How much does colder weather affect distances?

thesheriff

thesheriff

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Interest to know how much forumers distances are affected by colder weather and softer ground in the winter.

I played my first winter round on Saturday and was surprised by how much difference there was. It was quite a mild 11C or so, though I felt I was maybe losing maybe 10% through the air and obviously a lot of roll as balls were plugging.
 
I reckon 10-20yds on my hits. 10yds on irons, going up to 20yds for longer clubs and drivers. At my place everything is plugging or stopping dead so I get no roll at all at the moment.
 
There is a formula kicking about, but yes, in colder weather, the ball doesn't carry as far.

I have noticed an increase in the distance recently as it has got warmer. Where I was hitting 4 iron to our first hole (par 3), I now hit 5, and could hit 6. I mean, strike will have a lot to do with it, but yeah...slightly warmer, slightly further!
 
Usually a club more in the depths of winter for carry distances but not really done that since January, I suppose it depends on what type of flight you have too, mine is high so i try and calculate it on carry, greens are still soft so i try and fly it most of the way on full shots but come summer the greens will be like concrete and i'll have to learn approach shots all over again :mad:
 
i only ever work on carry distance, you can never rely on roll.

up here with cold and air pressure could lose 20 yards per club. but its been very mild this winter so have had days when I've hit the ball the same distance as summer
 
Haven't got any stats to back this up, but I agree that the cold weather does impact carry (plus of course roll).

There are a couple of par threes on my course where even in the last couple of weeks I have noticed I needed less club. Yes, that might also be a combination of my striking and wind (although the latter was not extreme, e.g. in your face).

My Game Golf stats show an increase in distance too, obviously that is total distance, including roll (although even yesterday conditions were so wet that most irons had almost zero roll and were plugging on the greens).

Having bought new irons before Christmas and testing them on Flighscope as part of the fitting process, I am pleased to see that distances are coming back towards those during the fitting. Was a bit disappointing seeing distances somewhat lower than the fitting session when I went out on the course at first!
 
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I was hitting driver pin high to our 225 yd par 3 with a decent whack! It was slightly into the wind but defs down on distance nonetheless.

Though on the final I hole drove the green on the 253 yd par 4. Problem was that the group ahead were still putting out and I never expected to make it :S. It was ever so slightly down wind and must've got a decent bounce on that occasion so it can also make a bit of an idiot out of you. I managed to apologise and no harm done, thought I'll think twice before hitting up next time.
 
Balls are tested & manufactured to perform at an optimum of 70f. There is NO increase in distance above 70 degrees, but, for every 3 degrees under 70 there is a 1 yard loss.

So if you hit 250 yards on a summer day (70* or above), the same shot at 32 degrees F (0c) will travel 12.6 yards less.

Add in the effect of extra layers that hinder the swing and extra wind etc and you might just knob it 100 yards if your lucky :smirk:
 
I've simply been clubbing up one club on all holes over the winter. If I flush one (rare I know) the greens are wet enough to still hold and if not, the air will reduce distances but I should still have enough to make the green
 
I think I need to club up at least 1 club more! Biggest issue I find is the rollout of the ball - as it stops fairly quickly in the damp weather. Always find it interesting when the warm weather comes and the course dries out and then basically turns into the opposite of winter - 1 less club and loads of rollout!
 
Fish said:
Balls are tested & manufactured to perform at an optimum of 70f. There is NO increase in distance above 70 degrees, but, for every 3 degrees under 70 there is a 1 yard loss.

So if you hit 250 yards on a summer day (70* or above), the same shot at 32 degrees F (0c) will travel 12.6 yards less.

Add in the effect of extra layers that hinder the swing and extra wind etc and you might just knob it 100 yards if your lucky :smirk:
Click to expand...

Fish does your source for this also have info on the effect of humidity levels or is it just temp?

I've noticed the more moisture in the air the shorter the carry
 
Altitude makes a big different as well.

I play right by the sea and gain a few yards when I play courses in land.

In some areas that are high, you can gain massive amounts of carry.
 
Slab said:
Cheers, this line probably best sums it up then :(

"What this boils down to, sorry to say, is that all the those players who thought the air was knocking down their shots were making poor contact".
Click to expand...

this link was humidity, it didn't mention air temp did it?
 
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