club selection in the wind!

[Richie13]

wow, seeing as im new to the game, i havent experienced wind like i did this morning

today i was so lost with my club selection, hitting into the wind always short, with wind behind me off the tee was pretty simple, on approch shots wow, i was about 130yards out so i thought an easy PW would get me to where i needed....wrong just kept going resting about 30yds past the green!!!

managed an ok round 101, but boy i had to really work today judging the wind!

met office has the wind at 27mph, with gusts of 37mph!

 

[brendy]

Did you watch any of the Walker Cup yesterday? 3 woods into the wind=190 yards great to see how the better guys handle the wind, some good and some frankly our level!

 

[patricks148]

Depends where you live, unless you live on the coast don't worry about it.

Otherwise, swing easy, take 1,2,3,4 clubs more depending on the wind.

 

[thecraw]

swing easy, take a club or two more and swing nice and easy.

 

[Ken_A]

It's all about experience - sometimes the wind can add on 2 club lengths or more - but hitting into it it can take more than that off.
As the ball spins it's action can get exaggerated by the wind thus the fade slices and draw hooks - a ball spinning into wind is not ideal - if you don’t have too much slice or hook then it will probably just climb vertically and then drop out of the sky.

In short when it's windy hit a few clubs more and hit them easier - no big hard hitting wedges or full on 5irons - nice smooth 9/8 irons or 3 irons etc.

When putting - DONT ground the putter 'coz if the ball moves by the wind then you will encur a penalty.

I personally find windy golf the hardest and have real respect for links golfers - proper skill is required out there most of the time.

 

[Crawfy]

Like every part of this great game, playing in the wind takes practice, patience and (for me) maybe a few extra balls . I try and club up, tee-up lower and play a shorter follow through. All in a vain attempt to replicate big DC at this year's Open....now that's how u play in the wind !!

 

[Worsey]

A few practice balls beforehand on the range (assuming you have one) wouldn't go amiss - give you a flavour of how much more/less club you want on each shot.

 

[TonyN]

Learn the punch/knock down shot. Very fun and very handy.

 

[Richie13]

Learn the punch/knock down shot. Very fun and very handy.

i do need to learn this shot, i think i tried it on a 170yd par 3 into the wind, so took my 3hybrid gripped lower down the shaft, and didnt do a full follow through, ball just shot of the face rising very slowly but didnt gain much height at all but made the green! was a fluke lol

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Wind is my least favourite weather to play golf in. All of the advice already posted is good advice but I would also add that you need to commit to the shot you have chosen and accept the result, if you aren't comitted to it you'll probably stuff it in the clag.

I also find that if you can't decide between two clubs, go with the longer one. Nine times out of ten that will get you closer to the flag.

Normally a head wind will take more distance off the ball than a tail wind will add. Often I find if I need two clubs more into the wind I only need one club less with it.

Finally, make sure you learn from the first few shots and use the information for the rest of the round.

 

[EZprophet]

Playing in the wind is like an art form to be honest. You really have to have a full understanding of how certain wind directions/strengths affect you ball flight at certain directions/trajectories.

I am a relatively bad wind player (party because of my high ball flight/bad trajectory control and partly because my understanding of how to handle the wind is not great) but luckily my teacher is one of the best wind players I've ever seen so I am currently trying to learn from him. He's an ex-tour pro from Scotland and just watching him manipulate the ball into the wind is incredible to watch.

I can't give you any of my own advice on wind play as it's useless but I'll tell you something he told me the other day in a windy pro-am. It was on a short par 4 dogleg hole at a course called Dunstable Downs (think it was the 4th...) and the wind was into us and coming from the right (right to left) He took a 3 iron off the tee and layed it up next to the right of these traps at about 200 yards away. He told me to hit my 2 iron and aim for the same spot, but I decided I wanted to try and carry the traps and aim it right to ride the wind around the corner. There was actually more space down there and to me it seemed like the shot with more margin for error... anyways I hit a great shot but pulled it just a tad, the wind caught it and sure enough I ended up in the trees left of the traps.

As we were walking down he explained to me that even though there was more room down there you always want to try and hit the ball straight into the wind if possible, instead of across the wind, as it gives you a wider margin for error on the bad shots and takes the aspect of having to judge how far the wind will push your ball left/right out of the equation...

 

[Mattyboy]

Wind brings into question a players ability to control the flight on his golf ball. As mentioned previously, you really need to learn to hit low shots.
An extra club or two, ball back, weight forward, not a full swing back or through. If you feel you still have to hit the shot fairly hard to get it to the hole, you will still have a problem as you will try to hit the ball to hard, thus putting too much spin on it. If you get it right you will know, due to the low flight.

Also, I prefer to get the ball as close to the green as possible (as opposed to laying back for a fuller shot) as I know that the flight of a shorter shot will be lower.

 

[CMAC]

can you believe I actually hit one that stayed level with me

PW out the rough, sitting up and caught it on upswing, ball went straight up very high and with the gusting wind it came down again about a yard from where I hit it i could have putted it further.......

had to walk in after 7 when the sideways rain and wobbly balls (on green not mine) made it a farce!

 

[Ethan]

The most important thing is to reset your expectations and stay patient.

Swinging smoothly with 1 or 2 extra clubs will give you more control and less spin. Try not to fight the wind if possible.

 

[Mungoscorner]

I love the wind,sorts the men from the boys.
Brendy,i totally agree with your comments regarding the Walker Cup,couldn't believe how many of them seemed clueless about hitting shots into the wind,or with the wind.