How to Play Roda Golf's Fairways After October's Wet Weather Wind

The first thing I noticed on the 1st tee last Thursday was the flag. It wasn't flapping so much as pointing, stiff as a signpost, straight towards the Mar Menor. The night before, a gota fría had dumped the best part of an evening's rain on Los Alcázares, and the morning after it had left its wind behind like an unwelcome houseguest.

I nearly went back to the car for a coffee and a rethink. Instead I stayed, played eighteen holes with a damp scorecard and a sore pride, and learned more about Roda's fairways in three hours than in the previous three months of dry summer golf.

What the fairways feel like the morning after

Summer fairways here are quick and bouncy. The ball lands and runs, and you start to think you've become a longer hitter than you are. After a proper October soaking, that all goes. The turf is soft, the ball lands and stops, and your six-iron suddenly plays like a seven.

I found this out on the 2nd, where I hit what felt like a lovely drive and walked up to find it sitting a good 20 yards shorter than usual, nestled in a slightly pillowy lie. Not plugged, thankfully, but sitting down in the grass with a little mud on the underside.

Two things changed my game that morning. First, I took one more club on almost every approach. Second, I stopped trying to be clever with the run-up. Where I'd normally land a ball short of a green and let it release, I started flying it all the way to the pin, because there was nothing out there to release it.

If you're staying in one of the holiday rentals near Roda Golf and a storm rolls through overnight, that's the single most useful thing I can tell you. Plan for carry, not roll.

Lies, mud and the rules of the day

Check the notice board or ask at the pro shop before you set off. After heavy rain the course will sometimes allow lift, clean and place on the closely mown areas, and it makes a real difference to your temper. Don't assume it. Ask, and play the local rule if it's in force.

If it isn't, wipe the ball and the clubface at every shot. Wet grass and a little sandy soil build up on the face quicker than you'd think, and a loaded groove sends the ball somewhere unexpected. I carry two towels in October, one damp for the face and one dry for the grips.

Playing the wind that follows the rain

Here's the odd thing about the weather around the Mar Menor. The rain is usually brief and dramatic, and the wind afterwards is what actually decides your round. It tends to come off the water, and out on the more open holes it has a clear run at you.

My old playing partner Derek, a retired engineer from Leeds who has lived in San Javier for nine years, has a rule he repeats every time the flags stand out. "Swing at seventy per cent and let the club do the work." I've heard it so often I could recite it in my sleep, and I have never once followed it on the first tee. By the 4th I always do.

He's right, though. Into a headwind on soft turf, a big swing adds spin and balloons the ball up, and the wind takes it and throws it back at you. A lower, smoother strike with an extra club goes through the air and lands where you were looking.

Downwind is not the free lunch it looks like

Downwind holes tempt you into thinking you can reach anything. Soft fairways take some of that away, because the ball won't run out the way it does in July. What you do get is a ball that finishes where it lands, which actually makes it easier to judge distance than usual. I made my only par on the back nine that way, simply by trusting the number on the yardage book and not the one in my head.

The practical bits I'd tell a friend

I'll keep this short, because I'm not a coach and you'll have your own habits. But after a few of these soggy-and-windy mornings, this is what I'd pack and plan for.

• A waterproof jacket you can swing in, plus a spare glove or two. One glove will be soaked by the 6th.
• Waterproof or at least well-gripped shoes. The cart paths are fine, but the walk off them is slippery.
• An umbrella with a vented canopy. A cheap one will turn inside out on the first gust.
• A later tee time if the morning looks rough. By eleven the wind has often eased and the course has begun to drain.
• A buggy, not a trolley, if you're not fussy. Heavy ground makes a pull trolley hard work.

The Roda Golf course information page has the layout and hole details, which is handy if you want to work out in advance which holes will sit most exposed to the wind. It's worth a look before you book, especially if you're visiting from a drier part of Europe and haven't played in this sort of weather before.

After the round

The best part of a wet morning is what comes next. Once I'd finished and handed my sodden gloves to the dashboard heater, Derek and I drove into Los Alcázares and sat under the awning of a little place near the seafront. The rain had cleared, the sky was that scrubbed pale blue you only get after a storm, and the paseo was full of people walking slowly with their coats open.

We ordered café con leche and a plate of tostada con tomate, the sort of simple breakfast that tastes like a reward after four hours in a crosswind. Nobody mentioned the score. That's the other thing about October golf here: the weather makes it harder, and it somehow makes the afterwards better.

Should you play after a storm?

Yes, honestly. The course drains well, the conditions are testing but fair, and you'll have the place to yourself far more often than in high season. You'll learn to hit lower, plan carries and take the extra club, and those habits stay with you when the sun comes back.

If you're still working out where to stay or how the area fits together, the area guide for Los Alcázares and the Mar Menor will give you a feel for it, and the golf articles on the blog cover more of what I've learned the hard way.

Just don't leave the umbrella in the boot. Take it from someone who's been caught out more than once.