Much like in Springtime, Autumn in New England can be rather wet. Here we are in my favorite month, October. It’s my favorite because of the cooler temps, the fall colors and how great it is to be out on the golf course in those conditions.
But, it tends to rain a bunch.
For example, the average amount of precipitation in Hartford, CT in October is 4.1 inches, which is higher than any other month. In fact, as I pen this post on October 2nd, it’s raining…and it’s supposed to continue raining for the next 5 out of 6 days.
Even Seattle has less rain in October (3.4 inches on average) – their wettest months are when golf is over: November, December and January. Very convenient. New England? Well, convenience isn’t really our strong suit.
But we press on – heading out to the course under threatening skies and hoping to get in at least 9 holes before it comes down. Sometimes it begins to rain and we pretend not to notice. We nonchalantly put the cart’s windshield up and pull down the rain hood over our clubs and casually stroll to our balls.
“Should I get the umbrella out? Nah, it’s too much trouble to take it off my bag, remove the sleeve cover and carry it around. By the time I do that, this will probably blow over. Plus, I have a hat on – so I’m good.”
It’s funny, we all have these humongous umbrellas on our bags but rarely use them out on the golf course (though they seem to come in handy while walking the dog on a rainy afternoon)!
You finish the hole but the rain hasn’t let up. In fact, it’s coming down even harder now. So you sit in the cart for a little while, figuring the heavy stuff will pass soon enough. Oh, and as an aside, you will inevitably have a great game going to boot. Caddyshack was spot-on, wasn’t it?
By now, it’s raining so hard you’re getting wet inside the cart. So you find the nearest lightning shelter and crowd in there to wait it out. But it’s not letting up. After about 10 minutes, everyone sort of looks at each other. “Should we call it a day?” No one wants to be the one to throw in the towel.
And there’s no reason to. I mean, you’ve blocked out the time to play – I say wait it out. Who knows, maybe it will let up enough to get back out there. In the meantime, enjoy watching the rain – after all, you’re still on the golf course, hanging out with your pals – light up a cigar and enjoy the wait.
We’ve always said here at GolfStinks that golf should be more about your enjoyment than about your score – and sometimes you don’t have to be actually playing golf to enjoy just being out on the course.
But remember, if it starts to lightening, get the f@#k out of there ASAP!
