TEEING OFF: Tips to prepare for long-awaited golf season

Springs don’t get much more frustrating than this one when it comes to golf.

But rest assured, the beginning of the season is near.

It’s likely some Westman courses open as early as next weekend, ending one of the longest off-seasons in recent years, with one of them being in 2020 when courses were ready but COVID-19 pandemic restrictions prohibited play until May 4.

As exciting as it is to finally scratch the itch and see golf balls fly, the last thing you want to do is shift straight from the couch to 18 holes worth of swings a day, and all the walking that comes with them.

Major adjustments can be hard on the body and lead to issues that linger throughout the season.

If you’re just dusting the clubs off now, here are a few ways to prepare for your first round of the year and make spring golf a whole lot more enjoyable.

GET SOME SWINGS IN

The most straightforward idea is to just start hitting balls, but it wasn’t an option until the season started around here, until a few years ago.

Both Shanks Driving Range and Grill and Evo Golf are open and have been busy for months as the diehard golfers have been making the most of our long winter.

Both are great spots to go now and shake some rust off without having to chase all your errant tee shots.

GO FOR A WALK

Whether you tend to walk or ride in a cart when you play, you’ll log thousands more steps than during an average winter day.

I know I have a tendency to fade late in rounds early in the season before adjusting to four hours of exercise.

So get out, stretch your legs and enjoy a few good walks before they’re spoiled with bogeys.

WORK ON YOUR MOBILITY

Stretching isn’t necessarily fun, but gaining distance off the tee certainly is.

It’s easy to find good full-body mobility routines online, and great to incorporate them into your day, especially as a warmup for a round.

The big keys to a warmup are — literally — warming up your body through movement, activating the muscles you’ll use in your swing and getting accustomed to the positions you’ll be in when you make a full shoulder turn and swing through the ball.

If you’re comfortable with it, adding resistance with weights, cables and exercise bands is a great way to improve stability and gain power over time.

While the idea of resistance training for golf seems like something only professionals and elite amateurs truly need to do, the reality is those players would still play just fine without it, and the casual golfer will likely see more significant benefits when it comes to their scorecard.

EARLY-SEASON ROUNDS

I’ve seen and taken a variety of approaches to the beginning of the year, from treating all of April and May as practice and not caring how I played to making every round competitive in some way.

Some golfers play “winter rules,” ensuring they have a good lie for every spot until courses get into mid-season form, while others just accept the breaks they’re given like they would in June or July.

I’d like to hear some perspectives on this. Anyone who has advice for spring golf, from the mental approach you take early in the year to modifications you and your playing partners follow, email me at tfriesen@brandonsun.com and I’ll share a few next week.

By this time next week, we’ll know when the season can finally begin.

We’re almost there.