The same course plays four different ways a year
Soft and long in spring, firm and running in summer, leaves and lost balls in autumn. Read the ground before the yardage plate.
The same eighteen holes play as three or four different courses across a year, and most amateurs score badly in spring and autumn for reasons that have nothing to do with their swing. Knowing what the ground is doing is worth more than any adjustment to it.
Spring: soft, slow and longer than it looks
Fairways hold the ball where it lands, so a drive that ran out to 250 in August finishes at 225 in April. Greens are slow and receptive, so putts come up short and approach shots stop faster than expected. Take one more club than the yardage suggests, aim at the middle of the green, and stop being surprised by the distance loss: cold air alone accounts for several yards, and soft ground for the rest.
Aeration: the fortnight everybody complains about
Hollow-tining and top dressing produce bumpy, sandy greens for two or three weeks and healthy ones for the following year. During that window, putts wobble and break less predictably. The correct response is to putt firmly through the break and accept it, and to book the important round for a different month.
Summer: firm, fast and running out
Firm fairways add twenty or thirty yards of run, which turns a carry over a bunker into a carry into one. Greens get faster and more difficult to stop, so the low running chip becomes the sensible shot and the high soft one becomes the risky one. This is the season for playing to the front of greens rather than at flags.
Autumn: leaves, dew and the lost ball
Wet mornings mean no roll and heavy rough, and leaf cover is the most common cause of a lost ball in October. Play a provisional more readily than usual, aim away from the tree line rather than flirting with it, and expect the ball to plug on greens softened by rain.
Winter golf, where it exists
Mats, temporary greens, preferred lies and no roll whatsoever. The scoring is not comparable and it is not meant to be. What winter rounds are good for is keeping the movement alive and practising the low ball flight, which is the shot the conditions force on you anyway.
Read the ground, not the yardage plate
The single habit that separates good seasonal players from the rest is checking the surface before choosing a club. Push a tee into the fairway: if it goes in easily the course is soft and the ball will not run. Look at the sheen on the green: dull and damp is slow, bright and dry is fast. Neither takes five seconds.
What to change, by season
- Spring: one more club, aim at the center, expect no run.
- Aeration weeks: firm putts, low expectations, no important rounds.
- Summer: land it short, use the run, play the low chip.
- Autumn: provisional balls, avoid the leaves, expect plugged approaches.
The course tells you what it is doing every day. Most golfers are too busy replaying their swing to look at it.
