It is that time of year again. The leaves are changing colors, the days are cooler, daylight is less abundant, and you are trying to find a way to prolong what has been a great golf season. While sitting in your comfortable lounger, sipping your favorite beverage, and flipping channels between football games, you accidentally find this week's PGA TOUR event, The inaugural Ginn Sur Mer Classic in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Suddenly it dawns on you, "I will go to Florida and continue my awesome season! Why not, the tours do."

You are right. In fact, several major golf tournaments are taking place in Florida currently. This week and next, the PGA TOUR winds down its season in the Sunshine State. The Nationwide Tour is in Florida this week. Another tournament that you might not know is happening this week in Florida is The PGA of America's National Assistant Professional Championship. And, in a few more weeks, the final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying will be in Florida. It is not a coincidence that Florida is a popular late-season destination for the major tours to visit. Florida offers plenty of great golf courses, warmer weather, and conditions conducive to continuing your great season.

If you watched or followed any of the golf this week on any of the tours (or the PGA Assistant Professional Championship), you would have noticed a variety of conditions and variables typical of the conditions anyone will encounter playing most any golf course in Florida in late fall. Chris Moody, the winner of the PGA Assistant Professional Championship, was extremely cognitive of the changing wind patterns, the grain of the greens, as well as other native conditions that equate to great golf in Florida.

The same could be true for Daniel Chopra as he battled for his first win on the PGA TOUR, as he endured endless weather delays that can be Florida golf. If you are coming to Florida to enjoy the extended golf season, you will love it, but you should also be prepared. And what does preparing to play golf in Florida mean?

* Course Architecture - Florida golf courses are for the most part, flat. If you plan to play a golf course near the coasts, plan on the course featuring relatively level elevations, slight gradients for drainage, and lots of water features, indicative of these regions of the state. Let's face it; flat golf courses are relatively easy to play. Without terrain change, golf course architects are faced with the task of challenging the golfer's eye with what looks like a change in elevation, where there really is not.

Moving thousands of cubic yards of earth to shape mounds, hills, bunkers, and valleys, are typical ploys of the golf course architect to lure the golfer's eye to the perils that each unique structure brings to each hole. They also use natural "waste" areas to boundary the course from untouched areas surrounding the course. Great examples of golf courses offering relatively flat elevations and sculpted design features are Tesoro, as well as TPC Sawgrass.

Some of the golf courses located centrally in the state as well as within the panhandle of Florida offer natural elevation change, reminiscent of courses you might play in foothill areas of the country. Two courses that have exploited natural elevation change in the central regions of Florida are Southern Dunes, in Haines City, and World Woods in Brooksville. Using the ridge that runs down the center of the state, the golf course architect at each facility effectively used the tools nature gave them to form dramatic changes in elevation within the playing of any single hole.

No matter what region of Florida you decide to play, the best way to understand the golf course you are about to experience, as well as form an effective strategy to play the course, is to pony up the fee to purchase the course guide at each venue. These books are an invaluable tool for the new comer. Knowing where all the obstacles lie ahead of time, the routing of each hole, as well as relative yardages is information the tour professionals use each and everyday, regardless of how many times they have played the course.

* Grass - Get ready for more grain in the greens and more coverage of grass through out the Florida courses you play. Florida courses have more favorably conditions to grow grass all year long. Because of the extreme heat and humidity levels experienced during the summer months, the grasses course architects use must tolerate the conditions native to the area. Florida courses typically feature warm weather grasses, such as Bermuda, within most of the playing areas of the facility. Bentgrass and other cooler weather grasses do not survive in Florida's searing sun and persistent rain patterns. Bermuda grass is a courser and wider plant leaf than Bentgrass, and causes more "grain" within a green structure.

Grain is the direction the grass grows toward. I have heard many different, sometimes comical ways of describing how the grass grows at a particular course. Keeping in mind that nature works in mysterious ways, I will not downplay one's "local" knowledge of a particular course. I can tell you that physics plays a major role in determining grain direction in any green. The blades of grass will grow in the path of least resistance. Meaning, look for where the green will drain, and that is probably the direction of the green's grain. Also, grain can be determined by the color of the grass. You will sometimes see grass as a dark or light/shiny shade. Shiny and light means the grass is growing away from where you are standing; dark means the grain is growing in the direction you are standing.

* Course Conditions - This time of year in Florida, most if not all courses overseed the course with some type of cool weather grass. To allow the annual grasses to germinate, golf course superintendents water the course more often, and do not cut the grass as often to allow the roots of the new plants to take hold and the new blades of each plant to maximize their sunlight exposure before the days become shorter.

Therefore, you should expect to have carts on the paths only, you will experience wetter than normal conditions, and the blades of grass will be longer than normal. What should this tell you as a golfer? Expect your ball to roll less and your round to last a little longer. Using one more club than normal is probably a good idea during this time of year in Florida, to insure you are achieving the necessary length of each shot to reach your intended target.

The PGA TOUR does not encounter these conditions as much as the average golfer does. Overseeding at a tournament venue occurs at least two months prior to the actual event, allowing ample time to insure that the turf is cut and conditioned to TOUR standards. PGA TOUR professionals contend more with these conditions when they find themselves hitting the ball off the fairway. They too will choose an extra club, as well as swinging easier, to insure good club to ball contact, minimizing the chances of the newer, slicker blades of grass affecting the outcome of their shots. Missing greens can also cause the TOUR professional some grief with winter grasses. The ball will tend to sit down farther within the grass and sometimes will squirt out of the grass with little to know spin.

You will typically see a TOUR pro play these short game shots with more lofted clubs. TOUR professionals also spend more time reading greens to insure they are reading the grain and speed of the green correctly. Depending upon the type of overseed used as well as the actual cut length, cool weather grasses can neutralize or increase the grain pattern of a green, as well as greatly affect the speed of a green. Spending a bit more time prior to your round on the practice green can certainly help you avoid these pitfalls.

* Weather Conditions - Although most of the Southeast is experiencing severe drought conditions, Southern Florida is still getting its fair share of afternoon and evening showers. This was quite obvious this week. This weather trend tends to taper off by mid to late November. After that point, rain can still come, but lasts a bit longer and comes in a more consistent volume.

Combine the seasonal showers with more frequent irrigation of a golf course; you are in for a potentially wet experience. Are you prepared for that late afternoon pop-up shower, which normally lasts about 10-25 minutes? Having a good rain suit in your bag, extra towels, extra gloves, as well as a cover for your golf bag is essential. An umbrella is a good tool as well to fight the elements, but might not be useful if the winds are strong.

Speaking of winds, most all of Florida experiences a constant breeze. The breeze is dictated by offshore conditions on either side of the Lower Peninsula; the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. Depending upon which body of water has the stronger wind currents, each golf course within the state can play completely different each day. You will probably notice PGA TOUR Professionals pick up loose blades of grass and toss them high in the air to watch how hard the winds carry the blades, as well as in which direction. This is a good indicator of the winds closest to the ground.

What you do not recognize as a television viewer is tour pros constantly check the tops of trees, as well as any high flying object (flags, pennants, etc) easily seen to determine the winds aloft. These winds can greatly affect how the ball flies. You too should look at the tops of the trees surrounding you to determine wind direction and approximate velocity. This information is crucial to help you make the proper club choice as well as initial alignment to your target. For the better player, this information will help in determining how you decide to control the flight of your golf ball.

No matter where in Florida you decide to prolong your career golf season, be sure to keep in mind the theme that Florida has become famous for, have fun!

John Hughes is the Executive Vice President and National Director of Instruction for Advantage Golf School. A PGA Master Professional, John oversees the daily operation of Advantage Golf School's 21 different high-end resort/private golf facility locations across the country, as well as the school's 50+ PGA and LPGA Instructors. His client list over the past 15 years includes a vast cross section of the world's corporate elite, entertainment celebrities, distinguished government officials, as well as male and female touring professionals, covering all skill levels of golfers. You can reach John by phone at 877-239-6609 or by e-mail, john@advantagegolfschool.com.