BEWARE the heated driving range in winter

[ghalfaire]

I have broken two drivers over the last 6 years.  Both were cracked near the weld where face is welded to the driver head.  Both were at the upper part of the face.  I suspect this is a difficult weld to make and in particular if the face is made of Ti.  With the spring effect drivers now have I also believe that the face could eventually "work harden" and fail.  But I think the welding process creates a stress point where the driver will fail, if it fails.

[rustyredcab]

Originally Posted by B-Con

I still don't get what any of this has to do with heaters. Top Golf has heaters for when it gets cold, and I'm curious if there's a reason not to use it in specific during the cold.

I think the point is that it is still super cold out, your equipment can be super cold, the balls are super cold, but heaters allow one to still hit from these outdoor bays. When I left a bay last week, I touched my iron heads and they were freezing cold. Without heaters, people would not be on the range.

[luu5]

Originally Posted by rustyredcab

I think the point is that it is still super cold out, your equipment can be super cold, the balls are super cold, but heaters allow one to still hit from these outdoor bays. When I left a bay last week, I touched my iron heads and they were freezing cold. Without heaters, people would not be on the range.

But how cold is super cold? And at what point does the face of the driver really get brittle? At least the titanium (if there is any) does not care about low temperatures.

[Steel]

I broke my Callaway FT last year in the winter as well.  Hitting those cold rock flite balls are hard on drivers, I only hit irons this time of year

[lostmyballs]

So the take-home message here is don't swing your driver if its too cold out?

What about woods? Hybrids?

[PooN]

Originally Posted by B-Con

I still don't get what any of this has to do with heaters. Top Golf has heaters for when it gets cold, and I'm curious if there's a reason not to use it in specific during the cold.

I think there might be quite a difference between heaters on a golf range where you are from and where we are from.  It's not so much the heaters... it's the fact that where we are from the outside temp is below freezing and there is snow on the ground.

[B-Con]

I dont think it has anything to do with heaters. It has to do with hitting frozen golf balls and cracking a driver face because it becomes more brittle due to the cold.

[quote name="TitleistWI" url="/t/54651/beware-the-heated-driving-range-in-winter#post_666163"] I dont think it has anything to do with heaters.  It has to do with hitting frozen golf balls and cracking a driver face because it becomes more brittle due to the cold. [/quote] [quote name="rustyredcab" url="/t/54651/beware-the-heated-driving-range-in-winter/18#post_666313"] I think the point is that it is still super cold out, your equipment can be super cold, the balls are super cold, but heaters allow one to still hit from these outdoor bays. When I left a bay last week, I touched my iron heads and they were freezing cold. Without heaters, people would not be on the range. [/quote] OK, makes sense. If it's that cold out I wouldn't be at the range anyway. Our hyper-cold season is too short and inconsistent to try and fight through that. Not that I'm trying to rub it in... ;-)

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by B-Con

OK, makes sense.

If it's that cold out I wouldn't be at the range anyway. Our hyper-cold season is too short and inconsistent to try and fight through that. Not that I'm trying to rub it in...

Texas has a hyper cold season?