There was a time, for me, where winter was mainly about working on my golf game and Christmas.

Before my children came along, before COVID struck and turned all our lives upside down, the final few months of the year, as well as the first few of the next, were an opportunity to get my game in order.

It was the perfect chance to grind away on parts of my game that felt a little less sharp throughout the season.

I have definitely fallen out of that habit over recent years. Somewhere, that routine just began to disappear.

But, as winter approaches again, I have been thinking about what we actually want from our golf during the colder months. Do we really need to be out on the course every weekend, battling the short, cold days? Or could we get more out of winter by stepping away from the course and spending a little more time practising?

I think the driving range plays a much bigger role in winter golf than some people like to give it credit for.

For years, the idea of a winter range session was fairly straightforward. You turned up, bought a bucket of balls and stayed until you were too cold to swing the club.

There is still a place for that. Sometimes hitting a few balls after work is all you need to keep up the reps in the off-season. But as far as the actual range experience goes, it has been improved massively.

Most of them are equipped to the hills with all the latest and best golf tech. Things like Trackman or Toptracer ball tracking technology mean you can quickly get lost in a range session and spend too much time with a club in your hand.

It’s a pleasing development considering the time of year and the weather we’re often subjected to in the UK. It’s miserable, it’s dark, and it’s not very inviting. I see no other solution than to use this time to focus on the parts of your game that may have let you down over the last season.

There isn’t any great need to turn every practice into an intense coaching session. There is plenty to be said for making it enjoyable. I think it’s important to set yourself a challenge and give yourself something to aim for.

You need a reason to keep going back and these interactive ranges can help with that.

By all means, get out and practice on the course. Those of you who are paying for memberships are hardly going to refrain from getting out there for months on end.

I’m a big fan of how my own course plays during winter, sometimes even more so than during summer. The winter foursomes is an enjoyable event to play in and a highlight of my year.

I just feel we need to be realistic about what golf at this time of year actually looks like, and specifically how we can make use of our time to practice.