5 Fabulous Things About Playing Golf in October

Gainfield Farms Golf Course, Southbury, CT                                     Photo: Nick Boulard, Golf Girl Media

Cathleen Farr
@golfgirltwin

Autumn. American poet William Cullen Bryant called it, "The year's last, loveliest smile" and it's most definitely, a season that smiles upon golf... in so many ways.

As we begin the year's most Autumnal month here are my five favorite things about playing golf in October. 

1- Unencumbered Courses: A surprising number of golfers put away their clubs... along with their white clothing... on Labor Day, freeing up the fairways for faster rounds... or slower ones if that's your desire. 

A break between nines, Vails Grove Golf Course , Brewster, NY              Photo: Nick Boulard, Golf Girl Media

2- Gorgeous Weather: Across the US... and in many places around the globe... October provides a perfect meteorologic medium between summer's oppressive heat and the icy chill of winter. Bereft of cloying humidity, skies seem bluer and air seems fresher in October.

Blue skies & cool air, Gainfield Farms Golf Course, Southbury, CT           Photo: Nick Boulard, Golf Girl Media

3- Awesome Autumnal Fashion: Argyle, tartan, houndstooth and tweed, these quintessential fall patterns share their Anglo-Scottish heritage with the game of golf.  Autumn's rich color palettes play into such patterns perfectly and make summer's flowery pastels seem insipid and uninspiring. Fairway fashion definitely comes into its own in fall.

Wearing autumnal tartan golf trousers by Lizzie Driver               Photo: Nick Boulard, Golf Girl Media

4- Fabulous Foliage: In many places the resplendent colors of Autumn reach their brilliant peak sometime in October providing a multi-chromatic spectacle on each fairway.  However the burnished hues that follow the peak... and the coppery colors that proceed it... are equally dreamy. October is a month of nature's finest 

Autumnal landscape,  Salem Golf Club, North Salem, NY                  Photo: Nick Boulard, Golf Girl Media

5- Fallen Foliage: While they may be seen as an annoyance to some, the fallen leaves that sometimes swallow errant shots tend to give back quite generously. I don't know how the math works, but every October I seem to find at least two balls for every one I lose.  In addition, at this time of year many of us invoke the leaf rule, by which you simply drop a second ball in the general vicinity of your first one's disappearance and hit from there... sans penalty, of course.

Autumn leaves often yield hidden treasures                           Photo:Nick Boulard, Golf Girl Media