TEEING OFF: ‘When it’s breezy, swing easy’

First the cold, now the wind.

The golf season took too long to get here, and hasn’t had too many “easy” days thanks to what feels like an unrelenting breeze lately.

But the season is short enough that “too windy” can’t be a reason to skip an otherwise great day to play.

Instead of cursing at Mother Nature for adding a challenge to an already difficult game, embrace the challenge the wind brings — and look forward to the long drives you can hit when it’s at your back.

I hit the ball notoriously low, so headwinds and crosswinds don’t bother me as much as they do a high-ball hitter. So instead of simply explaining my process to manage the wind, I reached out to a handful of local professionals and top amateurs, and here’s how they recommend approaching it.

Grey Owl champion Kolby Day summed up the consensus.

“When in doubt, take one more club and swing easy,” he said.

Minnedosa head pro Patrick Law adds some details, like shifting the ball to the back of your stance and keeping your hands low during the follow-through. If you’re a visual learner, watch PGA Tour star Tommy Fleetwood hit a few wedge shots and you’ll see what Law means.

If you know the approximate wind speed, you can calculate the yardage adjustment by adding one per cent for each mile per hour of headwind, or subtracting 0.5 per cent for each mph of tailwind. This varies depending on how high one’s standard shot flies.

Neepawa head pro Landon Cameron’s tip explains why.

“Most golfers try to hit the ball harder into the wind, which usually creates more spin and causes the ball to balloon and get pushed around even more,” he said, recommending a few extra clubs and an easier swing to minimize backspin.

But even if you know how to adjust for the wind, the unpredictability leads to less accuracy, something last year’s Tamarack runner-up Ross Sheard highlights.

“Club choice is 100 per cent the key to success,” Sheard said. “From there, you can determine flight, how hard or soft to hit it and assess where your best miss is before you take the club back.”

Knowing you can miss and making sure the most likely miss is still safe will help avoid large numbers on the scorecard.

Interestingly, when I left the question of “how to play in the wind” open-ended, everyone addressed headwinds, rather than crosswinds or tailwinds, which bring their own challenges.

A common school of thought is to “fight” the wind with shot shapes that curve in the opposite direction. However, with brilliant ball-strikers as rare exceptions, the best move is to stick to your normal shot shape and understand that when a crosswind matches the shape, the ball will “ride the wind,” curving more and flying further than when the wind cancels out the curve.

When it comes to tailwinds, they help add distance and keep misses flying straighter, but bring their own challenges on approach shots as it can be harder to control distance and make the ball stop.

If there’s space for it, choking up on the club you’d hit without wind and playing a low shot that will run can lead to more predictable results.

But with less green to work with, or water or bunkers near the front of a green, playing a shorter club with a full swing to launch the ball high is likely the move.

Of course, when it’s tough enough to be consistent with a normal swing, trying something different in the moment is nearly impossible.

“To learn to play in the wind, you have to practise in the wind,” said Wheat City head pro Dave Scinocca.

“Many amateurs don’t spend enough time practising in different wind conditions. It’s the only way to truly understand how the wind can affect your body, club and ball flights.”

The shorter the shot, the less difference the wind makes. But if it’s strong enough, it will even impact chips and putts.

And most importantly, don’t place high expectations on yourself entering the round. That advice holds true on every round, but especially when the conditions aren’t conducive to scoring.

Embrace the challenge and have fun on windy days. The season is too short to let them slide by.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com