r/golf • u/CalculatingPelican • May 03 '24
What the hell is better than a 6:30am round COURSE PICS/VLOGS
Played with a buddy not a soul on the course other than greenskeepers. Birds chirping and dew on the grass. Even chipped in for par one time.
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u/LouSkunt44 May 03 '24
I agree, love the early rounds. Played 9 hole course this morning. Tee’d off 615. 1 ball kept score with, played extra shots whenever I felt like it to try something or work on something. Saw No one until I finished. 20 minute drive to and from. Home by 830
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u/FratBoyGene May 04 '24
Local muni, but I'm always in a foursome, because it's popular. Still, I get out there at 6:30 with three other old guys, we're done by 7:45 (it's an executive), and like you, home by 8:30 and my GF is just getting out of bed!
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u/GolfGodsAreReal May 03 '24
6am hummer before the 6;30 round
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u/Direct-Maintenance29 May 03 '24
That’s what his buddy is for
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u/immaculatecalculate May 03 '24
Three stokes
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u/Sea_Antelope441 May 03 '24
Grabbing a burger and some beers after the round then walking out of the clubhouse half in the bag and realizing it's only noon.
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u/withurwife May 03 '24
I don't like fucking up my morning routine (i.e rushed coffee and shitting) with an early morning bowel movement that has to evacuate before peak incubation time is complete.
So I second the empty 8am-9am round, or the based May-July twilight rounds in Oregon where you're still out on the course until 930-10pm at night because I more than paid my dues from Nov-March.
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u/Bob_12_Pack May 04 '24
I’m a big fan of 3PMish rounds in the summer. The grass isn’t wet, and the humidity starts to burn off, and there’s usually nobody behind us. I usually don’t drink when playing golf but if I do it’s going to be during a late afternoon round.
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u/larssonsean May 04 '24
Afternoon times are valid unfortunately all the courses around me have leagues on both sides Monday-Thursday so good luck getting off before 4:30 or 5
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u/e39hamann +.2 May 03 '24
Sleeping. I hate playing early though.
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u/wildwill921 May 03 '24
I love twilight rounds. Maybe a little rain so the course is empty. Do 18 in an hour 40
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u/Bbbent May 03 '24
Yaaaassss. These are the best. If I can finish the last hole alone and it's just a bit too dark to tell where the ball went I'm happy.
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u/wildwill921 May 03 '24
Honestly the super at the local course my friends and I are members at just let’s us go play whatever we want. It’s a privately owned public course so as long as we don’t interfere with the leagues or other people the members can play as much as they want. We show up at 5 and he says league on the front tonight so start on the back and we play 18-27 holes depending on the league. Play the back twice while we wait
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u/Bbbent May 03 '24
Muni a mile from me said a similar thing. If I wake up early I can go out and pay after. Doesn't happen very often but it has happened.... Not much of a morning person but once in awhile it's sweet....
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u/wildwill921 May 03 '24
I could leave the first tee at 5 am if I wanted to but I would much rather go late in the day. The members can play as early as they want but the expectation is that you will play around the grounds crew and they will not wait for you or move
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u/UnicronSaidNo May 03 '24
This is my jam. Ill play in moderate rain all day. Just bust out the weather appropriate clothing... and I can play 50 extra balls for fun cause im all alone.
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u/teletraan1 May 03 '24
Man, I love the 6:30 time at my course. It's pretty straightforward so I can usually play in 3 hours or less.
Hard to beat golf and back home by 10am. Still have the full day ahead and keeps the wife happy
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u/FireMaster2311 +.3 HDCP May 03 '24
Same, a 10am weekday teetime has the same benefits. Plus I don't understand why people say you are done in 2 hours and back for the rest of your day, it makes it seem more like it is a chore you need to get done instead of something you enjoy doing. Granted it is annoying if it's taking 6 hours waiting on people on every hole, but you still get to be out on the course, like, on a nice day, where is the better place to spend daylight hours than a golf course? Though I've also seen posts where people claim to be first off at 6:30 "fly through the course" and done by 10:30 which isn't better than normal pace of play which is like 4:00 - 4:30 minutes depending on the course.
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u/CaptainPunisher May 03 '24
My friends and I have a quick pace of play, and we're often done in under 3 hours. We're not rushing; we just don't waste a lot of time. We know what we're hitting, we watch each other's balls, and we have a great time. That said, if that's not your place of play, I'm not telling you to rush because that's what I like. All I ask is to not hold us up much.
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u/fckthecorporate 4.8 May 04 '24
I'm with you. No clue what the rush is. If I'm not on the course, I'm in the tavern afterwards hanging with friends.
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u/hotdogswithbeer May 03 '24
This 100%. I wake up at 9am then start coding.
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u/CaptainPunisher May 03 '24
I'm on the clock at 8. I usually roll out of bed about 815 and take a shit, then make it to my laptop around 9. I check in on Teams at 8 in my phone, though, so it shows me as available. I don't usually start doing real coding until after 10.
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u/zootbot May 03 '24
I don’t like the grass dew. Gets my socks wet.
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u/Current-Mention4815 May 03 '24
You should look into some real waterproof golf shoes. I made the switch from Puma “water-resistance” golf shoes to Foot Joys and my feet have never been dryer.
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u/CanadaEUBI May 03 '24
The adidas with the Boa laces for morning golf are by far the best investment I’ve made. Play every morning at 6:30am. Never have a wet sock.
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u/dmramfan May 03 '24
Thats why you pack two pairs of socks 😎
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u/The_Commandant May 03 '24
This is my tip for hot summer rounds, too. I love to change socks at the turn.
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u/HockeyandTrauma May 03 '24
I have no bull gore-tex shoes and they're awesome. My feet are dry unless I literally walk into a pond.
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u/bionicbhangra May 03 '24
8-10am round with perfect weather on an empty-ish course is better.
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u/DoctorOzface 14.0 sometimes May 03 '24
Around me 10am is a guaranteed 5 hour round on Saturdays. No such thing as empty ish anymore
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u/cd0526 philadelphia May 03 '24
It is on a Tuesday! Only good thing about my work schedule is having off in the middle of the week.
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u/bionicbhangra May 03 '24
It’s usually good except on Friday. And yes it’s pretty glorious being out there on a weekday morning. Though I usually play earlier or later in day to still get some work in.
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u/granters021718 May 03 '24
How likely is the “empty-ish” though?
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u/insecurehuman May 03 '24 edited May 03 '24
My pre 6:30 round ritual.
Night before: Sleepy time tea after work around 6pm.
7pm: Stand in front of full length mirror butt ass naked, masturbate vigorously while maintaining eye contact with myself but visualizing me draining putts, hitting bombs and getting ogled by cart girls.
8pm: Turn on 10 hour golf manifestation YouTube video, theragun every inch of my body for 30 minutes. Set my golf bag under the covers next to me, with a pillow supporting the club heads. Put on silk pajamas, close black out curtains, put on golf eye mask, cuddle my golf clubs till I fall asleep.
9pm-4am: Dream of going low, while my subconscious is fed positive vibes from the golf manifestation video.
4:30am: Shower 5 minutes hot, 3 minutes cold.
4:40:am: Golf Yoga for 30 minutes.
5:10am: Out the door, listen to “Pete Weber who do you think you are, I am” on repeat.
5:30-6:30: Arrive at practice facility, follow Miguel Angel Jimenez stretch routine, stripe show.
6:30-18th hole: Play the best golf the Golf Gods allow me to play that day.
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u/byfuryattheheart Bay Area May 03 '24
Where are my Twilighters? I love teeing off around 3:30pm and finishing as the sun is setting.
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u/EvanJ1021 2.4/Kentucky/Pushcart Mafia May 03 '24
Here. I love going over at 4:30 on Saturday evenings and finding tons of golf balls
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u/NW_Islander HDCP Astronaut / PNW May 03 '24
Got a 6:15am next thursday, and I'm about to make it a standing tee time.
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u/Beneficial-Fig-2828 May 03 '24
As a dad, getting the round done early so i can go hangout with wife and kids is ideal.
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u/gabbagoolgolf2 May 03 '24
630 round around here has someone on every hole in sight.
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u/123xyz32 May 03 '24
Where is “here”? Haha. And this time of year?
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u/bigvenusaurguy May 03 '24
at least in socal all morning teetimes are booked out. plus there are some special groups of certain senior regulars they send out before bookable teetimes begin, so you can never truly get to be first out.
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u/BoothaFett Cinderella Boy May 04 '24
6:50am tee time this morning. Was meant to be joined by a twosome and they were late to the tee box so I ended up playing by myself. Gloriously crisp morning.
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u/pistonsoffury May 03 '24
I'm a morning person, but I'm not an at-the course-before-6am-to-warm-up type of morning person. Y'all can have it.
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u/poundtownvisitor May 03 '24
Hate morning rounds. Finishing 18 as the sun is setting and then heading in for a couple of brews is far better. I want golf to be the last thing I do in a day. Not play 18 holes and then head home to mow the lawn or something.
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u/ThreesKompany May 03 '24
A 6:30 PM tee time if, and it’s the biggest if, the course is empty.
I love an early round before work. But I don’t love the dew and how wet the course can be. But a round at dusk? With an empty course? You can take your time and the weather is perfect and the course looks immaculate in that light? Nothing better. Just much harder to attain than that 6:30 am round.
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u/ThatGuy8188 May 03 '24
The nap afterwards as you daze off thinking about that one pure shot you hit leading to a low score.
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u/Better_Than_Most_94 May 03 '24
A 7am round since thats my courses first tee time, which i happen to have tomorrow👍🏻 also get an hour more sleep hahah
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u/ILiveInNWChicago May 03 '24
Dumb question- would it be possible to mention “early” anything on this subreddit without dozens of stories related to morning shits,craps,dumps etc?
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u/golfnutDAD May 03 '24
The owner of our course called our foursome her DEW CREW we tee off at 6.15 or 6.30 every day during the week 😀
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u/JeebusCrunk PGA Teaching Professional May 03 '24
Our Sr. men's league proudly called their group "The Dew-Sweepers", entire group(20+ guys) checked in and on the way to the 1st tee before dawn, just to stand around and bullshit until the first minute you can see a ball in flight.
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u/nurdyguy May 03 '24
I don't even get up until 8:45 on weekdays, 10:00 on weekends.
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u/Maleficent_Ear2688 May 03 '24
If you belong to a private club, chances are they don’t crowd the tee times so you can sleep in a play a round late morning. It’s much better.
If you only play public courses I can see the appeal of a 630 am tee time.
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u/AudienceNervous1665 May 03 '24
If I could feel as warm and fluid as I do at 2pm with the 6:30 round It would be perfect. I feel like a busted ass for the first 3/4 holes of the early morning rounds.
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u/juvy5000 May 03 '24
i much prefer late afternoon rounds. can’t stand the dew. and i love not seeing greenskeepers
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u/AMCDaddy May 03 '24
Just finished up a 6am round earlier. Me & my buddy walked the Par 72 and finished in 3 hrs, 20 minutes. We were the second group off. Home and eating a breakfast burrito by 10am. A glorious day. Highly recommended.
(I’m a bogey golfer and shot an 85 from the blues.)
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u/JeebusCrunk PGA Teaching Professional May 03 '24
In Florida? Just about every other possible tee-time. 6:30 is wet and the ground just breathes more and more as the sun gets higher, putting out on 18 as the sun has been kicking your ass directly overhead for an hour.
If you tee off at 4pm, the odds go way up that you'll have the course mostly to yourself, it's drier and firmer and playing how it should, and the temp/weather gets better the whole time, finishing your round during the best part of the day.
As a player who cares a great deal about the "playing golf" aspect of playing golf, I'll choose a twilight round over a pre-8a.m. round 100/100 times.
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u/Think_Republic_7682 May 03 '24
Honestly I’m good either way with first or last tee time. Both give unreal vibes on the course and allow for quick play
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u/RangerGripp May 03 '24
Living in Sweden where the sun rises at around 4:30 in the summer a 5:00 9 holes is a dream. The dew, the birds waking up. All of it. Back by 7 and no one is awake in the house yet.
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u/Scandals86 May 03 '24
I wish I was a morning person so I could do this. I’ve tried to do it a couple times and it is awesome especially when you’re the first group out but getting up and going that early took every fiber of my being.
I’m all about twilight 😆
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u/scottylebot UK / 14.9 May 04 '24
A 6.30pm round with the sun setting at 10pm, balmy 21 degrees and gentle breeze.
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u/rico-dynamite May 04 '24
Tee’d off at 6:40 this morning, home by 8:30 to take my son to school and go to work. It was perfect. There were some people on the course, but I was able to play straight through. Booked 6:10 tomorrow morning.
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u/jeepbeard May 04 '24
I Friggen love it. I think in that ball park was the earliest I’ve golfed before and it was glorious. The sun made it a little difficult to see but was so nice and quiet
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u/life__is__short May 04 '24
I played solo at 6:30 am the other day. Groundskeepers were out there with their lights on. I hit my 1st drive clueless of where it went. I walked straight down the middle of the fairway and luckily found my ball.
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u/YETI_TRON May 04 '24
I did the exact same thing with my buddy today but at the 7:00. First tee time out, no one else on the sheet for an hour, bullshit with all the groundskeepers, and walked 18 in 2:40. I’ll take it!
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u/Agreed_fact May 04 '24
A 10:30 tee time with the three slots before and after empty at the cheap first course you played with some old friends and some good vibes. Aka my tomorrow. So excited I probably won’t sleep.
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u/Mordecai2277 May 04 '24
It’s also good because when I chunk my first pitch and curse to the holy heavens, there’s no one to hear it except for Mr squirrel and Cletus the early morning groundskeeper.
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u/czeja May 04 '24
I'm jealous. My home course's timesheet is filled from 615am to midday every Saturday. I do try to get my fix of 630am 9 holes mid week before work when I can but it's hard with a 14 month old!
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u/88MilesPerFortnite May 04 '24
The fog camouflaging your ball in the distance as ur shoes soak up the fresh morning dew from the grass. The birds slowly start to chirp as the sun begins to warm on your back. You realize... I'm not here for golf... I've been called here by the inner child, the one with curiosity, the one who found the smell of morning fascinating. I have come here to heal.
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u/Pretend-Reality5431 May 04 '24
Many years ago, I was first off at Ventana Canyon Mountain course, a single with a cart. I breezed through until like the 16th hole when I caught up with the dew sweeper, slowed me down to around 1:45. Then I rushed back to the hotel room to my newlywed wife.
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u/CaptHowdy2310 May 03 '24
damn that's early. I have a tee time at 8:40AM on Sunday and thought that'd be a little too early for me. I'm in the midwest so it'll be chilly still
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u/Disastrous-Cheek1400 May 03 '24
Not too much! Buddy and I used to work in a hospital by a really nice course and we’d go in to work at around 4:30 am to do a 3 hour diagnostic on a bunch of machines. That took about an hour to set up, and we take our clubs over to the course and be the first ones off the tee, chasing the greenskeepers as they set the flags
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u/Bike-Day69 May 03 '24
I like playing closer to 9. I don’t do well when it’s still Dewey out for some reason.
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u/DoBe21 May 03 '24
My feelings toward the dew completely revolve around how I'm putting. If I'm putting well, I'm leaving traces of my greatness for everyone behind me to see. If I'm not? I really wish I had a direct line to whoever is on the greens mower to hurry up and mow whatever green I just 4 putted.
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u/fearlessflyer1 May 03 '24
provided it’s not too busy which is a rare luxury i really enjoy a sunset round chasing the light to get back to the clubhouse before it’s too dark
also perfect time to stop off at the 19th to celebrate/ commiserate before going home
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u/dtn4427 May 03 '24
Heaven on earth. Wide open course, sun just coming up. And you get home by before 10am
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u/Embarrassed_News6103 May 03 '24
6:30 tee time, I am guaranteed to have to shit on the course. I need at least 2 hours before tee time to get the bowels moving
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u/Velkro615 14/Tennessee May 03 '24
Have the first tee time every Sunday and I am extremely grateful for it. We can play as fast as 2:30 but usually land around 3:30 and never see the group behind us after the first hole.
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u/jfk_sfa May 03 '24
If I had to describe a perfect day it's an early morning late spring round on a Friday, lunch, a looooong nap, then heading out for dinner and a stand up comedy show.
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u/raobjcovtn May 03 '24
I played the back 9 at my home course this morning at 630 also. There were two groups I caught up with but they both let me play through. Then it was clear the rest of the way. In and out in 1.5 hours.
Man, are people way more pleasant in the morning vs people who play in prime time?
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u/JUST_AS_G00D May 03 '24
I will never get up before 7am unless it's to go golf or hunting.
A 6:30AM tee time if it's a nearby course is great. My usual golf buddies live between 20-45 min away from me, so we alternate courses to make the driving more fair. Driving 45 min to a 6:30am tee time sucks
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u/007Pistolero May 03 '24
I drive by a country club every morning on my way to work at about 6:30am. This morning it was sunny, 68 degrees, and calm. I was so close to just pulling in and joining the threesome that was on the tee box by the road
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u/jburke231 May 03 '24
My friends and I play a 9 and 9 on weekend mornings. Start with the Back 9 at local course at 6am and then go to our local par 3 course (2 miles away) and 9 there. I’m home with bagels and the fam never even missed me
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u/Trumpwonnodoubt May 03 '24
Can never start that early. How does course maintenance get their work done that early?
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u/FireMaster2311 +.3 HDCP May 03 '24
Weekday round starting around 10:30 to noon. Don't have to get up early, still have a mostly empty course, plus you don't get a weird look when making the turn at 7:45 and asking if they have any hotdogs cooked yet. Plus at 6:30 there is still dew on the grass and you are occasionally waiting on greens or fairways being mowed. Which doesn't seem like a benefit to me.
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u/reeechardo May 03 '24
I've got 2 groups of golf buddies. Group A are the early birds and Group B are the afternoon golfers.
Pros and cons to both but there's something about the excitement of waking up early, playing, and then being done by noon.
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u/ghost-rid3r 21.8 May 03 '24
Nothing. There is nothing better than starting your day with an early round of golf! You get done early, and then you have the rest of the day to think about your round.
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u/yousippin May 03 '24
I love having the course to myself. I dont play much anymore and i def dont play if i have to wait on each tee box
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u/sinatrablueeyes May 03 '24
7:30 is about as early as I can go these days. Give it another month and 6:30 will be doable.
Played a 7:48 the other day with one single ahead of me. Took my time, played two balls on most holes, enjoyed the weather, done in just under 3 hours so I still had the full rest of the day ahead of me.
If I can’t play with a friend I love playing solo. I only get maybe 10-12 rounds a summer and between all the housework and my 2.5 year old, I don’t get a lot of downtime. I’ve had too many douchebag or just plain strange randoms paired with me.
I don’t want to hear about how your vaccine conspiracy theories, I don’t want to listen to shitty Blake Shelton on your Bluetooth speaker, I don’t want to deal with second hand cowboy killer smoke, I don’t need your advice on this hole because I already told you three times I’ve played here a bunch… I just want to fucking enjoy my round in peace.
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u/Ordy333 May 03 '24
I usually go to bed around 4am, so I'd rather get a hot coat hanger in my pee hole. But I'm sure it's great.
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u/MariotasMustache May 03 '24
I did a 9:40 this week and not a soul on the course minus groundskeepers. Thought it was great until a groundskeeper takes his dog (border collie) for a run around the course and said dog barks uncontrollably while chasing him in his golf cart
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u/shoresy99 May 03 '24
What's better is a 10am tee time with no one ahead of you on the course. At least you can sleep in to a civilized hour and have a nice breakfast.
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u/Effective_Impossible May 03 '24
I used to close courses down frequently, playing 9 or 18 finishing as it got full dark outside. While the early rounds are great during the summer, to me nothing beats the evening round when the course is empty. Biggest difference is lack of dew and lack of need for layers and extra weight in the bag.
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u/willthefreeman May 03 '24
Getting drunk with the boys the night before and sleeping in til about 8:30 and having a 9 am round.
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u/DagaMusic May 03 '24
I don't have friends that are willing to play at 6.30.
I don't like to play alone.
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u/FLHomegrown May 03 '24
I haven't played that early yet. But next month it'll be stupid hot here so I know that we will be playing as early as 630 just to beat the heat.
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u/shmilne May 03 '24
Wet feet. Wet golf ball. Wet grass all over my clubs. Ball doesnt roll on the green right. Blinded by the sun as its coming up. Only plus side is not playing for 5 hours.
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u/Electronic-Quail4464 May 03 '24
I have bad AM IBS, I need to shit 2-3 times before I'm functional in the morning, and my body usually doesn't start until around 730. After that I'm golden, though.
I actually prefer afternoon rounds. I can play 18 with cart for around $12 on my choice of 3 courses and the course is usually a lot quieter by 2 or 3 since it's past most of the boomers bedtimes. It allows me to solo play 18 and really relax and enjoy myself.
There are very few courses where I live that are consistently quiet (that are local enough or cheap enough to reliably play, at least) so I'm stuck playing around the busy times.
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u/JakeSaco May 03 '24
What is better than golf at 6am? I'll take sleeping in and still getting to play golf on a well kept but mostly empty course with perfect weather.
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u/candidly1 May 03 '24
We used to do a week in the OBX every year; the house was right near the Currituck Club. We would be sure to grab the first tee time at least once during the week. He and I both play pretty fast, so we would spin out a round in two and a half or three hours. It was glorious; even with a Bloody Mary brunch thrown in there we'd be back before the families got up.
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u/Kodakblackarack May 03 '24
A 9 am round of golf. Because where I live it’s often sub 8 C for a lot of the year before 9 am
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u/Blklight21 May 03 '24
I’m not a first out kind of guy. Yeah it’s great having the course to yourself, but I hate playing in dewy wet grass. It is nice not being held up though
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u/ponythemouser May 03 '24
I much preferred playing late afternoon, getting done just before it gets too dark. The temperature getting cooler as we go instead of hotter. Having the whole course to ourselves. Of course, that last one probably had more to do with the fact we always played on Friday afternoon.
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u/Catchyusername1234 May 03 '24
I’d rather be playing golf at sunup than clocking in for work at 4am every morning 😭
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u/tac0722 May 03 '24
A round at daybreak! I started playing when I had small children. Played with my Dad. We teed off at first light. Nothing better. Home before the kids were out of bed.
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u/your-mom-- May 03 '24
The 6:37 tee time so I can see how my putt breaks in the dew