We've launched the new forums! Read more here

North/South Driving Distance

Caper

Caper

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
873
Reaction score
5
Location
Cape Breton, NS, Canada
Handicap
9
I have a question for anyone who has golfed in both the Northern US/Canada and the Southern States. Do you realize any difference in driving distance when going further south due to temperature, air pressure, or what have you?
I have always wondered this!
 
Yes and No. When I've played in Vegas, yes!!!! Huge drives and iron shots are too be had out there. When I played in Florida in May, I saw a little jump in distance but not huge, maybe 10 yards.
 
That's a great question!! As someone who lives in an area where the humidity is usually above 60% I would think the heavier air would mean shorter ball flight. I'll be watching this thread to see what others have to say.
 
It depends on what you mean.
Carry distance? Total distance?
In FL, there is VERY little roll at many courses.
Plus you have to deal with the humidity and thick air.
I get a few more yards playing out west and in the north.
 
JB said:
It depends on what you mean.
Carry distance? Total distance?
In FL, there is VERY little roll at many courses.
Plus you have to deal with the humidity and thick air.
I get a few more yards playing out west and in the north.
Click to expand...

I am thinking more along the lines of carry distance. Where I live/play in Atlantic Canada we have high humidity, and the air is also very thick and heavy due to living on the ocean. I would imagine elevation would play a huge part too! I wonder what it would be like in Denver since it is a mile above sea level.

Maybe there is a sweet spot somewhere in between southern Canada and the Southern US where carry distance is optimal?
 
23_lw said:
I am thinking more along the lines of carry distance. Where I live/play in Atlantic Canada we have high humidity, and the air is also very thick and heavy due to living on the ocean. I would imagine elevation would play a huge part too! I wonder what it would be like in Denver since it is a mile above sea level.

Maybe there is a sweet spot somewhere in between southern Canada and the Southern US where carry distance is optimal?
Click to expand...

Of course there is. The internet.

Its a place where everybody is awesome as well as soft and buttery.
A place where drives go 400 yards with a 6 iron
Swing speeds are all over 115
And everybody spins the cover off the ball.

Oh the internet, the greatest city ever!
 
JB said:
Of course there is. The internet.

Its a place where everybody is awesome as well as soft and buttery.
A place where drives go 400 yards with a 6 iron
Swing speeds are all over 115
And everybody spins the cover off the ball.

Oh the internet, the greatest city ever!
Click to expand...

Haha! So true! I have been known to drive a few par 5's on the www.
 
The only factor that I can discern is altitude of the golf course above sea level. Here in north Georgia altitude is about 700-800 feet. When we get to Florida, coastal areas of Georgia or the gulf I lose maybe a half or full iron difference. I traveled up through New England last fall and played in nine states and couldn't tell a lot of difference. Out west in the higher altitudes, the distances are pretty amazing. May 2010 at Coeur D'Alene golf resort, on a 450 par 4 into the wind I hit driver 290 and 8I 160 to the green. Then #18 is a 480 par 4 playing down wind, I hit driver 330, PW 150 to the green. (I missed both birdie putts though so altitude doesn't help the putting.) Here at home I hit driver 280 if I hit it good, in Florida maybe 270.
 
JB said:
Of course there is. The internet.

Its a place where everybody is awesome as well as soft and buttery.
A place where drives go 400 yards with a 6 iron
Swing speeds are all over 115
And everybody spins the cover off the ball.

Oh the internet, the greatest city ever!
Click to expand...

lol Rep Added
 
JB said:
Of course there is. The internet.

Its a place where everybody is awesome as well as soft and buttery.
A place where drives go 400 yards with a 6 iron
Swing speeds are all over 115
And everybody spins the cover off the ball.

Oh the internet, the greatest city ever!
Click to expand...

I definately live here. I am so good yet every time I actually play I shoot like 84.
 
23_lw said:
I am thinking more along the lines of carry distance. Where I live/play in Atlantic Canada we have high humidity, and the air is also very thick and heavy due to living on the ocean. I would imagine elevation would play a huge part too! I wonder what it would be like in Denver since it is a mile above sea level.

Maybe there is a sweet spot somewhere in between southern Canada and the Southern US where carry distance is optimal?
Click to expand...

The difference between where you are and here in Denver isn't latitude, but elevation. However, I have played at similar elevations in both Colorado and Montana, and I get more carry in Denver. No idea why.

As far as humidity is concerned, the ball flies farther in humid air, all else being equal, because water vapor is less dense than air. Dry air is actually denser and offers more resistance to a golf ball than humid air.
 
Fourputt said:
The difference between where you are and here in Denver isn't latitude, but elevation. However, I have played at similar elevations in both Colorado and Montana, and I get more carry in Denver. No idea why.

As far as humidity is concerned, the ball flies farther in humid air, all else being equal, because water vapor is less dense than air. Dry air is actually denser and offers more resistance to a golf ball than humid air.
Click to expand...

Elevation, that's the word I was looking for when I said altitude above sea level. True about the humidity as well.
 
Lefty78 said:
Just go out west, the 10% increase written about in Sir Shanks Alot is pretty significant. It puts my puny 280 driver effort out past 300 without wind. Only problem, when you come home the distance stays out there. :sad:
Click to expand...

Well, I will know it stayed out there, you all will never know!!! Mwahahaha!!!
 
JB said:
Of course there is. The internet.

Its a place where everybody is awesome as well as soft and buttery.
A place where drives go 400 yards with a 6 iron
Swing speeds are all over 115
And everybody spins the cover off the ball.

Oh the internet, the greatest city ever!
Click to expand...

speak for yourself, my 6 iron is 450, my 400 yard club is my 7I
 
It's hard for me to say if it's the heat and humidity but I just got back to flat Florida from the Georgia mountains and I think the ball flies a half to a full club further at a coule of thousand feet.
 
mikedean441 said:
speak for yourself, my 6 iron is 450, my 400 yard club is my 7I
Click to expand...

A 7I from 400? You must use your purse from 300! I pull out the driver on 1, hit it over every hole, land it on the 18th green 6,000 yards away and 3 putt. Damn short game just kills my round every time!
 
I know it is a common misconception, but people seem to think that humid air is heavier than dryer air. While I think the difference is only slight, the ball should fly further in more humid air because the air is less dense. Temperature and elevation have much more noticeable impact.
 
I think a golf ball flies further at higher elevations, and drier air. Thinner air = less resistance. Vegas would be ideal and the high plains too.
 
In my golfing experienced, I've learned that it makes very little difference when your ball flies an extra 10 yards in the warmer weather. In the opposite conditions (also known in these parts as the met office 5 day weather forecast), that's when you see the difference!
 
the_paulo said:
In my golfing experienced, I've learned that it makes very little difference when your ball flies an extra 10 yards in the warmer weather. In the opposite conditions (also known in these parts as the met office 5 day weather forecast), that's when you see the difference!
Click to expand...

Yeah, all it means to me is that I come dangerously close to breaking a guy's picture window on 1 and the clubhouse window on 18. Besides all the greens I fly over and have to chip back onto. I've never yelled fore as much as I do when I visit family and play the old course. That course has some run to it as well as being at a higher elevation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top