Playing in High Winds

[Naptime]

What are your strategies for coping with high wind?  Played in gusts to 40 MPH yesterday on a course near water.  Shoes blown far away from under the car kind of wind.  While my playing partner tried to hit his usual high approaches, I played a 7-iron a bit back in the stance and usually managed to run the ball on the green or close enough to putt.  Couldn't putt worth crap though.  Any wind tricks out there?

[elwhippy]

1 ignore the yardage book. 2 swing smoother. 3 Don't try to shape shots. The modern ball is much better in the wind than saying 15 years ago. 4 . Putting - lock the knees and be prepared to step away. 5. If the ball is moving on the greens head for the bar. 

[jvincent]

4 hours ago, Naptime said:

What are your strategies for coping with high wind?  Played in gusts to 40 MPH yesterday on a course near water.  Shoes blown far away from under the car kind of wind.  While my playing partner tried to hit his usual high approaches, I played a 7-iron a bit back in the stance and usually managed to run the ball on the green or close enough to putt.  Couldn't putt worth crap though.  Any wind tricks out there?

My most recent experience was at Cabot. It was so windy they came out and put rubber bands around the flags so they wouldn't tear off / break the flag sticks. I had my cart, with the brake on, get pushed 20 yards down the fairway by the wind.

 

Just focus on hitting it solidly and take whatever yardage you get. Swing easy and try to hit soft, low spinners into the wind. Downwind try to get it into the air with spin to maximize carry off the tee. Pick your best guess target for crosswinds.

 

In the round above I had a ball blow 50 yards left to right in a crosswind, hit a 3-utility 280 yards (with roll) vs my normal 210, and hit driver right off the screws a massive 140 yards. It was a blast. Didn't keep score.

[Zitlow]

Into the wind choke down a little, play the ball back in your stance and don't swing your left arm past parallel. With the wind play the ball up and try to hit it high. Cross wind, use your judgement either to ride the wind or use the wind like a wall. 

 

I live in TX, that's what works for me. 

[naval2006]

Key to hitting to the green on windy conditions is to deloft as much as you can.  As they mentioned above, yardage is just a reference.  

 

Swingwise, it's necessary to keep rhythm, a real challenge.  Playing on windy days takes practice and patience.

 

And what works for me is the Tom Watson style to hit low.  I don't move the ball back so much in case I flip it out of instinct.  I just set up as usual and make sure to move my left shoulder a little forward to the left.  This works a magic, it keeps the club and the center of gravity low through the swing.    

[SNIPERBBB]

Keep it low and hope the greens are slow.  Know where it's safe to miss. You'll probably be short a lot.  If trouble is short and not so much long, try to blast it over the green. 

 

[DaveGoodrich]

Into the wind, I take a lot of club, choke up, and hit "3/4" punches.  Downwind, I take a full swing with maybe one club less than normal, looking for height and spin to stop the ball.   In both cases, I know my dispersion will be much greater than normal, so I try to pick my target so a typical miss won't blow up the hole. 

 

Whether to ride a cross wind or "hold it up against it" is going to be highly situational, and dependent on the reliability of your shot shaping in each direction.  As a natural fader (with the longer clubs), I never try to hold it up against a left-to-right wind with a draw.  In that wind, the penalty for accidentally hitting a fade is too high.  So I just aim left of my target, and try to ride it in.  OTOH, I'll hit punchy fades to hold it up against a right-to-left wind all day. 

[xmanhockey7]

Just take plenty of club. If there’s one thing that kills people in the wind it’s not taking enough club. No need to play the ball back (doesn’t really help). Instead of hitting a low 7 take a 5i. Or 4i. Or whatever you need. 40mph is significant wind. On those days even on tour par is a good score. Just keep the ball in play and understand scores will be higher.