Do your golf scores go up during the winter months? 

They shouldn’t, really, because of weather conditions. 

The USGA says clubs are supposed to set up courses to make scoring constant throughout the year.  This is covered in Section 15 (Course Set-up) of the USGA Handicap System manual.

“Placement of tee markers should be balanced so that the course’s effective playing length is about the same from day to day.  Adjustments may be made to allow for weather and turf conditions.”

So, if your course “plays” longer in the winter months, your club should instruct the maintenance department to set up tees (on average) shorter than they are in the summer months.  Move them up.  Make the course “play” in February as it does in July.

The same is true of hole locations.  If your greens are faster in the winter than in the summer, then the maintenance staff should cut holes on flatter areas during the winter months.

The goal is to allow you to score as well in the coming months as you did last summer.

Read Section 15 of the USGA handicap manual at www.usga.org, under Playing the Game.  

If you have any questions about course set up, send your e-mail to mdann@carolinasgolf.org.