cold balls are short

[FHopper]

I had always heard about cold weather effects but thought the new Soft balls would make it irrelevant. I played at 42* this morning and the club felt like it was full of foam and the balls felt like rocks.
Nike soft feel
Srixon soft feel
Mojo

i guess I was surprised that cold is still an issue. When I was young people used "Jone" heaters, do things like that still exist?

[ks8829]

playing a low compression ball like the Lady Precept helps.

[Chicago Lefty]

Noodle Soft plays ok in cold temps...

[Supermanwoot]

put a spare ball in your pocket.

Also helps in the uh oh I cant find my ball... *drop* oh there it is!

[Stan MI]

A "Jones Heater" for your cold .................. Your joking right ?

[Golf'nBiker]

Mine seem to get short in the cold temps as well....as do my golf shots. I did have a coulpe stingers on the range today,,,hitting it thin ans the 48* didnt help

[gogolfing]

The range at my home course installed a heater in the ball dispenser; it is great. Stops the balls from feeling like rocks when things get cold.

[moshdirtjumpr]

You could put hand warmers in your pocket and warm your balls that way.

[shankapotamus]

You could put hand warmers in your pocket and warm your balls that way.

That's what I was going to say, but for some reason I lol'd hardcore at this.

[Greg]

I noticed that as well, just go one club more in colder temps, guess the ball is harder to compress in cold weather so it doesnt travel as far. I a dozen pink ladies spalding golf balls that I got for free recently, might use some of them if its in the low 40's or colder(like today).

[chilly]

I found exactly the same, this is my first year playing and this was my first time out with temps in the 40s. I seemed to lose 20yds off the tee, but oddly my irons were not really effected. I was playing a B330 (keep finding them in the bag) and an NXT Extreme. I'll dig through the used ball bin for some softer balls for winter use.

[MikeLowry5]

So the softer the ball the less it will be affected by the cold distance wise?

I went out and bought some rock flite's today thinking they would help out with the distance loss, guess my thinking was backwards.

[Jay-Bird]

Interesting RULE on this:

You cannot use hand warmers or any other artificial device to warm your ball before the round. But you ARE ALLOWED to artificially warm the ball prior to the round.

14-3/13.5 Golf Ball Artificially Warmed Q. Is the use of a golf ball that was purposely warmed during a stipulated round with a golf ball warmer, hand warmer or any such device a breach of Rule 14-3? A. Yes. Use of a ball that has been purposely warmed during a stipulated round with an artificial device constitutes a breach of Rule 14-3. However, it would not be a breach of Rule 14-3 to use a ball that was artificially warmed prior to the stipulated round. (Revised)

source link

[Parker0065]

I'm no physics expert but I believe the ball flying shorter in the cold is also effected by the actual air temperature as it flies and not just the ball compressing. Colder air is heavier, thus harder for the ball to cut through. So a softer ball might compress slightly more in the cold but will still fly shorter in 30-50 degrees, compared to 70-90 degrees.

I played 9 holes today in 45 degree temperatures and the ball(Taylormade Red) was compressing pretty well. I lost about 10-15 yards on my Driver and about 5-8 yards on my irons. I hit one extra club on two or three holes but reached the green on the others with pretty much the same clubs I've hit all year.

I think when you get below 40 degrees it has more of an effect with ball compression and you really start losing a lot of distance.
Either way, I'm sure a softer ball will feel better in the cold, especially on mishits.

[Chicago Lefty]

I used hand warmers in a bag pocket with about 6 balls. Definitely kept them toasty warm.

[Shindig]

Interesting RULE on this:

Good call on the rule. (I wondered a bit about before vs. prior, but then figured out what you meant)

[Zeph]

Not sure if I got what you meant. Is prior until you reach the course and before from you reach it?

[kfowler]

I've seen several studies on the web on this. I though I remember that it takes roughly six hours for a ball to reach ambient temp. I played a par 3 course yesterday and it was in the 40's. My balls were inside all night. I didn't notice a considerable drop off in distance.

One of my locals ranges heats their balls during the winter. They've always said they'll give you a more true distance during the cold months. They've now installed these Trackman bays. They said they're pretty interested in seeing some real data to back this up.