary greens keeps you moving but quietly builds habits that do not transfer. Use winter rounds for the low ball flight and the company, and do the actual work indoors or on the practice green.
Then choose one thing for the winter
Not four. One. A grip change, a putting stroke, a wedge distance chart, or getting properly fit. Whatever it is has four months to become normal, which is the biggest advantage the off-season offers and the one almost nobody uses deliberately.
The end-of-season list
- Clean heads, shafts and grips; dry them properly.
- Store clubs and balls indoors, not in the garage.
- Book the regrip, the wedge or the fitting now, at off-season prices.
- Submit every card and total the season’s statistics.
- Take three weeks off, then pick one thing to work on.
The season starts in the fortnight after the last round, not on the first warm day in spring.
