There is no such thing as "Winter Rules". But in the back of the rule book there is preferred lies when conditions are abnormal. I would saying playing golf in February in CT would qualify as abnormal, LOL. So a local rule can be adopted by a course/tournament to lift. clean and place a ball within 6 inches of its original spot no closer to the hole.

Officially if you are playing for score you can't post this round - you are probably out of season anyway for posting.

I'm a rules official, but if it were me I would just play how you feel like playing on your bonus day in February and have fun!!!

Over in the uk we have fairway mats we have to use on many courses to protect the fairways during the winter , so balls can be cleaned before placing on mats , we we get free drops if they are in standing water or plugged in soaking wet mud and my course is currently operating a if you land in the bunker , lift rake and then place before playing your shot out , during the winter

We have Winter rules where the fairways are protected, any ball coming to rest on the fairway must be played from a plastic mat or kicked into semi rough and played from there, the limits of fairways are marked with white stakes. Balls can be placed in the semi rough. Approx 20yds from the the green a ball can be played from the fairway with a straight faced club.
The club pro runs Saturday competition with a special unoffical handicap over the Winter months.



madhatter

Guys a lot of those are local rules. Also the comments regarding, "we we get free drops if they are in standing water or plugged in soaking wet mud" are covered under the rules of golf. As long as folks are not posting these round for handicaps, no worries........

We play "winter rules" when the Club first opens up early in the year, probably before we really should. But I've seen come guys take it to the extreme where they're playing the ball "UP" everywhere......fairway, rough, hazards, etc. They say that their scores don't count since we're "out of season". I say, what better time to practice those crappy lies, since you don't have to worry about your score if you hit it bad. Guess I'm in the minority on it though

It all sounds about right. Did you forget what the geese leave all over the place during winter months? Lol!! Plenty of it here at the Jersey Shore. We blow it off as much as we can though. But I'm not hitting a ball covered with it. Can't post scores anyway. Just happy to be playing!

Play Well,
Steve S.

If your getting rounds in during february in the north, conditions aren't going to be ideal. There is no "winter rules" per say, but there is the preferred lie rule somewhere in the book. reading something like "Adverse conditions, including the poor condition of the course or the existence of mud, are sometimes so general, particularly during winter months, that the Committee may decide to grant relief by temporary Local Rule either to protect the course or to promote fair and pleasant play." Most likely you cannot post your score because the posting season hasn't begun yet, and you should be able to clean your ball or play it as it lies, if you want too! Its all up to you! These are bonus days!

I'm not posting any scores so I do move my ball at times. I play against a friend (wagering a small amount) and he and I have agreed that roots, mud, leaves, etc. can and do have an adverse effect on our shots. We play by the same "rules" and have a great time together. Our "winter" conditions here in NC aren't as bad as our Northern friends but sparse fairways and unkept areas do happen. I just think people should have fun as not many of us are making a living thru our golf skills (or lack thereof)!

I play all winter unless there is snow on the ground or a below freezing cold snap here in MD. It's officially out-of-season so, I cannot post a score for my handicap. Even so, I typically play by the rules IF I am playing what I would consider to be a "real" round, where I'm playing and tracking only one ball, be it by myself or in a match against a buddy. I take those rounds seriously. The only thing I might do, which would not be within the rules under normal, in-season conditions, is play lift, clean and place from the fairways/short grass. Everything is often quite soft and muddy in winter, so I decide myself when the conditions warrant L/C/P.

However, since wintertime brings out very few players and the courses are generally empty, it's a great time to "golf-shot," or just go out and hit all sorts of shots on the course. I often play multiple balls from all types of lies for practice purposes when I'm not actually playing a "real" round. I'll go out alone and hit the ball into the fairway. If the lie is good, I'll hit it as it lies. If the ball got mud on it, I'll clean and place it. If the ball ended up in a divot, I'll roll it back onto the fairway surface, hit it, then drop another one back into the divot and hit that one too, just to prove to myself that I have that shot too. I will do the same type of stuff all over the course, in the rough, the sand, or wherever. I'll hit one from a bad lie, then hit the same shot from a good lie. You learn a lot that way, and in winter, you usually have the time to gain that knowledge without a group coming down on your tail. You just can't practice every type of lie on the range. You have to do that on the course. And winter is a great time for it.

Lift, clean and place when in mud or standing water, or a big divot. I have never heard of "out-of-season" for posting scores. I guess that is for the Northern states.