A December Round In Michigan and The Streak Extends To 130 Months

December began with a snowstorm and cold that lingered. As late as a week ago, I thought I had played my last round of 2025.

Then the winds shifted, the cold air lifted, and the snow quickly melted away. On Monday the 23rd, the mercury hit the mid-forties, and I was out to the course for a round.

With the round, my streak of consecutive months of golf in Michigan extended to 130.

Others also were taking advantage of the brief warming. I got out well before noon, and by the time I left, the parking lot at Washtenaw was half full,

For a course that had just thawed out from several weeks’ worth of snow, Washtenaw was in good shape and unexpectedly green.

The ponds were still frozen as a reminder that, in spite of the recent warming, it still was December in Michigan.

I tried out a new (to me) product on the course: Royal Tees winter tees.

Based in Jackson, Michigan, Royal Tees Golf makes a variety of soft rubber tees with a distinctive crenelated top like a rook in standard chess set. While most of their products have the rubber tops with a peg on the bottom, these have large rubber bottoms which let you set the tee on top of the frozen ground. There were three sizes in the package: two different heights for drivers and a neat low one for irons. The low tee’s base is in a half-moon shape, letting the iron hit the ground before hitting the tee. It is well-thought out.

The tees worked very well, but the iron tee really went flying after I struck it. On a couple of occasions, I had to spend more time than I would have wished looking for that tee. In both instances, I found it several yards downrange.