7 Ways To Play Better Golf This Autumn Without Spending A Penny

Your usual club. A decent strike. And an approach that still finishes short.

Then your drive stops almost where it lands, the rough feels heavy and a ball that seemed safely in play disappears under the leaves.

It is easy to start questioning your swing. First, check the conditions. A cooler day, softer turf and different putting surfaces can change the round you are playing.

Before your next autumn tee time, try these seven practical adjustments. Each gives you something specific to do, rather than another swing thought to carry around.

1. Choose your club for the carry, not the summer rollout

Carry is how far the ball travels through the air before it first lands. Total distance includes what happens afterwards. On soft ground, the rollout you enjoyed in summer can shrink considerably.

Temperature also affects carry. Your familiar yardage is a starting point, so notice where well-struck shots are landing today. An uphill shot, a headwind or a different lie may change the decision again.

If there is a bunker or water short of the green, ask: ‘Will my normal shot with this club clear it in these conditions?’ Choose a landing area with some margin for your usual variation.

Next round: use the first few solid strikes to check your distances. Take more club when the shot needs it, rather than automatically adding one club to everything.

2. Give your grips their own dry towel

A towel hanging outside your bag may be useful for cleaning muddy clubheads. Once it is soaked, it is much less useful for drying a grip.

Bring a second towel and protect it inside a dry pocket or waterproof bag. Take it out when you need it, then put it away. Wipe the grip before your shot instead of discovering it feels slippery halfway through your backswing.

Next round: give the two towels separate jobs: one for mud, one kept dry for grips. That is a small bit of preparation you can control before you reach the course.

3. Let the wet-rough lie choose your ambition

A ball sitting up in light rough and one buried in thick, wet grass are different problems. Look at the lie before choosing the club.

When the ball is buried, make a reliable escape your first target. Choose enough loft to get it out, aim for an accessible patch of fairway and leave yourself a clear next shot. A long club and a heroic target can turn one awkward lie into another.

Next round: ask ‘Where can I reliably get this out?’ before ‘Can I reach the green?’ A sensible recovery gives you a chance to finish the hole well.

4. Make a headwind a club-choice decision

It is tempting to swing harder when the wind is in your face. Start by allowing for the wind in your club selection, then use a balanced swing with a rhythm you recognise.

Choose a sensible target with room for your normal miss. Keep checking the wind as the hole changes direction; the decision on the last hole may not fit this one.

Next round: take enough club for the headwind and make a swing you can control. Trying to invent a new low shot on the course adds another variable.

5. Use six putts to learn today’s pace

Avoid assuming every autumn green will be slow. Moisture, maintenance and the surface you are playing on all matter. Let the practice green give you a starting feel, then keep observing the course greens.

Try this simple warm-up: find a gentle slope and putt towards a hole or a small target from roughly 10, 20 and 30 feet uphill. Repeat downhill. That gives you six putts at three distances in two directions.

Watch where each ball finishes. The purpose is to learn the pace, rather than turn the warm-up into a holing contest.

Next round: give those six putts a few minutes before the first tee. Notice early if the greens on the course feel different.

6. Watch the landing, then choose a fixed landmark

In leaf season, ‘somewhere over there’ is an unhelpful search plan.

Follow the ball until it lands and watch any bounce. Before you set off, pick a fixed reference near where it finished: a distinctive tree trunk, a bunker edge or another feature you can recognise as you walk.

Ask your playing partners to watch too. A second view can be particularly useful when you lose sight of a shot against a grey sky.

Next round: name the landmark to yourself before you move. ‘Level with that split tree trunk’ is a more useful starting point than the rough on the left.

7. Read the local rules before lifting a muddy ball

‘Winter rules’ is not blanket permission to move your ball. Preferred lies apply only when the course or competition has adopted the relevant Local Rule.

Check where it applies, the permitted relief distance and the procedure. A Local Rule allowing you to lift, clean and replace the ball on its original spot is different from one allowing a preferred lie within a specified area.

Next round: read the notice or ask in the pro shop before you tee off. If you are unsure whether you may lift the ball, establish the applicable rule first.

Your autumn golf checklist

• Check today's carry rather than relying on summer total distance.
• Pack a protected dry towel alongside your mud towel.
• Choose a reliable escape when the ball is buried in wet rough.
• Allow for the headwind and keep a balanced swing.
• Take six pace putts on the practice green.
• Pick a fixed landmark after watching the ball land.
• Read the local rules before you tee off.

Autumn golf can still be a cracking way to spend a morning. Give yourself a plan for the course in front of you, and make the useful adjustments before reaching for another swing fix.

Dave
DM Golf — Not a Castle Tee

Further reading

For more on how temperature changes carry and how preferred lies work, see Trackman’s carry-distance guide and The R&A’s Model Local Rules E-2 and E-3.