The Blathering Duffer
Lessons From Playing in the Rain
TBD 25.12
Trying to squeeze in a last round of 2025 with a rain storm coming, my playing partner canceled. Undeterred, I was able to secure an earlier tee time to avoid the heaviest rain-9 holes at Balboa on the last day of the year at 9:27am. Living in Southern California does give us the discretion to be fair weather golfers. Much of the rest of the country is fighting snow and cold and can’t play for 3 months. We can wait a few days and then get right back out there. But honestly, there is something very soothing when playing in the rain, a gentle rain. Truly, you can find the Zen of Golf.
Lesson 1: Watch the weather closely. Try to play in the lightest period of rain, the first hours of the coming storm with intermittent drizzle or light rain. You don’t really feel like you are fighting the elements in the early part of the storm.
Lesson 2: Dress For Success! Make sure you know the temperature forecast as well. Not all rain is a cold rain. Have good rain gear: pants, jacket, shoes and hat. My rain pants fit over my regular pants or shorts. Today, I probably should have worn shorts under the rain pants. My rain pants are lined, well sealed and the temperature was 68-70F. I was quite warm in my pants. (Insert your jokes here). Since the sweat and air is trapped, my jogger pants underneath was fairly damp by the end of the round.
My rain jacket is also lined and well-sealed, so I was working up quite the sweat in it too. I had a lighter cycling wind breaker I use often on the course and changed into it after 3 holes. Not as water resistant, but lighter and more breathable. More comfortable for the temperature and did the job with the light drizzle.
Lesson 3: Mind The Small Stuff: Switch out your normal light breathable shoes for water resistant shoes and your feet will be happy. My socks and feet stayed very dry. If you don’t have rain shoes, try Gore-Tex socks. Try wearing a full wide brimmed hat for greater protection. I wear glasses so the raindrops could be a nuisance if I have to stop every other minute to dry them off. So I swapped out my visor for a felted hiking hat with a broad brim all the way around. The felt is actually water resistant and doesn’t soak through like a baseball cap might. Rain gloves worn on both hands can help maintain a good grip and shed water. Or you can wear regular golf gloves and switch out midway through the round for a dry pair if needed. Hang the wet pair under your umbrella to dry out. Swap as needed. Oh yes, an umbrella comes in handy. If you walk with a pull cart (or remote operated caddy cart) attach an umbrella. A rain cover for your bag will help keep your clubs dry also.
Lesson 4: Wipe your clubs dry! Some people think it's more dangerous golfing in the rain. I would argue only in the heavy rain. That said, I had one shot that was actually impacted by the rain. I had taken a couple practice swings with the wedge, so the face was quite wet, and the ball was wet. As I chipped, I could feel the ball just slip sideways off the wedge as I cut across the ball. The ball shot off at a weird angle away from the green. Ugh. I’m certain had I just pulled the face across my pant leg or used a towel to dry it off, that would not have happened. So, after your practice swing, wipe the face off. I kept a towel on my putter face when I was on the green waiting to putt and cleaned the ball with it also.
Lesson 4: You can get through a round faster in the rain because there are fewer people crazy enough to be out there! There’s going to be a lot of fair-weather golfers who cancel so fewer golfers out there. Groups of 4 are now 1-3 golfers. I usually finish Balboa 9 in 2hrs. Today I was done in 1.5 hrs. and I never felt rushed. There were no groups behind us for at least 2 holes.
Lesson 5: You might just have a great round. No one expects to play well in the rain, so you're not putting as much pressure on yourself to perform. Being relaxed, you may end up hitting better shots. Today I shot a personal best, 9 over through 9 holes. I actually had 2 birdies, a rarity for me.
Try it and you might just like it. Playing in the rain can be a surprisingly soothing experience as long as its not a downpour and the wind isn’t howling.
Good Bye to 2025.
Say Hello to 2026.
Happy New Year and Happy Golfing!
Sincerely,
The Blathering Duffer
Lessons From Playing in the Rain
TBD 25.12
Trying to squeeze in a last round of 2025 with a rain storm coming, my playing partner canceled. Undeterred, I was able to secure an earlier tee time to avoid the heaviest rain-9 holes at Balboa on the last day of the year at 9:27am. Living in Southern California does give us the discretion to be fair weather golfers. Much of the rest of the country is fighting snow and cold and can’t play for 3 months. We can wait a few days and then get right back out there. But honestly, there is something very soothing when playing in the rain, a gentle rain. Truly, you can find the Zen of Golf.
Lesson 1: Watch the weather closely. Try to play in the lightest period of rain, the first hours of the coming storm with intermittent drizzle or light rain. You don’t really feel like you are fighting the elements in the early part of the storm.
Lesson 2: Dress For Success! Make sure you know the temperature forecast as well. Not all rain is a cold rain. Have good rain gear: pants, jacket, shoes and hat. My rain pants fit over my regular pants or shorts. Today, I probably should have worn shorts under the rain pants. My rain pants are lined, well sealed and the temperature was 68-70F. I was quite warm in my pants. (Insert your jokes here). Since the sweat and air is trapped, my jogger pants underneath was fairly damp by the end of the round.
My rain jacket is also lined and well-sealed, so I was working up quite the sweat in it too. I had a lighter cycling wind breaker I use often on the course and changed into it after 3 holes. Not as water resistant, but lighter and more breathable. More comfortable for the temperature and did the job with the light drizzle.
Lesson 3: Mind The Small Stuff: Switch out your normal light breathable shoes for water resistant shoes and your feet will be happy. My socks and feet stayed very dry. If you don’t have rain shoes, try Gore-Tex socks. Try wearing a full wide brimmed hat for greater protection. I wear glasses so the raindrops could be a nuisance if I have to stop every other minute to dry them off. So I swapped out my visor for a felted hiking hat with a broad brim all the way around. The felt is actually water resistant and doesn’t soak through like a baseball cap might. Rain gloves worn on both hands can help maintain a good grip and shed water. Or you can wear regular golf gloves and switch out midway through the round for a dry pair if needed. Hang the wet pair under your umbrella to dry out. Swap as needed. Oh yes, an umbrella comes in handy. If you walk with a pull cart (or remote operated caddy cart) attach an umbrella. A rain cover for your bag will help keep your clubs dry also.
Lesson 4: Wipe your clubs dry! Some people think it's more dangerous golfing in the rain. I would argue only in the heavy rain. That said, I had one shot that was actually impacted by the rain. I had taken a couple practice swings with the wedge, so the face was quite wet, and the ball was wet. As I chipped, I could feel the ball just slip sideways off the wedge as I cut across the ball. The ball shot off at a weird angle away from the green. Ugh. I’m certain had I just pulled the face across my pant leg or used a towel to dry it off, that would not have happened. So, after your practice swing, wipe the face off. I kept a towel on my putter face when I was on the green waiting to putt and cleaned the ball with it also.
Lesson 4: You can get through a round faster in the rain because there are fewer people crazy enough to be out there! There’s going to be a lot of fair-weather golfers who cancel so fewer golfers out there. Groups of 4 are now 1-3 golfers. I usually finish Balboa 9 in 2hrs. Today I was done in 1.5 hrs. and I never felt rushed. There were no groups behind us for at least 2 holes.
Lesson 5: You might just have a great round. No one expects to play well in the rain, so you're not putting as much pressure on yourself to perform. Being relaxed, you may end up hitting better shots. Today I shot a personal best, 9 over through 9 holes. I actually had 2 birdies, a rarity for me.
Try it and you might just like it. Playing in the rain can be a surprisingly soothing experience as long as its not a downpour and the wind isn’t howling.
Good Bye to 2025.
Say Hello to 2026.
Happy New Year and Happy Golfing!
Sincerely,
The Blathering Duffer
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