I hate the wind.

[kiteman]

Live in N Texas and this time of the year it's either 20 degrees or 65 with 30mph of wind. I swear my handicap would be 5+ strokes lower without this wind. I make good contact with the ball 95% of the time, but I miss almost every green because usually a PW is my 150 club, yet in the wind it can be a 6 iron sometimes--impossible to get right really. I laugh when TGC complains about a 20mph wind on the PGA Tour. Is anyone a good wind player?

[duffer987]

Not to be too blunt, but with an attitude like that you'll never be any good in the wind and your game overall won't be as good as it could with such a poor mental approach.

I really enjoy playing in the wind. Means you have to play golf and golf shots, and not just transfer over your swing and yardages from the driving range.

I wouldn't call myself a 'good wind player', but I also wouldn't say my handicap would be loads better if I didn't have to play in it a lot here in the Bay Area.
Enjoy it. Get on with it. Don't use it as an excuse

[EJ Mac]

I hear ya. It was beautiful and calm yesterday. Was hoping to play again today to shake some heavy rust off my game, but the wind decide to gust up to 30 mph today. Oh well I am just thankful for the nicer weather, way too many of our fellow WRX'ers are not as fortunate. I normally don't mind the wind, but am super rusty now and prefer to not play in the wind until the rust is gone.

[DavePelz4]

[quote name='duffer987' timestamp='1392398952' post='8667885']
Not to be too blunt, but with an attitude like that you'll never be any good in the wind and your game overall won't be as good as it could with such a poor mental approach.

I really enjoy playing in the wind. Means you have to play golf and golf shots, and not just transfer over your swing and yardages from the driving range.

I wouldn't call myself a 'good wind player', but I also wouldn't say my handicap would be loads better if I didn't have to play in it a lot here in the Bay Area.
Enjoy it. Get on with it. Don't use it as an excuse
[/quote]

With you Duf. The tougher the conditions the more I like the challenge. One of our group events a couple of years back had 35 degree temps with 20MPH winds. On the range everyone was talking about how bad they were going to play. And...they did.

[blaird]

How do you think Dustin Johnson felt when he had to hit that little 6 iron into 105 yard par 3 last week??

I live on the coast and we have a breeze blowing everyday and it will occasionally pick up and yes I have hit some 7 irons from 125 yards and some PW from 160. I learned to hit the knockdown shot with some control and it helps. Or you can continually hit a ball a mile high and guess how far it will go.

[Hateto3Putt]

I nutted a 3 wood over 100 yards into the wind once. Center of the green two putt par to win big skin $$$.

Golf is a mental game (actually 90% mental and 10% in your head). Look at the wind as yet another challenge. If you can shoot decent, creative shots in the wind, calm days should be a breeze! (pun intended)

[RRFireblade]

No question it makes the game tougher. It's rough over here because not only do you get strong winds but dramatic change in speed and direction, there's a lot of guessing game involved when it's like that.

The flip side is it will force you to develop a more rounded game or die, the former generally being a good thing, the later not so much.

So yea, practice really controlling your trajectory, something you can do at all times wind or not. Practice shaping shots and understanding proper percentages and fall out areas. Pay close attention to what I would call 'entry' points, the clock angle of entry the ball will take to targer when not flying on a straight line.

Lastly you have to be patient, positive and prepared to change your game plan on the fly. Some Par5s will be 3 or 4 shot holes, some Par4s might be 3 shots holes. Understand that, accept it and play accordingly.

There's no easy answer, it all takes work to overcome but then again golf isn't easy.

[mdgboxx]

[quote name='kiteman' timestamp='1392398593' post='8667855']
Live in N Texas and this time of the year it's either 20 degrees or 65 with 30mph of wind. I swear my handicap would be 5+ strokes lower without this wind. I make good contact with the ball 95% of the time, but I miss almost every green because usually a PW is my 150 club, yet in the wind it can be a 6 iron sometimes--impossible to get right really. I laugh when TGC complains about a 20mph wind on the PGA Tour. Is anyone a good wind player?
[/quote]

One man's garbage is someone else's treasure

You can't even begin to imagine, how I wish I had your garbage weather, at this very moment!

[jaskanski]

I would have though that guy named "kiteman" would actually [i]like[/i] the wind? Imagine your game is like a kite - if you don't want the kite to be affected so much by the wind, don't pull so hard on the string - don't fly so high. Simple analogy, but it may just sink in.

[kiteman]

[quote name='DavePelz4' timestamp='1392399181' post='8667909']
[quote name='duffer987' timestamp='1392398952' post='8667885']
Not to be too blunt, but with an attitude like that you'll never be any good in the wind and your game overall won't be as good as it could with such a poor mental approach.

I really enjoy playing in the wind. Means you have to play golf and golf shots, and not just transfer over your swing and yardages from the driving range.

I wouldn't call myself a 'good wind player', but I also wouldn't say my handicap would be loads better if I didn't have to play in it a lot here in the Bay Area.
Enjoy it. Get on with it. Don't use it as an excuse
[/quote]

With you Duf. The tougher the conditions the more I like the challenge. One of our group events a couple of years back had 35 degree temps with 20MPH winds. On the range everyone was talking about how bad they were going to play. And...they did.
[/quote]

Golf is hard enough without more challenges!!

[RedDevilWheezy]

I'm not a big fan of it either, especially since I only play 1 or 2 (at most) times a week. Sucks to wake up on saturday excited to play and walk out into 30 mph winds, but its better than not playing. I have some buddies who flat out wont play when its windy, which is fine, but I wont miss a round because of it.

With that said, I do enjoy the challenge of it, and it makes things interesting. A couple weeks ago I was 1 over through 6 holes (an AMAZING start for me, and that included lipping out a couple of birdie putts) and then the 30 MPH winds came. Once I realized how much I needed to club up it was too late, and I finished with a 92 lol. Tough day. Lucky if I average 200 yards off the tee the rest of that round.

Thats part of the "charm" of Texas golf IMO, and if you can play well in the Texas wind you should be able to do pretty well anywhere else. Like others have said, be happy with the wind, it's better than not playing at all.

[duffer987]

[quote name='kiteman' timestamp='1392399983' post='8668015']

Golf is hard enough without more challenges!!
[/quote]

Hey don't let Pepper Turbo hear you say that!

He'll ask you to turn in your man parts and take up crochet

[Golf Monkey]

Wouldn't play at all here if we waited for the wind to stop blowing...no wind, no fun!

[Froth]

I would happily trade you some snow for your wind, I have plenty to go around. 14 more inches in the last two days...

[Hstead]

I love playing in the wind. Granted, in Ohio I do not see the wind like you do in Tx on a daily basis, and maybe if I had to play in 30+ mph wind every day I might get tired of it, or bored with it. But, when we do get the big wind days, which happens a lot in northern-Ohio where it is very flat, I get excited because everyone else has the bad attitude, and it makes the game more difficult, not that golf isn't difficult enough. I like the challenge of controlling the ball in the wind. I feel like I accomplished more if I play a great round in the wind than if I played well with benign conditions. If you can put up a score when it is howling, control the ball all day, now that is the ultimate feeling.

[kiteman]

I hear you guys with the snow--like I said, in N Texas it's either 20 and ice or 65 and wind. In fact 3 weeks passed and I only got 1 round in due to ice/snow/cold. The week before that I played every day of the week. The weather is all over the place here.

I think golf is easier without the wind, by a good margin. If you know your 100y club in perfect conditions, that's really all there is to it besides proper mechanics. If you consistently strike the ball but are terrible at club selection due to the wind, just think how much better your score COULD be with Dustin Johnson's caddie to tell you to hit that 6 iron instead of the 65 degree wedge? We have to wonder what the pros would shoot without a caddie and without spectators who always find their errant tee shots that would cost us amateurs 2 strokes

[Medic]

With the wind = LONG drives and lots of fun.

Against = take an extra club or two or three and be sure you have a solid stance.

For me, here in Florida (we have wind all of the time) the hardest thing is putting. The wind swirling across a green can cause all sorts of changes in the ball's direction and a putt can quickly go offline over something you have no control over and that cannot be predicted.

[Playaway]

As they say in Scotland, "If there's nae wind, it's nae golf."

I agree 100%.

For me, the wind makes some shots easier. If you tend to lose it one way or the other a wind can protect from the ball getting away from you. If you can work it, you just work it into the wind, or with the wind if you need more club.

I don't know what level player you are, but I would venture that the better the player the more he "enjoys" playing in the wind.

If I am off on some of those still days, I got nothing to hit my shot against. My favorite is a right to left wind and just cut that baby into that wall of wind.

One other guy said it and I agree, your frame of mind should change and embrace playing in the wind. It is what golf is all about.

[DavePelz4]

[quote name='kiteman' timestamp='1392399983' post='8668015']
[quote name='DavePelz4' timestamp='1392399181' post='8667909']
[quote name='duffer987' timestamp='1392398952' post='8667885']
Not to be too blunt, but with an attitude like that you'll never be any good in the wind and your game overall won't be as good as it could with such a poor mental approach.

I really enjoy playing in the wind. Means you have to play golf and golf shots, and not just transfer over your swing and yardages from the driving range.

I wouldn't call myself a 'good wind player', but I also wouldn't say my handicap would be loads better if I didn't have to play in it a lot here in the Bay Area.
Enjoy it. Get on with it. Don't use it as an excuse
[/quote]

With you Duf. The tougher the conditions the more I like the challenge. One of our group events a couple of years back had 35 degree temps with 20MPH winds. On the range everyone was talking about how bad they were going to play. And...they did.
[/quote]

Golf is hard enough without more challenges!!
[/quote]

Respect your opinion but I'll take the wind, rain, etc. Forces you to get creative with your shot making.

[RainShadow]

I love the wind, makes me a better player if I can learn to control my ball when it's blowin'.
Rather wind than rain any day.

[Chief Illiniwek]

I wish I was one of the guys who relishes playing in the wind but if I'm honest with myself I'm just not. Naturally I have a pretty high ball flight so it forces me to play mostly knock downs, and I don't know my club distances as well on those shots. Probably something I should look into this spring. Don't get me wrong, I'll still play if its windy and try my best, but if I'm picking conditions I want 70*F and calm.

Also, +1 to the poster who mentioned the difficulty of putting in the wind. I'm 6'1", so a bit taller than average, and I fight to keep my body still while putting. Those two things add up to poor putting sometimes in the wind for me.

[thug the bunny]

One aspect of ball control that playing in the wind (which we almost always have here by the shore) taught me is how to hit the ball with a little less spin. If you can learn that, it is a great asset for wind play.

[Chief Illiniwek]

[quote name='thug the bunny' timestamp='1392403679' post='8668451']
One aspect of ball control that playing in the wind (which we almost always have here by the shore) taught me is how to hit the ball with a little less spin. If you can learn that, it is a great asset for wind play.
[/quote]

I've found good success with Tom Watson's swing thought when hitting into the wind: swing easy.

[healthyscratch]

[quote name='kiteman' timestamp='1392398593' post='8667855']
Live in N Texas and this time of the year it's either 20 degrees or 65 with 30mph of wind. I swear my handicap would be 5+ strokes lower without this wind. I make good contact with the ball 95% of the time, but I miss almost every green because usually a PW is my 150 club, yet in the wind it can be a 6 iron sometimes--impossible to get right really. I laugh when TGC complains about a 20mph wind on the PGA Tour. Is anyone a good wind player?
[/quote]

Yeah, I'm in North Texas as well, totally understand. It's nice being able to play mostly year round if you don't mind sometimes playing in the 30s or the 100s (and I don't mind, temps don't bother me much). But when the winds start blowing 20-30 mph, it's not as enjoyable for me.

No doubt playing in strong wind is more challenging; I totally get that. It's forced me to become a better player, which I do appreciate. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though.

[thug the bunny]

[quote name='Chief Illiniwek' timestamp='1392403939' post='8668483']
[quote name='thug the bunny' timestamp='1392403679' post='8668451']
One aspect of ball control that playing in the wind (which we almost always have here by the shore) taught me is how to hit the ball with a little less spin. If you can learn that, it is a great asset for wind play.
[/quote]

I've found good success with Tom Watson's swing thought when hitting into the wind: swing easy.
[/quote]

Yes. That is the main component to taking spin off.

And, I have noticed most players don't compensate for cross winds enough with their alignment. Especially a slicer with a left to right wind (R handed player). My son is known to aim straight at his target and then hit a big push-slice off the map. When I ask him what he was thinking, he says he was trying to draw the ball into the wind. *face palm*

[backtees]

Don't have strong feelings about something you cannot change anyway.... and as you get as least as much tailwind as headwind it equalizes it all.

I play a lot of links courses and did learn how to keep the ball flat against the wind and shoot it high in the sky with the wind.

Sure, it's always a bit unpredictable, but better having a strong wind on the course than still air conditions in the office, right?!

[dlygrisse]

If you don't like wind, quit playing golf, start playing billiards.

[Agent Jim]

Club up and swing easy. By trying to hit a club harder all you do it put more spin on it. I think its fun hitting a 3 wood into a 190 yard par 3. Sure it will add strokes, but take it as a challenge and figure it out

[Hateto3Putt]

[quote name='Agent Jim' timestamp='1392409345' post='8669077']
I think its fun hitting a 3 wood into a 190 yard par 3.
[/quote]

Wait a minute?!!!!?

That's my normal club for that distance......

Where is the answer my friend?

[deadsolid...shank]

When we talk about wind, is everyone on the same page speed wise. We're real close to Wyoming (where it blows all the time). I don't usually mind playing in the wind (within reason), I like hitting the shots it requires. But this winter as just been stupid. The days where it's been warm enough (40*-50*) , it seems like the winds have been steady at 30+ mph with gusts reaching close to 50. At that point it just becomes more about surviving it, it's not much fun anymore.