Finland has been buried in snow since November already. As we bring in the new year it is an excellent time to reflect and prepare for the coming season – this could be your most incredible year in golf. Here are a few things that can help you prepare equipment-wise.
Clean your bag
Aside from probably being quite dirty, your golf bag can accumulate a lot of unwanted or unnecessary items which you can remove or quite simply throw away. This could include an accumulation of tee pegs, found golf balls, and (plastic) bags.
As part of this cleaning process make sure you put your towel in for a wash and tip your bag upside down (when empty) – you’d be surprised what you may find.
This is also a good opportunity to reorganize your bag so items you use more frequently can be more accessible.
Mark your golf balls
This tip is especially useful if you bulk buy golf balls and you mark your golf balls more elaborately than scribbling your initials on the side of the ball.
Whether you are adding symbols or even simple lines to your golf ball this will speed up your game on course if you are prepared. As part of this process, you could also box the balls in different number groupings so you don’t need to add any additional markings because you pull a number 3 out of your bag when your previous ball was also a 3.
As I took all my found balls from my bag out I prepared them for practicing by adding a simple marking to them too – now I can go to the practice area with balls that I know I can identify.
Sort your gloves
Having a dry glove in the wet can be a critical component in coping with bad weather. I have a bag (to keep things dry) within my golf bag containing old golf gloves so I can rotate them when they get wet. However, some of the gloves were quite worn so I threw them out. They simply would not get used and I replaced one, at least, with the final glove of the last season.
Check your grips
I take pretty good care of my clubs throughout my rounds but one thing I often neglect is the grips. Depending on frequency grips should last at least a few years but you can rejuvenate your grips by giving them a good scrub with a brush and warm soapy water. This will bring back some of the tackiness.
Ideally, you would be doing this at least once a month but why not start the season off well? If your grips are really worn then get them changed through the close season.
Check your accessories
Very much related to your bag clean up make sure that you have batteries for your rangefinder, speakers, or cameras. Is there anything worse than getting out on course and you go to zap a yardage on a whole and your rangefinder doesn’t get a distance?
Do you have sunblock, hats, mosquito repellent, plasters, spare laces, a bottle opener, enough tees, pencils, pitch mark repairers, or golf balls? Make sure you are stocked up on all the little things that you made need to assist you through a round.
So there you have it, 5 quick tips to prepare yourself for the new golf season from the equipment side, is there anything you would add to this list?
Look out for the second part of this series, how to prepare yourself mentally and physically for the new golf season.
Have fun out there.