It’s not ideal, but if you live in England, playing golf in cold weather is something that you will need to get used to.
Cold weather can affect your muscles making swinging freely harder to do, as well as the need for additional clothing restricting movement.
It is important that you resist the temptation to put on thick woollen sweaters as they may provide warmth but will not allow you to swing freely.
Clothing
The modern thermal clothing made by the top golf clothing manufacturers is excellent and well worth the investment. It has been designed with the golf swing in mind and will give you the warmth you need but without restricting your swing.
Other must-haves on cold days are mitts, hand warmers and a thermal hat.
Once you have these you are ready to play in the cold.
Stretch in changing room before play
Most injuries picked up from golfers could have been avoided if they had stretched before play.
This is even more important in cold weather when your muscles are colder. You should ideally stretch in the changing room before you go outside then hit some shots on the practice ground before you start the round.
Allowing yourself time to prepare like this before play will have two main effects:
1) It gives you every chance of playing your best golf
2) It could save you a fortune on osteopath fees!!
Remember to take more clubs
In cold weather the ball will not fly as far through the air so take an extra club. Many club golfers hit the same club on a Par 3 in February as they do in August even though the temperature difference could be as much as 30 degrees.
Good Golfing!
Peter Parks PGA