You step up to your ball on a cold morning. You pull out your towel to wipe mud off your club. It feels like a piece of cardboard. It is stiff, icy, and useless. You end up wiping your club on your pant leg, which gets wet and cold fast.
I have been there more times than I can count. A frozen towel ruins your rhythm. You cannot clean your clubs. Your grips get wet and slippery. Your hands get cold.
The good news is that you can fix this problem with a few simple tricks. Some of them cost almost nothing. Others require a little planning before your round.
Why Your Golf Towel Freezes Fast?
When you wipe a wet ball or a muddy club, your towel soaks up water. In cold weather, that water freezes. The fabric becomes rigid and useless.
Cotton towels are the worst for winter golf. They hold a lot of water and take forever to dry. Once they freeze, they stay frozen. Microfiber towels are better because they hold less water and dry faster. But even a microfiber towel will freeze if it gets wet enough.
The wind makes things worse. Wind blows across a wet towel and speeds up evaporation. Evaporation pulls heat away from the towel, making it freeze even faster than still air would.
The Alcohol Spray Method That Really Works
This is the single best trick I have learned from playing winter golf. A simple spray bottle filled with rubbing alcohol and water stops your towel from freezing.
Alcohol has a much lower freezing point than water. Pure isopropyl alcohol freezes at around -128 degrees Fahrenheit. Even when you mix it with water, the freezing point drops well below what most winter golf days will throw at you.
Here is how to make the mix:
- Get a small spray bottle. A travel-sized one from a drugstore works fine.
- Fill it with one part 70% isopropyl alcohol and two parts water. That gives you a mix that stays liquid down to about 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Shake it gently to combine.
- Spray your towel lightly before the round. Do not soak it. A light mist is enough.
- Re-spray the towel during the round whenever it starts getting stiff.
I keep the spray bottle clipped to my golf bag with a small carabiner. It is easy to reach between holes. The alcohol smell goes away within a minute or two once the towel touches the air.
Does alcohol damage clubs or grips? I have used this method for years and never had any issues. The alcohol evaporates fast. It does not leave a residue on club faces. It does not make grips slippery. In fact, alcohol helps break down oil and dirt, so your towel actually cleans better.
Using Hand Warmers to Keep a Towel Warm
The alcohol method works great for most winter days. But when temperatures drop below 20 degrees, I add a hand warmer to the mix.
Here is the setup that works:
- Fold your towel so it has a pocket in the middle.
- Activate a hand warmer and wrap it in a thin cloth or a spare sock.
- Tuck the wrapped warmer into the folded towel.
- Clip the towel to your bag so the warmer stays in place.
The hand warmer keeps the towel above freezing even when the air is well below it. The cloth wrapper prevents direct contact, which can make the fabric too hot in one spot.
I have used this trick on mornings when the temperature was 15 degrees, and the towel stayed soft and usable for the whole round. You do need to replace the hand warmer after about six to eight hours. For a typical round, one warmer is enough.
How to Store Your Towel Before the Round?
What you do before you step onto the course matters just as much as what you do during play.
If you leave a wet towel in your car overnight in freezing weather, you will start the round with a block of ice. You have to plan.
Store your towel indoors. Keep it in your house or garage overnight. If you already treated it with the alcohol spray, the towel will be ready to go in the morning.
Keep a backup towel in your bag. Put a dry, untreated towel in a ziplock bag and seal it tight. Keep that bag in an inside pocket of your golf bag or in your jacket. When your main towel gets too wet or cold, swap it out.
Use a dry bag. A small dry bag clipped to your bag works better than a ziplock because it is tougher and easier to open with cold fingers. I use a five-liter dry bag that costs about ten dollars. It keeps the towel completely dry even when everything else gets wet.
How to Attach Your Towel So It Stays Usable?
Most golfers clip their towel to the bag ring and let it hang loose. That works fine in warm weather. In winter, that setup makes the towel freeze faster.
The problem is that a hanging towel swings in the wind. Wind speeds up freezing. The towel also dangles near the ground where it can pick up snow or mud.
Clip the towel so it folds over itself. Loop the towel through the clip so it doubles over. This creates a thicker fabric that holds heat better and resists freezing longer.
Attach the towel so water drains away. If your towel has a loop or a hole in one corner, clip it at the top. Gravity pulls water down to the bottom of the towel where it can drip off instead of pooling in the fabric.
Keep the towel inside your bag when not in use. Stuff it into a side pocket or a utility pouch. Your bag provides some insulation. The towel stays out of the wind. It will not freeze as fast as it would hanging outside.
What to Do When the Towel Gets Wet Mid-Round?
You cannot avoid getting your towel wet during a round. You wipe mud off your ball. You clean your club after a fairway shot. Your towel gets damp.
Here is what I do to keep it working:
Shake it out hard. Give the towel three or four sharp shakes before putting it away. This throws off excess water. Less water means less ice.
Re-spray if you are using the alcohol method. One spray across the damp fabric will lower the freezing point again.
Swap towels at the turn. I carry two towels in winter. One is my primary towel that I keep treated. The second is a dry backup in a ziplock. At the turn, I swap them. The wet one goes into the ziplock. The dry one comes out.
Wipe clubs with a squeegee instead. A small silicone squeegee with a carabiner clip works great for cleaning club faces without getting a towel wet. I use one on days when the course is really wet. It cuts down on how much moisture my towel absorbs.
Advanced Tricks for Extreme Cold
If you play in temperatures below 10 degrees, the basic tricks might not be enough. Here are some methods that serious winter golfers use.
Use a higher alcohol concentration. Instead of one part alcohol to two parts water, use one part alcohol to one part water. This mix stays liquid down to about zero degrees. It does smell stronger, but the smell fades quickly.
Keep the towel in a thermos. This sounds strange, but it works. Roll your dry towel and stuff it into a wide-mouthed thermos or a vacuum-insulated food jar. The insulation keeps the towel warm for hours. Take it out only when you need it, then put it back.
Use a battery-powered heated towel. Some outdoor gear companies make heated towels that plug into a battery pack. They cost more than a regular towel, but they work reliably in any temperature. I know a few players who use them, and they swear by the investment.
Wear the towel under your jacket. Tuck one end of the towel into your waistband and let it hang under your jacket. Your body heat keeps it warm. Pull it out when you need it, then tuck it back in. This only works if you have a jacket long enough to cover the whole towel.
What Not to Do
Some ideas sound good but cause problems.
Do not use salt water. Salt lowers the freezing point just like alcohol does. But salt is corrosive. It can damage club faces and grips. It also leaves a white crust on your towel when it dries. Stick with alcohol.
Do not leave a soaking wet towel on the bag. A wet towel freezes fast. If you used the alcohol spray, the towel should be damp, not dripping. Wring it out before you spray.
Do not use a towel warmer that gets too hot. Some electric towel warmers can get hot enough to damage the fabric or create a burn risk in your bag. If you use one, check the temperature setting and wrap the towel around the warmer loosely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use vodka instead of rubbing alcohol?
Vodka has a lower alcohol content than rubbing alcohol. Most vodka is 40% alcohol. That will lower the freezing point some, but not as much as 70% isopropyl alcohol. You would need to use more vodka to get the same effect. Rubbing alcohol works better and costs less.
Will the alcohol smell bother other golfers?
The smell disappears within a minute or two. I have never had a playing partner complain about it. If you are concerned, use a light spray and let the towel air out for a few seconds before putting it on your bag.
How often do I need to re-spray during a round?
It depends on the temperature and how wet the towel gets. On a 30-degree day, one spray before the round and one at the turn is usually enough. On a 20-degree day, you might need to spray every three or four holes.
Does the alcohol spray work on microfiber towels?
Yes. Microfiber towels are actually better for this method because they hold less water to begin with. The alcohol evaporates faster from microfiber too.
Can I use the same towel for cleaning my ball and my club?
Yes. The alcohol does not leave any residue that would affect spin or grip. I use one towel for everything during winter rounds.
What if I forget to prepare my towel before the round?
You can still use the alcohol spray once you are on the course. Spray the frozen towel and work the liquid into the fabric with your hands. Within a minute or two, the ice will melt and the towel will soften up. It is not as good as preparing ahead of time, but it works in a pinch.
Will a heated towel warmer drain my car battery?
Most heated towel warmers for golf are battery-powered and use a small rechargeable pack. They do not plug into a car outlet. If you buy one that plugs into a vehicle, check the power draw. Most modern cars can handle a small warmer without issues.