College Golf for Northern Teams…
Having played college golf at Ohio Wesleyan University, I am very aware of the issues involved with trying to dodge the snow and actually get some practice time in for tournaments as early as the first week in February. College golf is a very different NCAA sport because it has a clear split season. Golf is played during the fall and the spring in order to allow the student/athletes to obtain the proper number of tournament dates. There have been proposals to make golf a completely spring sport, but that would involve having schools participate as soon as the calendar year turned, and unless you live in Florida or Arizona the weather is fairly hit and miss.
So do Southern schools to have an advantage over Northern schools in college golf?
Personally, I believe early in the season they do, but once the student/athletes actually get some time to hit golfballs off of grass instead of artifical turf in some indoor facility (if they’re lucky), the field is level. Minnesota won the NCAA’s two years ago and University of Wisconsin Eau Claire won the DIII championships during my college days. Ohio State which is in cold Columbus, Ohio has also produced a few NCAA Champions as well as a few good golfers. Jack who?
Anyways, there is really no good solution, but just something to consider, especially if your son or daughter wants to play college golf. I can proudly say that in my 4 years at Ohio Wesleyan: I played in snow, sleet, ice, rain, wind, and sunshine.
