"What is the effect on golf ball performance?" Summer/Winter

Thought I'd throw this comment in to see what most players think?

How do you feel the weather affects the balls performance?? and by how much.

my playing partners always say that you should use a hard ball Titleist PTS Carry for example in the winter and a soft ball Srixon soft feel in the summer. unfortunately i am not yet good enough to notice the difference

cheers geezer

Ivan's links are sort of correct, but it is a little bit more complicated than that and it's a fairly good guide line.  There are a number of factors that effect the behaviour of a golf ball:

Ball temperature:  This changes the hardness and elasticity of the ball.  The colder the ball is the harder and less elastic it gets, therefore it should travel further unless the material goes to the point where it becomes plastic rather than elastic, in which case the trend reverses.  For most iomic polymers this is around -5°C.

Air temperature:  The colder the air the denser it is, this will mean there will be more drag and it will not go as far.  However, spin will increase the lift generated because the air is 'grippier' so short irons should go about the same distance but higher.

Air humidity:  The higher the humidity the denser the air and the effects will be much the same as temperature.

Air ambient pressure:  Generally follows temperature but changes with elevation.  The higher you are the less dense the air and the ball will go further.

So, Phoenix on a hot, dry day and the ball will go miles.  St Andrews on a wet, cold day and, er, it won't.

ZZZZZZZZ 

I always put an extra layer on to keep my balls nice & warm

 Ivan "beautiful young Russian wife" where's the links for one of those  

i once read that in England a warm wet ball will travel further, i can't remember where/when i read/heard it but the conclusion was that it's best to keep your spare ball at the bottom of your coffee flask

You old guys are dirty effers, I played with a senior last weekend & all he talked about was Viagra gel, thailand & lady boys!!

Certainly opened my eyes!

David - I think that your theory is based more on hearsay than physics.  There are so many more factors to consider rather than just stating that ball A is better in winter than ball B, although at the moment I can't prove it physically.  However, after a bit of a beer sodden meal I have decided to go ahead and build ball bounce test rig # 2 to do a few comparative tests which, unlike it's predecessor will be able to take into account temperature effects as well.  Outline plan at the moment is to try 3 different types of balls (thinking perhaps Srixon's - as I have Soft Feels, AD333's and Z-URS's handy) at different temperatures.

Could be as dull as the audio trace tests I did a couple of years ago, but it kept a few people amused.... 

Ah, but David - our newly paved patio and cunningly designed twin braced pergola makes the ideal 2.5m drop (lucky, hey!) to a hard, consistent surface, it's even got a support post that will allow a tape rule to be fixed to it to gauge the rebound.  Now all I need is to build a release mechanism and borrow a high speed camera...

Maybe I should take up knitting, or god forbid, go and get a job... 

I have played this game a little while now and have never had the experience of a big judder up my wrists and arms.

When I was a member at frinton on Sea golf club, the pro was an old man, like me ,and he played with the famous brick, a Top Flite XL. I asked him why, and he said to me, John, I need all the length I can get at my time in life.

I then brought up the difficulties he must face with the short game and his reponse was that it takes no time at all to learn how a certain golf ball behaves and one adjusts accordingly. I can testify that his short game was up to scratch.

Ivan, I don't think Ray (The Pro) was interested in one bit what the ball compression was, he knew that, for him, this particular ball went further than any other and he also knew that he would have to devise various methods to get the ball to do what he required in the short game department.

Being old school, he knew that there was more than one way to skin a cat, and being the fine golfer that he was  proved that his methods, skill and flair would enable him to get round a difficult links course in par or better.

No matter what any testbed tells you the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Ivan, I have a feeling you are missing my point, all down no doubt to my inabilities to explain myself properly.

I agree that a ball that was made for distance will not have the same qualities to enable it to be easily stopped on the green.

Ray knew this and had to play a different type of shot allowing for the ball not stopping  as quickly as others.

As others will testify on the forum, I played a Top Flite Z balata for many years until it was not produced anymore. For me, the ball did not go any further than anything else, but I had learned how to get it to stop when I needed it to.

When the course conditions were such that stopping a ball was not easy then I called upon my many years of experience in adapting a shot that would achieve the same result.

I have probably played with every make of ball since the fifties and I see no improvement in the modern ball to those of yesteryear. Don't forget that courses were not watered in those days and all greens were hard, although the grass was kept longer to compensate.

When there is a long cold winter, David, I do what most sensible animals do and that is hibernate. Personally I see no fun in being out in those conditions, let alone trying to play golf.

For me to enjoy this game, it is eesential that I am playing where the greens are superb, as this allows for better scoring and takes away the excuses when one plays poorly.

John,

I used the Topflite "Tour Edition" for a while and I understand what you mean about Ray?

The Penfold Patent and the original Titleist 384 Tour Balata, one bunker shot and confined to the Practice Ball Bag. So a more durable cover was needed and devised for todays market.

Also when looking at the length a ball goes, most don't look at CARRY. A ball will go 50-100yds further in summer because of RUN. The difference between Winter and Summer should not be looked at as to how far a Driver goes but what Club you hit to the same Par3.

TheLyth