[revkev]

This one could have gone in lots of different places but given my balky back I'm coming here with it. Any suggestions for a rain delay - beyond the ridiculously impractical of hitting balls on the range first to get warmed up - let's face it that option is not available to us - we're normally out on the course and a storm hits that can't be played through either because the rain is too heavy or because of lightening.

My question is how do you get loose after the delay - Had this happen twice yesterday and my back is killing me today - absolutely killing me - I didn't get loose enough after the first delay, did fine after the second - it was stop and go, stop and go all day.

[RoverRick]

We do not have many rain delays. Typically, after a rain we get warmed up by clearing the branches and debris We do not have rain, we have storms this time of year. We have been with out electricity twice this week and probably will have another one tonight.


However, on weekends, I typically tee off for the first time between 7:30 and 8 and finish between 11:30 and noon. We have lunch after 18 spend at least an hour sitting in the bar. Then regroup and go out and play 9 or 18 more.

Honestly, since there is no warm up period before the second round, it is more difficult than the first round of the day. So, in essence, I get practice going from sitting down to playing golf with no warm up a couple of times per week. Of course, there is some stretching and practice swings. But the key to me is remembering that I have not warmed up. The worst thing you can do after not warming up and making sure that your tempo is right is to walk up and grip it and rip it. So I will focus on making a control shot off the tee. I do not care about distance as much as a nice smooth swing. I continue this train of thought into the approach shot and remember do not take a big rip at it because I am not warm. I sometimes take an extra club and swing easier because I know I will not have the same swingspeed I usually have. Usually by the end of the first hole I have had a opportunity to get the blood flowing again and my back is loosened up and play the next holes normally.

[RoverRick]

I am watching the Wyndham on delay on TV. The first thing I noticed was that all the pros seem to take conservative approaches this morning.

I was reminded, yesterday was the first time we have even come close to soggy ground in the past 3 months, and truthfully, the ground was still hard just the grass was wet, so not much spin. So after watching the pros for a couple of holes I remembered that with soggy ground I have to change my short game a bit.

I am sure you know this and look forward to your thoughts on this subject, but with wet grass you do not get as much spin and can not control the ball as well. Wet grass also stops the ball quicker. Also, with soggy ground, if you try to compress the ball the it looses distance more than dry ground. Really soggy ground makes it easier to chunk it. And if you try to avoid that you have the dreaded blade to worry about. So in addition to warming up you must adapt to the changed conditions.

I tend to pay more attention to where I want leave the ball on the green and do not necessarily think of holing every shot. You were accustom to the ball behaving one way and now the conditions have changed and if you do not adjust your strategy accordingly, you can make some big numbers in a hurry.

While you can not change clubs during a round, you may want to have the proper clubs in your bag if rain is expected. I have been playing a 2 iron lately instead of a hybrid. This has been quite useful in the wind and hard conditions. This was not a great club for me yesterday on two counts. One, I was not striking the ball as well as I have been, and the wet conditions I think would have been better with a hybrid. I will not say that it made even a one stroke difference, but there were a couple of times that if I wld have had a hybrid.

Once had I have had a hybrid I would have gone for the green in two on a par 5. The 2 iron and 3 wood would not clear the trees, so I hit 7 iron and ultimately had a 4 foot birdie putt.(I missed) so I may have been better without it.

[revkev]

Well I may have a chance to try this out in a bit - going to play - our league course is under water but a bunch of us are heading to greener or at least dryer pastures where we can play for a few bucks.

We'll see!