The Effects of Wind on a Golf Shot

[inthehole]

OP - thx for posting !   Played yesterday in 15-25 mph winds (could barely keep my hat on).    My drives were painfully short - never had so many hybrids into greens.    Every wedge, iron into green was short - didn't think too much of it - just figured it was cold balls, too many layers of clothing (contricting),  and sub par contact.    Really didn't think wind made THAT much difference, but apparently it does.     THis article is very timely & reaffirmed what I suspected, but didn't want to believe ...   Wind must be accounted for

[iacas]

1 hour ago, DrvFrShow said:

I also play the ball back in my stance to keep the shot low.

Be careful about that. It can often add spin which is bad in the wind.

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, 9wood said:

The last round I played, the wind was gusting 25 -30 mph, at least that's what the local weather channel was saying, and it sure felt like it. The biggest challenge I faced was not getting off decent drives and iron shots or keeping them in the fairway, but rather the biggest challenge was walking directly into the wind on many holes

That sounds like a lot more than 30mph?

[Fourputt]

25 minutes ago, Lihu said:

That sounds like a lot more than 30mph?

30 mph is a strong wind, especially for playing golf.  It's a strain to walk into it pushing a cart.

[Lihu]

4 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

30 mph is a strong wind, especially for playing golf.  It's a strain to walk into it pushing a cart.

I suppose I can see that, we get Santa Ana winds and it's pretty tough to play golf. I suppose I can see when your push cart starts moving on its own. . .

The good part is you get the entire course to yourself.

[9wood]

1 hour ago, Fourputt said:

30 mph is a strong wind, especially for playing golf.  It's a strain to walk into it pushing a cart.

It definitely was a strain walking and pushing my cart through it. 

1 hour ago, Lihu said:

I suppose I can see that, we get Santa Ana winds and it's pretty tough to play golf. I suppose I can see when your push cart starts moving on its own. . .

The good part is you get the entire course to yourself.

Yeah, pretty much had the course to myself. Only saw 3 other two-somes out that day

2 hours ago, Lihu said:

That sounds like a lot more than 30mph?

And it sure felt stronger than that at times. Yet the weather channel was saying 25-30 mph winds

[9wood]

 

[Fourputt]

2 hours ago, 9wood said:

 

Which is 62 mph - insane to play golf in.

[vangator]

I played golf in Tropical Storm winds of 60 mph.  We had a tourney scheduled.  Everybody showed up.  We were on the "non rain" side of the storm, so we teed off.

Driving the ball was insane.  We'd aim 45 degrees to the right or left to play the wind.  Wide open links style course, so we could find the balls.  No trees to stop the wind.  Down wind tee balls were impressive!

Shot I remember most is hitting a flush 5 iron into a green from 120 yards pin high.  Normally that's 185-190 yard shot.

Funny thing is I don't recall the wind really affecting the putts much.  Greens were pretty long and slow, which would help.  I remember the pins bending over nearly sideways.

[Lihu]

42 minutes ago, vangator said:

Driving the ball was insane.  We'd aim 45 degrees to the right or left to play the wind.  Wide open links style course, so we could find the balls.  No trees to stop the wind.  Down wind tee balls were impressive!

Funny thing is I don't recall the wind really affecting the putts much.  Greens were pretty long and slow, which would help.  I remember the pins bending over nearly sideways.

Eh. . ., 45 degrees sounds like one of my hooks or slices. . .

Some of my putts moved around on their own in a Santa Ana wind condition. Didn't score those rounds, but I wonder how you score them if you can't place the ball in the original position correctly?

[vangator]

I worked in LA about 25 years ago.  Those Santa Ana winds sucked.  Dries everything out, including my eyes.  Never went anywhere without Visine and ChapStick.

[Lihu]

6 minutes ago, vangator said:

I worked in LA about 25 years ago.  Those Santa Ana winds sucked.  Dries everything out, including my eyes.  Never went anywhere without Visine and ChapStick.

I like FL more except for the humid summers. If I could winter in FL and summer along the CA or OR coast that could be pretty nice!

[vangator]

11 hours ago, Lihu said:

I like FL more except for the humid summers. If I could winter in FL and summer along the CA or OR coast that could be pretty nice!

That sounds like a plan.

I agree on the summers in FL.  They suck, although golf rates are cheaper!

My ideal would be to snowbird in FL from Jan 1 to Easter (sometime in April or May), then head back to my hometown in NY or my chateau in southern France for the rest of the year.

[Lihu]

29 minutes ago, vangator said:

That sounds like a plan.

I agree on the summers in FL.  They suck, although golf rates are cheaper!

My ideal would be to snowbird in FL from Jan 1 to Easter (sometime in April or May), then head back to my hometown in NY or my chateau in southern France for the rest of the year.

Yes, I got the $21 rate with cart, lunch and drink at Mangrove Bay. I almost passed out from heat exhaustion on one of the holes in 108F/99.999% humidity in the summer! I parked the cart too far back looking for my ball in the sun.

My preference is a Villa in Tuscany, but the Chateau sounds nice. For the summers, of course. . .

[DaveP043]

I got to play in some really heavy wind in Ireland a few years back, in the remnants of a couple of US hurricanes.  A couple of days the local TV reported gusts up to 60 mph just up the coast from where we were playing.   It felt like we were aiming at Newfoundland, trying to hit Ireland.  My key for playing in wind, always swing a little easier, and always take more club than you think you need for carry.  Headwinds hurt you more than you expect, and tailwinds help LESS than you expect.  If you think its a one-club wind in your face, take one more than that, and swing easy.  Lower launch and less spin are what I want.  Downwind, you get less lift, so the ball doesn't carry as much as you'll think, but it will run further.  I think downwind is tougher to figure than into the wind.   The most important thing, in my opinion, is to accept that a well hit shot may not get a good result, and its not your fault.  Suck it up and give the next one your best effort.  If golf is hard, then golf in the wind is REALLY hard.
 

[vangator]

5 hours ago, Lihu said:

Yes, I got the $21 rate with cart, lunch and drink at Mangrove Bay. I almost passed out from heat exhaustion on one of the holes in 108F/99.999% humidity in the summer! I parked the cart too far back looking for my ball in the sun.

My preference is a Villa in Tuscany, but the Chateau sounds nice. For the summers, of course. . .

I've never got that good of a rate at Mangrove.  I'm going to start looking though.

I agree about the 99.999% humidity, but interestingly enough, the highest recorded temperature in history was 100 degrees in 1995.    But with humidity it feels like 120.

I retire in a few years and I had started looking for real estate in southern France, but I think the wife won't leave her grandkids.  Best I'll be able to do is long vacations.  Terrorists may make me rethink some of that.  To put it back on topic, the winds off the Mediterranean aren't that bad.

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, vangator said:

I've never got that good of a rate at Mangrove.  I'm going to start looking though.

I agree about the 99.999% humidity, but interestingly enough, the highest recorded temperature in history was 100 degrees in 1995.    But with humidity it feels like 120.

I retire in a few years and I had started looking for real estate in southern France, but I think the wife won't leave her grandkids.  Best I'll be able to do is long vacations.  Terrorists may make me rethink some of that.  To put it back on topic, the winds off the Mediterranean aren't that bad.

To be fair, the 108 was on my rental car. It was sitting in the sun.

It sure feels like 120 or hotter. I've been in Vegas in 125 degree temperatures and it felt about the same.

You are serious about Southern France? What is the price range in that region?

 

 

 

 

[natureboy]

On 12/16/2015 at 6:51 PM, 9wood said:

And it sure felt stronger than that at times. Yet the weather channel was saying 25-30 mph winds

Their weather gauge may be in a suburban / urbanized area that has more surface boundary friction vs. a more open golf course so their average wind speed at 5th may be lower. Plus winds are highly variable depending on where you are on the topography (lees etc.).

 

He may not be well respected by a lot of folks on here, but I like a suggestion Michael Breed made where his standard approach in a crosswind is to club up by quite a bit (2-3 clubs) and hit an easy curve against the wind. So club length, loft, and trajectory for carry distance plus a little of the club strength / distance bled off by the relatively small amount of fade or draw spin working against the wind to hold the line (but not really ballooning because the rate is fairly low).

Edited December 18, 2015 by natureboy