Do you change for colder days

[Pepperturbo]

Yes.   FYI: I haven't used any internet malarkey or supposed science to valid, instead I rely on feel and how they behave.  My normal ball is ProV1x, but on hot days use DASH -ProV1x, and on cold and lousy weather days that may affect my bones, maybe the ball, I use AVX.  AVX is softer, easier to compress compared to much firmer ProV1x  and DASH.

Edited November 2, 2023 by Pepperturbo

[cristphoto]

No change - Prov1 year round. I do go I to my "cart path ball" stash this time of year when all the leaves are on the ground. 

[Tanner25]

Soft Feel for the winter

[robp11]

I switch to cheaper balls...there are so many leaves on the course now that you can lose a ball right in the fairway, so I save my good balls for the nice weather.  

[TNwanabe]

I never change. The trick is keeping the balls warm. Good advice all around I suppose lol. Make sure you bring your bag in the house the night before a round if its cold out. At least the balls you intend to play with. 

[elwhippy]

Hard frost. Any ball will do today. 

[argee1977]

In the UK it's always a case of swapping out for me, no point wasting pro v1's or AVX's, as there is no spin benefit with the greens, and it's cheaper to just use trusofts, soft response, etc instead.

[Maine Golfer]

yeah from my limited fall golf, no need of a pro v1 under 60 degrees, they feel bad and the bite isn't your issue overall. 

[bm11]

I keep hand warmers in my pocket and keep a ball in my pocket next to the hand warmer, swapping them out between holes. I think I remember Ben Hogan mentioning he does that, maybe it was someone else. Obviously far different balls now as opposed to then. 

 

Regardless of what I do, I tend to struggle more than normal when the temp is in the low 40's. 

[Bakes0]

When it gets cold I switch out from left dash and just dig in the shag bag I’ve accumulated over the season. I find alot of Titleist velocity balls or some softer ball and just end up going with them. They’re fine. 

[elwhippy]

After this week's rainfall I will need floating golf balls. 

[Phabs]

I change into sweatpants for the couch. 

[philly2kuk]

Gets very soft over here in Northwest UK, so I switch to whatever balls I tried and didn’t succeed in getting the gamer spot in summer. Currently working my way through some tour soft as the lack of spin that meant they failed in summer actually works in winter.

[bomberman]

When it's fall and cold, I play through the balls I found through the season. The Callaway chrome soft (non X) or the Bridgestone RX balls are nice when it's cold. The lower spin is good since greens are soft and the lower compression is nice when you hit them a bit on the toe or a groove thin.

 

Also with leaves around I hate losing new balls.

[jwb10]

just into long johns

[unluckybounce]

I just posted this in another thread about the softest ball, but the same answer works here:

 

I can only speak from experience since I have no way to test a ball's actual compression, but when I'm playing winter rounds with the hickories, I opt for a srixon softfeel ladies ball. i tried all the supersoft/softfeel/vice pro soft/wilson duo soft/similar balls I could find, and the ladies softfeel is the marshmallowiest of the bunch. my second choice would be the "regular" softfeel, but the covers feel a little stiffer/clickier off the putter.

 

that said, when it's near freezing outside and I'm playing modern clubs, it's callaway supersoft every time. for reference, I play either snell MTB black (until I run out of them 😭) or Q-star tour in good weather, with both hickories and moderns.

 

[North Butte]

It gets too cold me to me play well before it gets too cold for a Pro V1x to be the right ball for me. 

[redlegged]

Out of curiosity, how much of the change in performance do you guys think can be attributed to the effects of the colder temps on the equipment? I assume lower temps will also have a negative effect on your clubs performance too, right? 

[bluedot]

On 11/20/2023 at 10:34 AM, North Butte said:

It gets too cold me to me play well before it gets too cold for a Pro V1x to be the right ball for me. 

Bingo!

 

And this is, btw, what testing data shows.

[bluedot]

34 minutes ago, redlegged said:

Out of curiosity, how much of the change in performance do you guys think can be attributed to the effects of the colder temps on the equipment? I assume lower temps will also have a negative effect on your clubs performance too, right? 

Unless you have stored your clubs and golf balls in the trunk of your car overnight, I don’t think the temperature changes of either are going to nearly as significant as the impact of the density of cold air. 

[North Butte]

39 minutes ago, bluedot said:

Bingo!

 

And this is, btw, what testing data shows.

It's always seemed to me if there were a ball that performed really well in cold weather, then it would perform even more really better when it was warm. And I'd use it all the time!

[bluedot]

24 minutes ago, North Butte said:

It's always seemed to me if there were a ball that performed really well in cold weather, then it would perform even more really better when it was warm. And I'd use it all the time!

Yes, which is why I pay more money for premium golf balls.  They perform better regardless of the temperatures; they just do.

 

if golf balls are stored at room temperature, they just don’t change much during a round, especially if you rotate a couple of balls and keep the one you aren’t using in your pocket.  
 

On a cold day, the list of things that cut down the distance the ball flies is considerable; dense air, multiple layers of clothing, and body stiffness head the list.  If the temperature of the golf ball I’m using is on the list, then I’m a dope for letting them get cold in the first place.  
 

Changing to a cheaper, lower performing ball because of temperature? No thanks.

[Poor Mans Ty Webb]

Once the USGA season ends for my region, I switch to the shag balls that I've found and picked up during the year.  I separate them into two bins, one with higher compression and one with lower compression.  If it's below 45* I'll play the softer ones, if it's above 45* I'll play the firmer ones.  Don't like the feeling of mishitting a rock with a bladed iron when it's barely above freezing.  I also like to play high(er)-risk shots that I might not during the season, so the threat of losing a ball goes up.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Poor Mans Ty Webb

[Tar_Heel_93]

On 10/13/2023 at 11:30 AM, jholz said:

I don't change my ball - but I will take temps into account when it comes to club selection. The difference for me between 80* and 40* can be a club or more. 

This is the most important thing for me. Formula I use is 2 to 4 yards for every 10 degrees below the temperature you use to set your standard distances. I use 2 yards for wedges and short irons, 3 yards for mid irons and 4 yards for long irons, hybrids and woods. Obviously you can tinker with what factor works best for each club but the estimates work pretty well for me.

 

Please note the performance change is mostly due to the change in air density not the ball. There are some other factors to consider (elevation, moisture, hardness of the ground, number of layers) but for me the ball is way down on the list.

Edited April 10 by Tar_Heel_93

[Nickeagle]

I play left dash titleist and they will get rock hard if it’s cold out. My “winter” ball of choice is the chrome soft. It’s a solid all around ball.