Playing on a windy day.

[cooke119]

I played yesterday and the wind was howling here in New York, on Long Island. Anyone have any suggestion for playing in the wind? It felt like no matter which way the hole faced we were driving into the wind. The wind blew so hard golf balls were pushed around on the green. I've hear "when its breezy swing easy" but that didn't help either.

[keller19xc]

Just play your normal shot but play 2 extra clubs, tee the ball lower if your familiar with it, and let your follow through be more of a 3/4 or half it will produce a lower flight. Oh play the ball back a bit in your stance

[LuciusWooding]

I played yesterday on LI as well, 9 holes on a windy pitch and putt. I spent the round hitting off the deck from the tee, to try and control my contact and get the range mats out of my system; I've been forced to hit off mats exclusively since December. I often suffer a loss of form on the course, even when my swing feels great at the range, so I wanted to try and work on distance control on approaches.

I first noticed how windy it was and expected it not to give me problems; it ended up teaching me to pay attention to the wind and not underestimate how much it hurts your flight. I learned to deal with the wind by delofting and hitting a nice draw, and making sure I'm taking a good divot. I didn't overcompensate left and right for the wind, just about 10 yards. I tried to choke down on my clubs and swing smoothly too, and got good contact, but the wind and cold took enough off the golf ball you needed at least 2 1/2 clubs tacked on. This was also my first round with a rangefinder, so I learned my known distances were pretty accurate if I commit to the draw and stay with it. Hit most of my lines really well but sadly a lot dropped short. I had 125 to clear a bunker,132 pin, wind dead in my face. I know I can hit a controlled 9 iron 150 no problem, so I figured I'd try to hit it really squarely, choked up about an inch for about 140-145. Set up with the face a touch open and swung down and out; made perfect contact and started high at the right side, I thought I'd hit a perfect shot. In fact, it hit like a meteor 2 inches short of the green. Instead of getting the kick right at the pin, it plugs in the bunker lip. If I had another shot, I'd hit a 155 yard shot, a full 9 delofted a touch. I was happy with most of my contact, though.

It was bad out there yesterday, man. At times a 3 club wind and a bit cold, and I was underplaying the wind by a club consistently. Not to mention the state of some of the greens from the wind and dry weather... Much better today.