East Carolina had to shorten their women's tournament when the wind chill dipped to 6 degrees on the final day. Bryce Molder of Georgia Tech, easily the player of the year to this point, opened up with 76-82 in those first two rounds. Don't draw the conclusion that Molder, who up until a year ago was getting more press for the fact that he played a round of golf with then President Clinton, can't play in inclement weather. I was in Germany last fall when he shot a closing 68 on a cold, wet day to lead the USA team to victory in the World Amateur Golf Championship. I was also at Duke a month later when he shot 4 under par to win the very wet and rainy men's fall preview.
Some early springs are better than others, but weather is always a factor.
Sometimes the whole spring season can be weather plagued. Several years ago, Nebraska coach Larry Romjue told me that every spring event they played that year had at least one round of below freezing wind chill conditions. Bad weather can be a good friend to a coach. It gives them a great opportunity to teach mental toughness and help identify this characteristic in their players. In a variety of temperatures, wind chills, and precipitation levels, a number of players have persevered.