Tips For Playing Golf In The Rain

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In this video, Neil Tappin offers 12 top tips for playing golf in the rain.
Transcript
00:00 - Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly
00:02 and welcome to the London Club.
00:03 And this video in which I'm going to offer some top tips
00:06 for playing golf in the rain.
00:08 This is all the practical stuff you need,
00:09 the equipment advice, a little bit of strategy
00:11 and also some rules as well.
00:13 Now the only thing I'm missing is some truly awful weather.
00:17 - Ah, that's better.
00:20 - Sort of.
00:21 - Right, let's get started.
00:22 (upbeat music)
00:26 (water splashing)
00:29 Now for most golfers, they'll need to choose
00:33 whether or not to use an umbrella
00:35 when they play golf in the rain.
00:37 And for me, it depends on two factors.
00:38 One, how windy is it?
00:40 If you are constantly fighting with the umbrella,
00:42 it might be best just to not bother.
00:44 And two, actually how wet is it?
00:47 If it's really pouring it down,
00:49 then frankly you're gonna get pretty wet anyway
00:51 and it might just not be worth the trouble
00:53 of having an umbrella with you.
00:55 As you can probably hear through the microphone,
00:57 it's pretty windy out here today.
00:58 So I probably wouldn't use an umbrella.
01:00 But if I did, I'd definitely put a dry towel,
01:03 fix a dry towel in underneath the umbrella.
01:06 So that's a really handy thing to do
01:08 to keep your hands dry before you,
01:10 or to dry your hands before you play any shots.
01:12 And keeping that towel dry is absolutely crucial.
01:15 Okay, so this is a really important one.
01:17 Now, before you go out to play, put your rain hood on.
01:22 I've done this in the past where I've got to the club,
01:24 put my clubs outside, gone in for a coffee and it's rained,
01:28 and I've come out and all of my golf equipment
01:30 is soaking wet.
01:31 That's absolutely what you need to avoid.
01:33 So check out the weather forecast,
01:35 know if it's gonna rain, and if it is,
01:37 take some time either before you leave home
01:39 or in the clubhouse before you go out to play
01:41 to put the rain hood on in the dry.
01:43 Give yourself half a chance.
01:45 Okay, so two very quick tips here.
01:47 Firstly, in the interest of pace of play
01:50 and keeping your equipment as dry as you can
01:52 for as long as you can,
01:53 maybe think about reducing your pre-shot routine
01:55 down a little bit.
01:56 So I think I probably wouldn't bother with a practice swing.
02:00 I mean, I'm not trying to rush,
02:02 but I'm trying to keep things a little bit quicker.
02:05 Hit the shot.
02:06 Oh, that's a good shot.
02:09 And then, before I put the club back in the bag,
02:11 I'm gonna give the club head a quick dry under my arm
02:14 as I put it back in.
02:15 That means that any water that's on the club head
02:18 won't trickle down the shaft
02:19 and down into the bottom of that bag
02:21 and get all of your grips wet.
02:22 It does depend on the daylight today.
02:24 There's not an awful lot you can do,
02:25 but if it's raining a little bit less than it is today,
02:27 that sort of thing can help you
02:28 keep your equipment drier for longer.
02:30 Okay, know the embedded ball rule.
02:33 It can really help you when the weather is as bad as this.
02:36 Because when the rules of golf changed
02:39 at the beginning of 2019,
02:41 the rules changed related to embedded ball rule.
02:44 Now you get relief anywhere in the general area
02:47 if you have an embedded ball like I have here in the rough.
02:51 Many people would, I think, be worried
02:52 that they'd have to take a penalty.
02:54 Drop here, you don't.
02:56 So, mark the position of the ball,
02:58 just right behind where the ball is situated,
03:00 place a T-peg, lift the ball up.
03:02 You then get one club length relief.
03:04 Now I'm not gonna use my longest club
03:06 'cause I don't wanna get that grip wet as well.
03:08 I'm gonna use my wedge for this shot.
03:10 But you could use your longest club
03:12 to mark out, obviously, an arc around your ball
03:16 where to drop it.
03:18 I'm just gonna go straight back on the line,
03:19 put another T-peg in,
03:21 and I'm gonna drop it from knee height here.
03:23 That ball is now in play.
03:26 I've got good relief from what was a horrendous lie,
03:29 and I can carry on.
03:30 Now, if you don't want to use wet weather gloves
03:37 and you prefer the feel of a normal leather glove,
03:39 then you'll need to figure out a way
03:41 of keeping your glove as dry as possible
03:43 for as long as possible.
03:44 One tip is to put the glove up in the top of the umbrella
03:48 next to your towel as you play.
03:50 I'm not sure this will work all the way around.
03:52 You'll need a few different leather gloves,
03:54 and you'll need to keep them dry in your bag as well.
03:57 But if you want that feel
03:58 of a normal leather glove on your hand,
03:59 then maybe keeping it at the top of your umbrella
04:02 is a good way to go.
04:03 The next one is about how to transport your clubs
04:06 around the course.
04:07 And there's a few different sort of conflicting opinions
04:10 on this one.
04:11 Now, on a day like today,
04:12 when it's as wet as it is and as windy as it is,
04:15 I think I would probably do away with the umbrella
04:17 and I'd carry it.
04:18 Except for the fact that I'm just gonna get wet
04:20 and I'd carry my clubs.
04:21 It means I can just walk to wherever I need to
04:22 on the golf course, get on with it and play.
04:25 If you're a trolley user and you want to use your trolley,
04:28 think about buying one of those accessories
04:29 that you can put onto the central console
04:31 that allows you to fix up your umbrella.
04:34 It means that you've got access to both hands
04:35 as you walk around the course.
04:37 It can be a real game changer.
04:39 And then of course, the other one to think about
04:41 is whether you get in a buggy or not.
04:42 The only thing I'd say about buggies
04:44 is they'll certainly help you stay a bit drier,
04:46 but think about how cold it's gonna be.
04:48 If you're in a buggy all day
04:50 and you're not getting that exercise
04:51 walking to all of the different shots that you play,
04:53 then maybe you might start to feel a little bit colder.
04:55 For me, on a day like today, when it's as wet and as windy
04:58 and as grotty as it is, I think I'll walk.
05:00 If you're playing golf in the wet,
05:05 then obviously the ball is not gonna run as far
05:07 once it hits the ground as it will do when it's dry.
05:10 And you need to factor that into your thinking
05:12 when you're out on the golf course.
05:13 This is where it really pays to understand
05:15 how far you carry each club in the bag.
05:18 It's something that we here,
05:19 our top 50 coaches tell us all the time.
05:21 Understand what your carry yardages are.
05:23 They're more important than your total yardages.
05:26 Now, I think I would probably take a little bit off
05:28 my carry yardages and work from there.
05:30 It's gonna help me understand in each scenario
05:32 on the golf course which club to hit.
05:34 Okay, so if it's raining,
05:44 it's likely to be fairly gloomy out.
05:46 And in that scenario, think about using a yellow golf ball.
05:49 Now, there's lots of different types of colored golf balls
05:52 on the market at the moment.
05:54 I would avoid using some of the dark colors
05:56 and go for yellow instead.
05:57 In my experience, this is just that little bit
05:59 easier to see.
06:01 I think it's just worth having some in your golf bag,
06:03 even if you're somebody who sort of really likes
06:06 to stick with a white golf ball.
06:07 Have one packet of yellow golf balls stashed in your bag
06:09 that if you're playing golf in the summer
06:11 in really sort of dappled sunlight,
06:13 it can be easier to see.
06:14 And on days like today where it's really gloomy,
06:16 a yellow golf ball can be really handy.
06:19 Okay, so I'm gonna start with an apology
06:21 to all those people who've heard me say this before,
06:23 but I think it's one of the best tips
06:25 for playing golf in the rain.
06:26 And that is to get yourself a decent pair of rain gloves.
06:29 They tend to be black.
06:30 They tend to come in pairs.
06:32 And they are designed to be worn the whole time
06:34 that you're out on the golf course in the rain.
06:36 The wetter they get, I think,
06:38 the more traction they offer you.
06:40 Certainly in my experience,
06:41 they are a lot better than either playing golf
06:44 without a glove or with a sort of standard leather glove.
06:47 They'll also extend the sort of lifespan
06:50 of your regular white leather gloves
06:52 that you've got as well.
06:53 So think about a really good quality pair
06:56 of black wet weather gloves for conditions like this.
07:01 It could make all the difference.
07:03 Okay, so this one is a fairly obvious one,
07:04 but it is worth saying.
07:05 Try to avoid the temptation to play golf
07:08 in your comfiest pair of spikeless shoes.
07:10 Two reasons, really.
07:11 Firstly, you are more likely to slip, obviously.
07:14 And then secondly, I think that I have a few pairs of shoes,
07:18 but on a day like today,
07:20 it'll be my sort of hardest wearing pair
07:22 of spiked golf shoes that I'll wear.
07:25 That tends to mean that I can extend the life
07:27 of my spikeless golf shoes by not wearing them
07:29 on really nasty days like today.
07:31 So for me, it's my best pair of spiked golf shoes.
07:36 Maximum traction mean I can swing through the ball
07:38 with a little bit more commitment, a bit more aggression,
07:40 which is really gonna help me out on the course.
07:42 For this one, bucket hat.
07:45 Now, as you can see, the weather out here is horrible.
07:48 Nobody, I don't think, is particularly relishing
07:50 playing golf on a day like today,
07:52 but sometimes you have to, and in this scenario,
07:55 a bucket hat is really important.
07:56 I think in particular because it stops the water
07:59 from getting down the back of your waterproof suit,
08:01 going down your back and making you cold.
08:04 Also, for anyone who wears glasses on the golf course,
08:06 that bit of extra protection at the front.
08:08 I sometimes, I wear glasses, I sometimes wear a cap
08:11 and a bucket hat on top.
08:13 Might not look the best, but it keeps me nice and dry.
08:17 So I store my bucket hat in my golf bag
08:20 so that when the weather is as bad as it is today,
08:23 I know I've got that little bit of extra help.
08:25 So there you have it.
08:26 That's my look at some of the things you might be able to do
08:28 to hopefully help you play a little bit better
08:31 when it's raining.
08:32 Certainly, hopefully, enjoy yourself a bit more
08:33 on the golf course if you are caught out
08:35 by really bad weather.
08:37 I hope you found that helpful.
08:39 If you have any comments, please do leave them below.
08:41 We'd love to hear what you have to say.
08:42 But that's it for now from the London Club.
08:44 Thanks for watching.
08:45 We'll see you next time.
08:46 (gentle music)
08:49 (upbeat music)
08:51 (upbeat music)
08:54 (upbeat music)