Drought Conditions Are Changing The Way We Play

AS CLUB golfers we all love to play the game with sun on our backs. But as we have already reported, the lack of rain is causing huge headaches for greenskeepers all around the country.

My own club, Dunston Hall, recently lifted preferred lies. At this time of year, that should not be a problem but such was the outcry from the membership that they have now been reinstated. Here is simply no growth on the fairways. That is bad enough, but they are also like concrete. It is impossible to play iron shots properly.

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I play a lot of team golf and that means I have visited many other courses this season - and everybody is facing the same issues.

The two problem areas are the greens and the fairways. As I write this I have so far played six courses other than my own. At all but one, preferred lies are still in place and at all but one the putting surfaces were questionable at best. You hit a putt and the ball bobbles about all over the place. Of course, it is the same for everybody.

And how on earth do you go about judging approach shots? The other day, I hit a nine iron from 160 yards - and still couldn’t hold the green. As somebody who struggles to hit the ball 200 yards during the winter, I am now frequently hitting drives 280+ yards from the tee. I have been playing approach shots from places I have never hit the ball from before. It is simply impossible to hold any green, even with a well-struck towering wedge.

On the other hand, water hazards are drying up - and that means those hazards are no longer as intimidating as they are supposed to be. And if you find your way into way there is a good chance that a) you will find your ball and b) you will be able to play said ball.

As things stand, we have preferred lies in play at Dunston until the end of May, after which it will be looked at again. But with no discernible rain in the weather forecast, I cannot help but wonder when we are ever again going to be playing the ball as it lies.

There is another downside. Because the fairways are so hard, the bounce of the ball has become entirely unpredictable. Golf balls that would normally hit a fairway and go straight ahead are now taking all sorts of horrible bounces. You think you have hit the perfect drive but it lands in the middle of the fairway and then takes a horrible kick to the left or right and finishes up in the trees.

I have struggled to find many positives but there is one - where I would normally automatically reach for a wedge I am now playing pitch and runs from 100-120 yards. And here’s the thing - it has most definitely helped with my feel.

I never thought I would see the day when almost everybody I play with is saying: “We need rain.” But we do - and we need it soon. However, with the ground being to badly parched, we do not need downpours because that would only lead to flooding. The British climate - you simply have to love it!

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