What a weekend it was for golf in Central Oregon.

The past few warm, sunny days have been what golfers crave all winter. But with the nice weather comes one simple Central Oregon truth: In this region, nothing changes faster than the spring weather.

Veteran golfers in this region know that despite a run of nice days, the chill of winter can be just around the corner.

“Spring in Central Oregon you get about everything,” says Zach Lampert, the head professional at Meadow Lakes Golf Course in Prineville who also coaches Crook County High School’s boys golf team. “We’ve had tournaments with snow, rain, wind and sunshine. You never know what you are going to get. We definitely check the weather forecast before we head out, but we prepare for everything.

“We pack heavy and use what we need.”

If it sounds like Lampert is describing a hiking trip across some unforgiving backcountry terrain rather than a round of golf, well, welcome to a Central Oregon spring.

Lampert, 24, and Broken Top Club head professional Louis Bennett both grew up and played their high school golf in Central Oregon, where the prep golf season begins in March. Few would know better of the travails of golfing here in the early portion of the golf season, where iffy weather is a real threat through late June.

It’s why I asked them for some tips in dealing with the unpredictable golf conditions this time of year.

“To me, the most important thing is obviously when the weather is less than ideal that you warm up,” says Bennett, a 27-year-old Bend High School graduate. “When the weather is cooler, your body reacts a little bit differently, so if you go straight to the first tee without properly warming up, you kind of find yourself in some misery.”

OK, so that should be fairly obvious for most of us. Nobody wants to walk up to the first tee feeling like the Tin Man.

But spring also can present conditions that can be particularly harsh this time of year.

That includes a gift from nature that tends to blow in often in the spring months.

“The wind is probably the biggest factor in the spring because it can really blow, especially in (Prineville),” says Lampert, who lists relatively tree-less courses such as Tetherow in Bend, Brasada Ranch in Prineville and Juniper in Redmond as other facilities susceptible to the wind.

To combat the wind, he forces his Crook County team to practice punch shots often to produce a lower ball flight.

To do it, he says place the ball farther back in your stance and push your weight more toward the front foot in your stance. The backswing should be just short of full, and not a full follow-through, pointing the club toward the target.

And on the tee on breezy days, Bennett reminds us that the wind can wreak havoc on a ball in flight.

“The harder you swing, typically the more spin you’re going to put on the ball,” says Bennett. “And wind amplifies spin. When you are going straight into the wind, any side spin or backspin, the wind is going to double it.”

Lampert agrees, and uses three common phrases to remind himself just how to play the breeze.

“When it’s breezy, swing easy,” he says.

Hitting into the wind, Lampert suggests “Tee it low and let it go.”

And downwind? “Tee it high and let it fly.”

It sounds a bit corny, “But it is true,” he says.

Spring also brings inconsistent, sometimes bumpy, and often slower greens. Something to remember: Central Oregon’s courses that are set at higher elevations tend to come out of winter later and generally get up to speed later than our more low-lying facilities.

And if the greens are slow?

“The nice thing is you can be a little bit more aggressive with your putts since the greens are slower,” Bennett says. “Read less break and hit it firmer.”

Sanded greens from a course’s aerification can also be hazardous.

“You have to take the extra time to really make sure the ball is clean,” Lampert says.

As a coach, he often sees players knock first putts on sanded greens to within a foot and in a rush to tap in, forget to clean the ball. That can be a mistake.

“The ball just doesn’t go anywhere, and they miss a short one,” he says.

The weather can turn quickly, too, so Lampert suggests bringing everything you could need, including towels, umbrellas and extra gloves to keep dry in case of rain, and layered clothing to keep warm.

And if it snows?

“Snow is an interesting one that we get in the spring,” Lampert says. “But there isn’t much you can do for that.”

Well, there is one thing a golfer can do — stay home.

But after a long winter, who wants to do that?