COMMUNITY

Never thought of doing something like that, but I think I might. In fact, I think I should. When you use all of your rounds on your handicap, it feels like you never get to take a round "off," so to speak.

Winter where I live is always an up-and-down deal with brutal spells of rainy cold but also plenty of good-weather days ... still, the conditions always make golf a bit tougher. The ball goes nowhere when it's cold, and the wind always seems to kick up.

I might count my good-weather rounds but just play for the practice when it's really cold or windy.

Last year I took some time off for the first time in years...had to. I had record-setting hernia surgery last October. It was a re-repair and was the longest such surgery on record by a large margin. I'll spare you the details. Let's just say I couldn't swing the club for awhile, but the long-term outcome was good.

Anyway, I now feel like I came back too soon, even though I had the doctor's okay. Didn't do any physical damage, but I couldn't swing normally, so I created some swing flaws that took me most of the year to work out.

Not taking time off this year.

My normal practice is I keep score always, but mentally I change during the 'off season'. I don't worry about my handicap during this time of the year. I expect it to rise. Good time to work on fundamental swing changes. I know course conditions will sometimes be poor and add some shots to my score now and then. So what? It's the 'off season'. Handicap doesn't matter until league and tournament play starts again in April. Plenty of time to get back to a 'normal' handicap, and if I start the season with a handicap that is a little higher, is that really a bad thing?

So that's how I approach it.

Golf is primarily fun, good for me mentally and physically, so why would I stop?

For the first time I'm not going to track my handicap this Winter and just practice the hell out of my game to be ready for next Summer. Wednesday will probably be my last round of the year and I don't plan on teeing it up again until March or April. Unless the weather is REALLY nice at one point, I'm not going to tee it up.

This off season is going to used for Fitness training and weight loss. I need to lose the last 20 lbs before the Summer season

I hunt Oct to Feb so not a lot of golf is played then. May go to the range and hit some. will not play any rounds

Agree. may go out here and there. Off-season Dec-Feb for me though that's the last part of deer seaeson and begining of turkey season.

All of us that play during the off season hunt too. We hunt for the ball in the woods, hunt for the ball in the long grass, hunt for the ball along lateral water.

I play and track all year long

Seriously ... THAT is what I need to do. Run, run and run some more in my case.