Ball distance and temperature.

[Moo]

For a long time I've been at a fairly consistent driving distance of 245-255. I recently added a new driver to replace my 9 year old Titleist 910 D2. This has added about 13 yards to my drive, pushing me into the 260-268 range. I've been doing a lot of on course ball testing (I'm a ranger at a couple of courses, so I can go out to empty holes and hit a dozen balls from the tee fairly often) with three brands of premium balls.

While temperature certainly impacts ball distance, I've noticed one ball seems to go much further when it's over 85 F. And that ball is the TP5 in both the standard and the X. I've recorded 4 drives in the past two weeks over 280. This is highly unusual for me. 270 is a very, very good strike for me with the new driver and that is usually 1 out of 7 (twice per round). It was above 90F this past week and I put a smooth swing on a drive on a short par 4 and was astounded to find my ball (using a laser back to the tee) had gone 288 yards.

Has anyone else noticed this with the TP5 or maybe another brand of premium ball.

[brew4eagle]

Is it possible that you're gaining that distance on roll out rather then carry? Dry, hot conditions and a firmer fairway can really add a lot of distance. That ball might be landing with less descent and running a good amount vs other balls.

[Moo]

> @brew4eagle said:

> Is it possible that you're gaining that distance on roll out rather then carry? Dry, hot conditions and a firmer fairway can really add a lot of distance. That ball might be landing with less descent and running a good amount vs other balls.

 

I considered that, but I always test all three brands at the same time. Two balls each, so I toss six down on the tee and hit them at random.

To really drive home this idea, one day late last week I had the 9th hole to myself. It's an ideal hole for testing drivers, as the 150 stake is perfect for giving you dispersion and distance. I did the test twice. The Pro V and the Chrome soft were all just past the 150, although one of the Pro Vs went in the rough. And 20 plus yards down the fairway, pretty much on the same line as the other balls, were the TP5s. It was hot. I have played this 9th hole at least 100 times. Both of those TP5's were in a place I've never, ever been before. Never. The second test was not as dramatic a difference, but both of the TP5's were still longer.

I repeated this a couple of days later and it was only like 70's degrees. That time all six balls were in a similar range.

In any event, I'm going to do this testing again this week, probably two or three more times. We have some 85 and 90 degree days coming up.

[philly2kuk]

I’ve always found the tp5 balls, particularly the x, to be the longest balls for me. I struggle chipping with them round the green compared to other balls however, so I’ve switched back to the titleist for the first time in 4/5 years.