My first impression when we walked out to the course was that it was a lot darker than I thought it would be. I’m not sure why but I imagined that we would be walking down floodlit fairways. Not so. What we actually did was a lot more fun.
The fairways were marked, not lit, by glowing LED lights – approximately 4 or 5 spaced out along the centre of the fairway. This engaged the imagination about what dangers were out there beyond the line of trees, especially as I wasn’t too familiar with the course in daytime conditions anyway. Bunkers and greens were also marked similarly. The ball glowed for a few minutes after it was struck – so don’t lose it for too long.
One of the best aspects of night golf for me was the amount of concentration I had to use when teeing off. Don’t wimp out and use an iron. Take the driver, line the shot up in your head, keep your eye on the ball and go for it. Surprisingly the added concentration seemed to improve my scoring from what it would have been during daylight hours.
It certainly made me analyse / picture my swing in my mind, as that was the only place I could see it. One or two players had head torches which were a great idea, and kept you from tripping up when walking to your ball. The torch fixed to your head was certainly a good indicator of how much you moved during your swing. Quite worrying for some!
I didn’t try and use GPS (too serious) and couldn’t see the course markers, so I think placing the fairway markers at 50 yard intervals back from the green would be helpful, but mainly, being able to see the lit up flagpole was just about all we needed for a target on most holes.
Overall it was great fun, and stretched my golfing skills to a new and unusual level. I can’t wait to have another go, and winning 3rd prize certainly made it even more enjoyable. Don’t forget to look around when you’re playing. It’s great fun watching all the glowing golf balls zipping around the course. Watch out for any heading your way!
Mark G