It is always this time of year when the travelling golfer returns from their sunny golf holiday to the grueling conditions of "wet" coast golf. Making the transition from dry, firm, lush conditions to wet, soggy, muddy conditions is never easy.

The west coast is very unique as it is the only region in Canada that can stay open for golfer's year round. As a rule people living west of Chilliwack can not golf between October & March... ever! Most people in this country can't imagine golfing at Christmas or for New Years. It is a privilege that many of us in lotus land take for granted.

The problem is that too many golfers decide to ignore each courses Winter remedies for the upcoming year. Temporary greens, tee mats and even closed holes are put in place by the course superintendant to benefit the course through the Summer months. Too often the golfer is impatient with these situations and will hit off a closed tee deck or pull their cart through a roped off area. Also, because the course is playing a little "uglier" golfers sometimes get lazy with divot repairs, fixing ball marks and even placing garbage in a can.

I have heard many a travelling golfer exclaim "The course I played back east was in so much better shape, and it is only April!!" This is because each winter those golf courses are put to bed until spring. The golf course opens once the snow is gone. They do not have diehard golfers lined up waiting for the frost delay to end, so that they can trudge out on the thawing turf in their spiked gum boots.

I am pretty sure that most Canadians have never seen spiked gum boots. Years ago as a greenskeeper in Alberta, I was looked upon as a freak when I donned my boots to play during a light rain shower!

We on the west coast are lucky to live in a climate where we can go to an outdoor heated range or to your local course to practice outside during Winter. In order for this to benefit the golfer and the golf course we need to work together. With Spring nearly upon us, wet golf courses can suffer even more damage than in the colder months.

Here are some basic rules to follow through winter and spring golf:

Stay on the mats
Turf does not recover in winter. A divot made in February will still be there in April.

Replace Divots
See above

Fix ball marks
We do it in summer, why not in winter or spring?

Obey ropes
They are there to protect an area and to keep you from sinking ankle deep in to the turf.

Be patient
These conditions are temporary. It should not affect your handicap, so have fun!!

Enjoy yourself out there. If you are golfing and a ball or two has plugged and gone missing, or if you are tired of the mats or the temps, just picture yourself in northern Ontario watching golf on tv and wishing you could be out there.

Truly.....we are blessed.