Fall is here, and with it come the swarms of autumn apologists who defend the season as unequivocally the best to play golf. On the Golf Digest staff, we have plenty in that group, and while the mild temperatures and peak course conditions may make it tough to argue with them, our panel also offered some strong counterpoints when asked to debate the best season to play golf.
Shane Ryan, Contributing Writer: As I ease into the start of middle age, I’m trying to show more restraint and avoid making extreme statements like “anyone who doesn’t say the fall should be thrown in jail for felony thought crime.” But even though I’m (nobly) leaving that sentiment unspoken, I still think it. In fact, the more I consider the question, the more I’m becoming upset that it exists at all. EVERYTHING outdoors is best in fall. Cool air, earth tones, the ability to wear long sleeves, 70 percent less sweat and a feeling of sweet nostalgia for times gone by, both real and imagined. Whether it’s golf or a stroll with a loved one or armed robbery, everything is better in fall, and it’s not even close.
Joel Beall, Senior Writer: The 60-degree embrace that wraps around you, a favorite jacket you’d feared was lost. Summer’s wild growth surrendering balls that have been hibernating all year. Stepping off the course into the hum of the bar for a college gameday crowd, your morning already won before kickoff. Those fleeting weeks when foliage explodes like fireworks against the emerald under your feet. It’s fall, and nothing else comes close.
Alex Myers, Senior Writer: It’s easy to play in the fall. The real warriors play in the 90-plus-degree days of the summer. Give me that any day over the 50s or a day with a lot of wind. Working up a sweat makes me feel almost like a real athlete and the golf ball goes farther! It’s also a lot tougher for us public players to get a tee time in this area, but with longer days, there are more available this time of year. And as a dad, I’m happy to tee off at 5:30 a.m. when it’s not even fully light out yet if it means getting back for the rest of a weekend day and not being (totally) in the doghouse. Summer is the best and it’s not even close.
Sam Weinman, Digital Editorial Director: Spring golf and fall golf are inverse experiences. In spring, conditions are terrible, but you’re overflowing with hope because you know there’s time to turn a corner. Fall golf conditions are exquisite, but the long shadows remind you your opportunity is fleeting, and you fear an email at any moment that tomorrow they’re punching the greens and pulling the pins. As such, the non-controversial, boring answer is the dead middle of summer, when it’s too hot to think about anything, but at least you can play after dinner.
Cappi Thompson
MORE: The best parts of fall golf, ranked
Keely Levins, Contributing Writer: If you live in New England like I do, there’s only one correct answer here. And it’s fall. Sure, I love the spring for the excitement of a new season and the summer for the great course conditions and that feeling when your game starts to get into shape. But the fall, it cannot be competed with. The sweltering heat and humidity dissipate, so we’re freed of the constant threat of heat exhaustion. We get to wear sweaters. And as it gets really chilly, you start to feel like you’ve gotten away with something every time you get out. Firm conditions, cold, sometimes questionable, weather: Isn’t this how the game was meant to be played?
Kevin Harrigan, Director of Marketing: I find I play my best golf when no household obligations are lingering in my mind. And with that, when my (three) children are all in the classrooms of their schools, I’m playing my best golf—spring & fall = my favorite seasons to play golf. I’ll add in “late” spring and “early” fall–to keep those northeast temperatures at a comfortable level.
E. Michael Johnson, Equipment Editor: I’m a northeasterner, so winter is out. Spring brings the new season, but the weather is iffy and conditions often not great. Fall? Nothing better but two problems: tournament season is over, and the leaves changing and dropping are a grim reminder of what’s to come. Give me summer anytime. Competition, good conditions and warm weather, not to mention the regular Saturday (and Sunday) tee time and enough daylight for an emergency nine.
Luke Kerr-Dineen, Senior Editor: The best time to play golf is in mid-fall. The problem is that everybody knows this. The result is crowded courses, slow pace of play and tee times that are tricky to get. It’s a frustrating paradox that makes playing fall golf not, actually, the best time to play. It’s why you have to go slightly later in the year to the actual best time to play. Technically it’s late fall, but really you’re trying to get as close to winter as you can get before it gets too obviously cold. Somewhere in the low-to-mid 50s. You’re looking for pants, sweater and one base-layer weather. Yes, this may require lowering your golf-able weather threshold slightly. But if you do, you’ll get the benefits of a game that’s still sharp from a summer of playing, a course still in great shape and a wide-open tee sheet because all the soft simpletons will have packed the clubs away until spring.
Greg Gottfried, Web Producer: This isn’t even a debate. It’s fall. I play in the brutal summer sun, and I come home—every single time—burnt to a crisp and overheated. I can put on sunscreen every few holes and still look as if I’m coming off a Florida cruise after a few hours on the course. I love the option to throw on a sweater. Plus, I can still wear shorts and show off the legs I’ve been working on in Pilates. A nice cool breeze, the changing of the leaves, no constant glare hurting my eyes. Fall is the best season in general, but especially when it comes to golf. Oh, also, you finish your round and then check the football scores. Maybe watch the late afternoon games (and the Cowboys losing). What’s better than that?
Pat Andrews, Audience Development Analyst: Living in the northeast, the best season to play golf is really a combo of late summer and early fall, specifically September and October. It’s the comfortable, even cool temperatures that I love. The ball may not go as far as it does when it’s a hot 90 degrees in late July but it’s just perfect golf. A 7 a.m. morning tee time where it’s brisk, 50 degrees and it maybe peaks at 70. A weekend tee time when you can get home before a college football Saturday or an NFL Sunday. Maybe a quick “Golden Hour” nine holes after the workday. The foliage is immaculate with leaves changing colors in the trees. There’s no better time to play golf. As long as the course you’re playing has yet to punch its greens.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
