Cold weather affect distance?

[Wi-Golfer]

Does anyone know for a fact how the cold weather affects ball flight & distance? Reason I ask is the last 5-10 times I have played my distance off the tee has been in the 230-250 range with a whole lot of 240's. Yesterday I was smacking the ball just as well & putting it right up the center, yet the distance was disappointing & only hovering in the 210-220 range.

[gwlee7]

Once the temps start getting down into the 50s (F) you can expect the ball to go about 10 yards less on the irons and about 20 on the woods. You were getting what is to be expected.

[Wi-Golfer]

You were spot on with the 10 yds less for the irons, played today & it was 37º. Over clubbed by a minimum of 1 club, sometimes 2 if I was playing into the wind & the results were fine.


Another question that perhaps someone knows:
Does cold weather affect spin? Now sometimes I get some decent spin & when the ball hits the green it will hop once & then either just stop or roll back a bit. Today it didn't matter if I was hitting it 130 yds to hit the green or 5 yds to chip up, every single ball would hit the green & at most roll 2'. I have never had that happen on all 9 holes, just wondering if the cold affects spin or perhaps it affected the greens in some way?

[LyleG]

It will affect spin nearly as much as distance. The ball gets hard, and doesnt compress making it harder to get any real traction with the club face which means less spin and less distance.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Something that may help a little is to keep an extra ball in your pocket and alternate them out after each hole. Your body heat will help somewhat. Throw them in your pocket before you go to the course as well. BTW, it is illegal to use any kind of hand warmer or such for the same purpose. So use what little you can within the rules.

[WMitch6]

Here's a chart from the PGA Manual of Golf by Dr. Gary Wiren.

Carry Temp

224 95* F
222 85* F
220 75* F
216 65* F
214 55* F
205 45* F
186 35* F

Interesting to note is that the loss of yardage is not linear. Six yards lost between 85 and 65 degrees but 28 yards lost between 55 and 35 degrees.
I think this chart was developed for balata, so I don't know how close it is for modern balls.

In any case, it's against the rules to artificially warm a ball, but nothing says you can't tuck them up behind a nutsack to keep them cozy.

[Wi-Golfer]

Well at least I know i'm not nuts, or at least not on this subject. The last few times out it was right around mid 50's & I had plenty of drives which were right in the mid 240's, that was pretty much all carry since the course stopped cutting the grass about a month & half ago so you get zero roll.

Then I go out yesterday & no matter how smooth I was with my swing, couldn't get any drive over 220 including a small amount of roll....different course where the fairway grass isn't 4" tall.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Playing tomorrow. They are predicting 46* with 18mph wind for a 36* "feels like" temperature all day.

[JEFF4i]

For some odd reason I cannot explain, I noticed that I gain a little bit of distance. More than anything I think it is the combination of the thin air not making a huge difference, and harder fairways allowing more roll.

[Wi-Golfer]

Originally Posted by Pa Jayhawk

Playing tomorrow. They are predicting 46* with 18mph wind for a 36* "feels like" temperature all day.

Originally Posted by JEFF4i

For some odd reason I cannot explain, I noticed that I gain a little bit of distance. More than anything I think it is the combination of the thin air not making a huge difference, and harder fairways allowing more roll.

Good luck PA.

Jeff, I could see the hard fairways making a difference in roll....if they actually mowed the damn things. Last month I actually lost a ball in the middle of a fairway! I watched it land & bounce just a bit, but due to the 4"+ high grass I couldn't locate it.

[ezra76]

I've lost minimal distance but certainly not 20yds.. Switching to a lower compression ball for the cold might help. I noticed when it got down to low 40's, high 30's last year, I was hitting an NXT longer than a ProV. I played an NXT tour yesterday, little bit longer and it did seem to lower my driver trajectory, which I thought was odd.

[Bignose]

There was a good article from 2007 that doucmented the actual affects of the changes in temperature, pressure, and humidity.

Weather: A Major Factor: Golf Digest Magazine

It was written more to discuss the affects of the very warm PGA Champtionship that year, but I think that the affects are going to be close going either way.

The big thing is that the measured affects are much smaller than most think. I suspect that the extra layer of clothes and the not as loose muscles and the harder-to-compress colder balll are much more significant than a 30 degree change in air temperature.

[Wi-Golfer]

Originally Posted by Bignose

I suspect that the extra layer of clothes and the not as loose muscles and the harder-to-compress colder balll are much more significant than a 30 degree change in air temperature.

I would suspect air temp to have a big impact, high or low humidty can change the air density & as a result affect the way the ball flies as well as the distance.

[Wi-Golfer]

Big, did you read the article you posted? It claims weather is a major factor. Pro's can expect to see a 15 yd gain at 100º vs 70º, the article never does discuss cold temps. Also dry air causes more drag, typically the colder it is, the drier the air is. That's why those of us in the north have humidifiers on our furnaces, to get a little moisture into the house.



Temperature: Air becomes lighter as temperature increases; warmer air also rises more than cold. That translates into less resistance to ball flight, reducing drag and lift, resulting in lower trajectory and minimizing slices or hooks. According to Golf Journal in Sept. 2002, the mechanical golfer used by the USGA in ball testing, Iron Byron, traditionally generated clubhead speed of 109 miles per hour. At that velocity, carry increases 1.3 yards for every 10 degrees (Fahrenheit). When temperatures exceed 100 degrees, professional golfers swinging around 120 mph can gain as much as 15 yards on a drive versus when it's 70.

Humidity: A yard or two span between completely saturated to bone-dry air. For elite players seeking distance the goal is shirt-soaking humidity: Dry air is denser and causes more drag, reducing ball flight.

[Wi-Golfer]

Originally Posted by RCI

My airplane pilot friend confirmed the wind speed that prompted this post to begin the discussion.

Close but no cigar, wrong thread.
Here's the one you wanted:Really high wind golf

And 30-40 mph gusts can be very typical, have played many days in those conditions.