Distance Loss in Cold Weather

[Cally]

Hi guys,

This idea of distance differences in cold weather has been mentioned in a previous post or two, but I don't think there's a thread on this topic so I thought I'd start one.

I've personally noticed a difference in distance when it's around 40F compared to when it's around 70F, not to mention when there's some wind adding to the cold temps. But it can be difficult to know how much of a difference there actually is. As I've wondered about this in the past, while watching some golf videos today on YouTube I noticed this recently published video on "How Much Distance Do You Lose When It's Cold" . . .

In temps at or about 41F (or about 6C) with a 3 - 4 mph wind at ground level, using what is "normally" a 155 club, there was a distance loss between 20 - 34 yards according to Trackman data. Of course there are variables depending on the quality of the strike and any wind gusts, but on average there's a fairly significant loss of distance when it's colder. While this may not be that important on the range, this needs to be factored in when choosing a club while playing in these cold weather conditions.

Anyway, I thought this was an interesting and informative video for anyone who has wondered about how much distance loss there can be in colder weather.

[Ken Robie]

You also have to figure in range of motion restriction from bulkier clothing and stiff muscles into that choice as well.

[COSTA103]

Hi guys,

Are the aerodynamics in cold air LESS favorable than those in WARM air?
Is it Ken Robie's suggestion above a contributing factor?
How about the construction of the golf ball? Does the material "compress" less when the ball gets cold?
How about the compression rating of the ball itself?

Sounds like a job for "Iron Byron"?
(I'll have kid send up the Crackpot-Bat-signal...)

I think we'd all agree that the ball travels less far in cold weather.
The video Cally provided above tries to give us an insight into HOW much shorter?

Let me ask you a question....

What percentage of the time do you CARRY your approach-shot BEYOND the flagstick?
Pay attention the next few times you're out on the Course?
I'll bet it is LESS than HALF? (probably significantly less than half if you're like most of us?)

If you're short of the flag more than 50% of the time, you're probably NOT choosing the correct club to begin with?
Much less if it's COLD??

Love this place and you guys

dude abides

[Alpineberlinette]

Another factor is the gree size, we tend to underestimate the distance. From beginning of the green to the flag.
Despite wearing a modern GPS device on my wrist, I still tend to check the distance marker to the beginning of the green, like 150 yards or 150m in Germany.
The needed addition to the flag is often ignored, or...it’s ‘only few yards’.
In reality it is often a full club to the middle of the green or even more, if the flag is close to the end of the green.

[COSTA103]

Hi guys,

To Markus' point, the flag-location on the green is VERY important.
The greens on the courses that I normally play on range from (an average of) 28 - 38 yards front-to-back.

For me, that translates to at LEAST TWO, if not THREE clubs difference from front-to-back.

dude abides

[Ken Robie]

You also need to know what your "honest" carry distances is as well.

[Alpineberlinette]

2 years ago I purchased an Ernest ES14 radar, which measures club head AND Ball speed independently. That is easy to use regularly and gives me a quite good reality of my carry distances.
With the help of Shawn last summer in Germany and recently the videos about levitating the arms in order to complete the backswing, I reached my personal limits.
A seven iron carry is between 150 and 155m, depending whether I use traditional loft or my more modern Titleist AP2.

Last week we had several companies at our range to promote their clubs, all equipped with trackman. Beside conforming my distances of the ES14 with trackman, trackman confirmed, that with my swingspeed I am very close to my optimum.
That was the best news.
Many years ago my 7 iron average was maybe 135 m with the same swingspeed, but of course I had the occasional 154m shot of the day, and that raised my expectations a lot.
When I stood 145m in front of the green, the flag was at 160 m, of course I pulled my 7 iron,
So my message is, if the swing is stable and efficient, the prediction how long the ball can fly is much more realistic.

[Gregman55]

I just got a new set of irons myself, they are a set of Mizuno’s MP H4’s which are forged. I was playing a set of “distance irons “ previously and the faces started cracking due to the super thin face construction and had to find something in a hurry. One of my good friends had the Mizuno’s which he bought new and had never used them and practically gave them to me ( truly a blessing) they have a heavier shaft and went from regular to stiff flex, I’ve only got to hit them twice at the range and it was cold and noticed that I did lose distance, but of course the lofts are as strong either on my Mizuno’s but it will be interesting to see when the weather warms back up how much I will gain back. I know this post was a little off track but I’m also trying to generate some more club head speed since I went up a flex, however my shots are much easier to hit a draw with.