Temperature and ball compression

[rowjow]

I recently got some new irons and thought I may have lost distance with them vs my old irons. However, I was thinking on 'summer yardages' for my old irons.

 

Is there much difference in how far the ball will go in winter vs summer. At the moment my course is... wet and roughly playing in 8*c as opposed to a very dry course which is 20/25*c in summer.

 

Would these difference in temperatures make a difference? I seem to have lost maybe 10 yards.. however I am getting little to no roll out. I also assume a colder wind will have a larger affect on the ball when into the wind..

 

 

Any info on the differences temperature has would be great..

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

The greater density of cold air costs you distance, if I recall correctly it is about 5% distance for every 15F (8C) of temperature difference. So that could possibly be as much as 10% total for the temperature you mentioned, just due to the air density.

There is also a smaller loss of distance due to the golf ball being less resilient but that's less of a concern for two reason. First off, the distance difference due to ball temperature is about half as much as the effect of air temperature. Also, if you store the golf balls in your house or other warm place then keep in them in your pocket until putting them in play it takes a couple hours for their internal temperature to equal the surroundings.

Tom Watson used to have Bruce give him a fresh ball every couple of holes and keep the unused balls in the same pocket with hand warmers. Watson claims to have cleared this with the USGA and been told that as long as you did not have the handwarmer specifically for keeping the balls heated it was OK to keep them together in yours or your caddie's pocket.

Other effects include swinging differently with extra layers of clothing and the fact that winter is often wetter and windier than the warmer months.

[nbg352]

[quote name='rowjow' timestamp='1329341072' post='4292909']
I recently got some new irons and thought I may have lost distance with them vs my old irons. However, I was thinking on 'summer yardages' for my old irons.

Is there much difference in how far the ball will go in winter vs summer. At the moment my course is... wet and roughly playing in 8*c as opposed to a very dry course which is 20/25*c in summer.

Would these difference in temperatures make a difference? I seem to have lost maybe 10 yards.. however I am getting little to no roll out. I also assume a colder wind will have a larger affect on the ball when into the wind..


Any info on the differences temperature has would be great..
[/quote]

Because cold air is denser than warm air, distance loss of up to 1 1/2 clubs will be seen at temps of 5*C ( 41* F). as opposed to 30*C (86* F). In your case 10 yards loss would seem right at 8*C or 46* F
Almost all distance loss is caused by increased air densityand little of it can be attributed to the golf ball itself.

[SHIVAN]

[quote name='Fourmyle of Ceres' timestamp='1329341566' post='4292993']
Other effects include swinging differently with extra layers of clothing and....[/quote]

...muscles getting cold more quickly.

[jabrch]

Also I have found my swing is better tuned mid-season than it is during the winter....even if I go down to a warm weather climate for a weekend in the winter, after not playing for months, I find I'm not as long or straight as I am when I am playing once a week and going to the range a bit.

[nbg352]

[quote name='Fourmyle of Ceres' timestamp='1329341566' post='4292993']
The greater density of cold air costs you distance, if I recall correctly it is about 5% distance for every 15F (8C) of temperature difference. So that could possibly be as much as 10% total for the temperature you mentioned, just due to the air density.

There is also a smaller loss of distance due to the golf ball being less resilient but that's less of a concern for two reason. First off, the distance difference due to ball temperature is about half as much as the effect of air temperature. Also, if you store the golf balls in your house or other warm place then keep in them in your pocket until putting them in play it takes a couple hours for their internal temperature to equal the surroundings.

Tom Watson used to have Bruce give him a fresh ball every couple of holes and keep the unused balls in the same pocket with hand warmers. Watson claims to have cleared this with the USGA and been told that as long as you did not have the handwarmer specifically for keeping the balls heated it was OK to keep them together in yours or your caddie's pocket.

Other effects include swinging differently with extra layers of clothing and the fact that winter is often wetter and windier than the warmer months.
[/quote]
While the info you mention regarding golf balls was true in Tom Watson's day, it is less so today. In fact, Titleist claims its balls are unaffected at all by temperature change.
I have heard conflicting stories on the hand warmer thing though. Seems to me that while it is okay to use them to keep hands warm, it is not okay to keep balls warm with them, even if the warmer is pulling double duty.
Perhaps someone more rules oriented could chime in?

[cristphoto]

I'm always shorter in the winter. Usually between one and two clubs depending on how cold the temperature is and how many extra layers of clothing I'm wearing. I don't know where you're located but I know when my buddies and I go to Florida in the dead of winter for a few days of golf we love the immediate extra distance we get. Warm air, no extra layers and dry, firm fairways.

[rowjow]

I can't really do that in England.. Thanks for the input guys!

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

Might I ask what part of England? Just curious. I love the southeast coast but the people up north (Liverpool-Leeds-Scarborough latitude) were very friendly on my one trip there and there are some real gems among the links and non-links courses. Other parts of the country are still a bit of a mystery to me.

[Starched]

Best Study ever done here. Yes you can give me 5 star feedback. You're welcome.....

[rowjow]

Thats great thanks!

[Jarri]

Over the last 2 years I have developed and tweaked a very simple table, and it has proven itself quite accurate so far (even though it's not fully scientific).

I am attaching the excel that use to see what my distances should be given the temparature (if someone wants to steal with pride, just update the blue column with your distances for a normal summer day (shouldn't be too different from 25*) and the rest of the table is calculation.

Has worked for me, try it... may work for you as well.

[Williams5203]

I've always wondered about things like this, I knew there was definitely an effect, but I just wondered how much. It was interesting watching the match play champs this year and the yardage calcs they were doing based on Altitude and temps. Phenomenal stuff guys. Thank you.

[Godfather]

[quote name='Jarri' timestamp='1333104775' post='4611723']
Over the last 2 years I have developed and tweaked a very simple table, and it has proven itself quite accurate so far (even though it's not fully scientific).

I am attaching the excel that use to see what my distances should be given the temparature (if someone wants to steal with pride, just update the blue column with your distances for a normal summer day (shouldn't be too different from 25*) and the rest of the table is calculation.

Has worked for me, try it... may work for you as well.
[/quote]
Great post!

[Rocket53]

Good info!!! Come on Summer!!