Does this sound familiar? After an eight or nine-month golf season, your golf course superintendent decides it’s that time of year again — that’s right, temporary greens. This is especially common at the many Met Area private clubs and three varieties of golfer emerge: 1) those that put their clubs away for the winter; 2) those that travel south to play; and 3) the polar bear golfers who brave the weather and play on temporary greens. Based on an unscientific observation through the years, about half pack it in for the winter, another 40% or so head south for all or part of the winter, and about one in ten are polar bear golfers.

In an effort to preserve the condition of the regular greens, temporary greens are typically created about 30 yards in front of the regular greens. A hole is cut and a flagstick is put in. Some superintendents mow the fairway grass down very low in a circle to simulate a real green. However, even the best temporary green does not allow for serious putting. So here are a few suggestions for games to play with temporary greens to keep it interesting for the polar bears. After all, as any polar bear golfer will tell you, playing a course with temporary greens is better than nothing — but not by much.

 

Closest to the Pin

Each player takes two shots on a par three, three shots on a par four, and four shots on a par five. In match play, the player closest to the hole wins that hole. In a cumulative wagering game, the player closest gets four points, next closest three points, next closest two points, and furthest one point. This format assumes there is a foursome, but it can be done with any number of players.

 

Worst Ball Scramble

A variant of the popular scramble format used in outings, each player hits a shot. However, instead of choosing the best shot the worst shot is determined and all players hit from there. This is repeated until the hole is completed. Because there is no putting out, we recommend that within a pole length is considered holed out. So to clarify, in order to complete a hole all players in the scramble must hit it within a pole length. If even one shot is outside a pole length then it would be deemed the worst shot and all would hit from there. This is a great format for two-on-two or foursome versus foursome.

 

Horse

Taking a page from a popular playground basketball game, one competitor decides which temporary green to shoot for and all proceed to play to that hole. The person who comes in last each hole (regardless of the scoring system selected) gets a letter -- first an H then an O then an R then an S and finally an E -- to spell horse. After all competitors but one have spelled HORSE, the remaining player is the winner. Whoever wins each hole then decides what the next hole will be starting from the nearest tee box to where you just finished.

 

The Wintercross

Here’s a challenge for you course designer “wannabees” or those that like a good geometry challenge. And if you are both, like I am, try this. Create a new course, which traverses your regular course by using all 18 tee boxes and all 18 temporary greens. But here’s the catch – you cannot use the same tee box and temporary for any hole. In other words you cannot tee off on the 6^th hole and play to the 6^th temporary green. You must play from the 6^th tee to a different temporary green. Try to come up with a course that uses all the tees and temporaries and has a sensible routing where each subsequent tee is near the previous temporary just completed.

 

With a little help from my friends and fellow members Steve Cohen and Hal Berman, we did just that at Middle Bay Country Club. It took about a month to iron out the kinks. After mapping out the routing on a piece of paper and using Google Earth to calculate the yardages and verify that they conform to standard par lengths, it was still necessary to walk the course and verify that the course was in fact playable with reasonable landing areas and without unreasonable obstructions (trees, buildings, etc). After making a few final changes the inaugural round at the Wintercross at Middle Bay Country Club was played by Steve, Hal, and me in late December 2006.

 

The official scorecard shown below was created for the grand opening. The first hole is played from the white tee on 6 to the temporary green on 2. The second hole is played from the red tee on 3 to the temporary green on 17. And so on. It is an excellent course with a nice mix of par 3s, 4s, and 5s, with some longer holes and some shorter, but nonetheless challenging ones.

 

Wintercross at Middle Bay Country Club
Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Tee	6w	3r	15r	17b	16w	4r	2r	5w	18g
Green	2	17	16	15	3	5	4	14	6
Par	4	3	4	5	4	4	4	4	5	37
Yards	270	110	400	480	390	400	370	390	540	3350
hdcp	15	17	5	1	7	3	11	13	9
+/-
Hole	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In/total
Tee	7b	9r	8w	14w	12w	11b	13r	1b	10w
Green	8	7	13	11	10	12	18	9	1
Par	4	3	4	5	4	4	5	3	4	36/73
Yards	425	225	355	505	430	310	585	175	375	3385/6735
Hdcp	8	10	12	6	2	16	4	18	14

 

As with the other winter games there is no putting on the Wintercross. We typically play to within 10 paces of the stick and consider that an automatic two-putt with a free run at a chip-in. Within a pole-length in regulation is deemed a birdie. A fun variation is closest to the pin scoring on the Wintercross. And a little advice – unless you are PGA professionals out for some fun in the cold, do not ever try a worst ball scramble on the Wintercross. The course is quite challenging and the weather conditions are usually difficult. It would be an amazing accomplishment for a foursome to even finish the round!

 

CROSS COUNTRY GOLF

One final suggestion, analogous to cross country skiing, is to select two tee boxes and two temporary greens from each boundary side of the golf course. Proceed from one tee box all the way across the course to one of the boundary temporary greens. Then play from a tee box on that side clear back across the entire course to a temporary green on the side you started. Then repeat this using the other tee boxes and greens you selected. Two trips across the course – i.e., 4 holes – constitutes a cross country round. The most sensible way to score is stroke play – fewest total strokes. Holing out occurs when you are within one pole length. At Middle Bay we play from 8 to 16, then 17 to 11, then 12 to 3, and finish with 4 to 7. Estimated total yardage is 6,000, but obviously depends on the particular route you choose to take.

 

 

ARE YOU A POLAR BEAR?

Whether it’s a game of closest to the pin, worst ball scramble, HORSE, Wintercross, or cross country, dress in several light layers to keep warm while allowing an unimpeded golf swing. And winter gloves, hand warmers, and earmuffs are all standard equipment. It’s also a good idea to set a limit of 5 or 6 clubs as carts and caddies are typically unavailable in the winter and this will make it easier to get around the course. Beyond that, all it takes for me are about 25 degrees, a little sun, and not much wind.

     

Obviously it is unwise to play a Wintercross on a crowded day. At our club this is never a problem. Once the temporaries are established and the regular greens are closed there are only about a dozen of us who brave the elements. A couple of helpful safety hints for anyone who creates their own Wintercross – make sure to look out carefully before you hit your shots, and if your ball comes to rest on a frozen water hazard, leave it there. And importantly, KEEP OFF THE REGULAR GREENS!  Are you a polar bear?