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