Rain

Golf is an outdoor sport, so rain is part of it. Light drizzle changes hardly anything, persistent rain makes the course soft and slow. The ball stops on the fairway instead of rolling, and on the green it runs shorter. The rule on temporary water becomes important: if your ball or your stance is in a puddle that is not part of a penalty area, you get free relief. In a thunderstorm, however, safety comes before play — if there is a risk of lightning you stop immediately, even without an official announcement.

In practice, your equipment decides your mood. An example: rain jacket and rain trousers, umbrella, a dry towel under the umbrella and spare gloves in the bag. The grip becomes slippery in the wet, so take your glove off after every shot and keep it dry. The ball does not fly noticeably shorter in humid air, but it hardly bounces forward on soft ground — plan for more carry and take one more club. Putts on a wet green are slower and break less.

Typical mistakes: anyone who neglects the umbrella-and-towel routine plays the second nine holes with slippery hands. And many do not know about relief from puddles and play the ball out of the water instead of dropping it for free relief. In the winter rules and on the scorecard you will also often find local provisions such as preferred lies, which can apply in wet weather.