Wind and Putting?

[saevel25]

I know it is probably dependent on a lot of factors, but how windy does it have to be out before you need to start guessing on how much it would influence the break of your putt? 

When I played at Bandon, it was like 25-30 mph winds. The caddies talked about the wind negating break. The only time I had it visually influence my putt was on hole 18 at Bandon Dunes. My missed my putt on the high side of a pretty severe breaking putt. The slope around the hole was in the 2-3 degree range. As the ball was about to come to a stop, the wind gusted and pushed the ball half a rotation into the cup. 

The rest of the week I thought it had no influence at all. I was thinking, is it just over thinking to try to account for the wind? 

 

[boogielicious]

Per Fluid Dynamics, there is a boundary layer near the surface that has lower velocity down to zero or close zero at the very surface. The height of this layer depends on a few things like laminar vs turbulent flow, surface roughness, temperature, even surface contour. So it depends on a bunch of factors. Add in variable direction of the wind source and it becomes complex.

Some nerd like me probably has done wind tunnel studies on it. My feeling is it has to be 20 to 25+ to start to consider it. 

[ChetlovesMer]

2 hours ago, boogielicious said:

Some nerd like me probably has done wind tunnel studies on it. My feeling is it has to be 20 to 25+ to start to consider it. 

How hard can you blow. I admit to having on at least one occasion trying to blow a golf ball into a hole. ... "Allegedly". 

[iacas]

It's usually gotta be a lot of wind, and even then, depending on the contours of the green, still won't be too much. That said, it's not always nothing.

I was guilty on a few holes of the Old Course in weighing the wind a bit too much. I stopped and hit better putts. Maybe an inch or two over 25 feet at the most, even there that day when it's mostly exposed.

[saevel25]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

It's usually gotta be a lot of wind, and even then, depending on the contours of the green, still won't be too much. That said, it's not always nothing.

I was guilty on a few holes of the Old Course in weighing the wind a bit too much. I stopped and hit better putts. Maybe an inch or two over 25 feet at the most, even there that day when it's mostly exposed.

Yea, that makes sense. 

I remember an Open tournament when they brought out the wind meter one day because balls were being blown around the green. I think it was 45+ sustained, which probably means 60 mph gusts. 

I think for the most part, it isn't something that needs to be taken into account. 

Also, a golf ball is designed to optimally move through the air. It has better aerodynamics than a sphere. 

14 hours ago, boogielicious said:

Per Fluid Dynamics, there is a boundary layer near the surface that has lower velocity down to zero or close zero at the very surface. The height of this layer depends on a few things like laminar vs turbulent flow, surface roughness, temperature, even surface contour. So it depends on a bunch of factors. Add in variable direction of the wind source and it becomes complex.

Some nerd like me probably has done wind tunnel studies on it. My feeling is it has to be 20 to 25+ to start to consider it. 

Thanks for your expertise on this. That makes sense. I know about how wind diminishes the lower in height you go. I didn't know it went near zero at the ground. I deal more with tall structures (utility poles), and we have to take into account height and impacts of wind on the pole. A bit of experience, but wasn't sure how close to zero, non-impactful it was on the golf ball on the ground.