It doesn't take a weatherman to look outside and come to the conclusion that it's still winter.Since Jan. 29, snow has fallen in parts of all 50 states, and on Feb. 13 there was snow on the ground at the same time in all of them ? including Florida, according to the National Weather Service.
The cold and snowy January that still has a grip on much of the country two months later has led to a slow start for golf.
According to Golf Datatech, rounds played in January were down 3.6 percent compared with the same month in 2013. Considering how brutal conditions have been in many areas, that doesn't seem so bad at first. But rounds played in January 2013 were down nearly 10 percent from 2012.
At this time last year, Golf Datatech had three categories in its legend: rounds played up 2 percent and higher, rounds played between 1.9 percent and negative 1.9 percent, and rounds played at negative 2 percent. Conditions have been so bad this year there is a fourth category in the legend: off season.
In January, that new category included 28 states.
Play was down in all but 16 states, including Florida, where rounds played were down by 16.8 percent. In fact, in states pelted by snow on a regular basis since December, like Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, it's hard to imagine how there was any golf played in January.
January wasn't all bad news, however. Play was up in more than a dozen states, including Nevada (up 40 percent) and California (up 23 percent). Play also was up by 26 percent in Iowa, which was relatively snow free in early winter, and 64 percent in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.