How to Play Golf in the Rain (Without Hating Every Second)

There are two types of weekend golfers: those who check the radar obsessively and cancel if there's a 30% chance of rain, and those who show up regardless and figure it out. This guide is for both of you — but mostly for the first group, because you're missing a lot of good golf.

Here's the thing about rain rounds: they're quieter, faster (nobody's out there), and weirdly beautiful when the mist rolls across the fairway. Also, the course is soft, your ball stops on a dime, and the greens are holding. Rain golf has genuine advantages if you know how to handle it.

And in Florida? If you only played on perfectly dry days, you'd golf about four months a year.

The Gear That Actually Matters

Let's start with the stuff that makes or breaks a rain round. You don't need to spend $500, but you do need the right essentials.

Rain Gloves — Non-Negotiable

This is the single most important thing on this list. Your regular leather glove gets wet, gets slippery, and becomes useless. Rain gloves — typically synthetic materials that actually grip better when wet — are a game changer.

Get a pair (yes, wear two — one on each hand). FootJoy RainGrip and Zero Friction are solid options under $25. Keep your regular glove dry in a ziplock bag for after the rain stops.

A Good Golf Umbrella

Not the collapsible one from your car trunk. A proper 62-68" double-canopy golf umbrella that won't invert in the first gust. Gustbuster and Sun Mountain make ones that actually survive Florida afternoon storms.

Clip it to your bag between shots. Nobody wants to hold an umbrella, a club, and their dignity simultaneously.

Waterproof Jacket — Breathability Over Everything

A fully waterproof jacket that doesn't breathe is a sauna. You'll be wetter from sweat than rain. Look for something with a DWR coating that allows airflow — Nike Storm-FIT, Galvin Green, or Adidas Rain.RDY are all good without being $400.

Fit check: Make sure you can swing freely. A jacket that restricts your backswing is going to cost you more strokes than the rain will.

Towels — Bring Three

One stays dry inside a ziplock bag in your bag — this is your emergency towel for grips. One goes on the cart for general use. One is for your face and hands.

The dry towel in the bag is clutch. When everything else is soaked, that one dry towel keeps your grips playable.

Waterproof Shoes or Accept Wet Feet

True waterproof golf shoes (Gore-Tex lined) work great for light rain. In a downpour, everything eventually soaks through. If you don't have waterproof shoes, bring an extra pair of socks in a ziplock. Changing socks at the turn is an underrated move.

How Rain Changes Your Game

Wet conditions change the physics. Here's what to adjust.

The Ball Won't Roll — Club Up

Wet fairways mean less roll. That drive that normally bounces and runs 20 yards? It's landing and stopping. Same with your irons. Club up one, sometimes two on approach shots. It's not the day to try to squeeze a 7-iron when an easy 6 is the smart play.

Greens Are Soft and Slow

The bad news: your putts won't roll as far. The good news: you can fire at pins. Soft greens hold approach shots that would normally bounce over. Play more aggressively on approaches and give your putts an extra foot of pace.

Water on the green: If there's standing water between you and the hole, you're entitled to relief under Rule 16.1. Move to the nearest spot where casual water doesn't affect your line. Most weekend golfers don't know this — now you do.

Bunkers Become Concrete

Wet sand is packed sand. That fluffy explosion shot? Forget it. The club will bounce off wet sand instead of digging under. Play a more picking motion — less bounce, more like a chip. Or just aim to avoid bunkers entirely, which is honestly good advice in any weather.

Grip Pressure — Lighter Than You Think

The instinct when your club feels slippery is to death-grip it. Resist. A tighter grip creates tension in your forearms and shoulders, which kills your swing. Use rain gloves, dry your grips between shots, and trust your equipment.

Strategy Adjustments

Play the Smart Shot, Not the Hero Shot

Rain is not the day for the 230-yard carry over water. Lay up. Play to the fat part of the green. Minimize mistakes, because recovery shots from wet rough are miserable — the ball sits down, the grass grabs your club, and everything is heavy.

Tee It Higher

Wet tee boxes can mess with your footing. Tee the ball slightly higher than normal to compensate for any instability in your stance and to promote a sweeping strike that avoids chunking.

Walk If You Can

Cart paths get slippery. Carts slide on wet hills. Walking gives you better feel for the ground conditions and you won't have that adventure where the cart starts sliding sideways toward a pond.

If you do ride, keep the cart on paths as much as possible — courses will enforce this in wet conditions anyway.

The Mental Game

Here's the real secret to rain golf: lower your expectations and raise your patience.

You're going to hit some ugly shots. Your playing partners are too. The conditions are harder for everyone equally. If you can stay patient while everyone else gets frustrated, you've already won the mental battle.

Some of my best rounds have been in light rain because I stopped trying to be perfect and just played within myself. It's oddly meditative. The course is empty, the pressure is off, and you're just out there playing golf in the elements like they did 200 years ago.

When to Call It

All that said — know when to come in.

Lightning: If you hear thunder, see lightning, or the course sounds the horn, get off immediately. No golf round is worth it. Head to a substantial building or a hard-topped vehicle. Not a tree. Never a tree.
Sustained downpour: Light rain is fine. Playing through sheets of rain where you can't see the fairway is just misery cosplaying as toughness.
Hypothermia weather: If you're shivering and your hands are numb, you're not having fun and your swing is garbage anyway. Come in. The course will still be there tomorrow.

The Rain Round Checklist

Before you head out, pack these:

That ziplock for your phone seems small but matters. Nothing ruins a rain round faster than pulling out a dead, water-logged phone when you want to check the weather clearing.

The Bottom Line

Rain golf separates the committed from the casual. It's not always comfortable, but it's almost always memorable. And there's something genuinely satisfying about posting a decent score in conditions where most people stayed home.

Plus, if you can play well in the rain, dry days feel like cheating.

Throw on the rain gloves, grab the big umbrella, and go get soggy. Your foursome will respect it — even if they don't join you.