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A warm golf ball will fly up to 10 yards further?

camden_kid

camden_kid

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I'm reading "Andrew's Essential Guide To Beginners Golf" (it's quite good) and it has a number of small "Did you know?" sections. One of these says - "On a cold day keep a couple of golf balls warm in your pocket. Tests have shown that a warm golf ball will fly up to 10 yards further". I thought that was curious.

Is this correct? From your experience do warm golf balls go a little bit further?
 
These are carry distances and most golfers can’t carry a driver 250 yards so there distance loss/gain will be a little less. I’m not sure how accurate this chart is but I’ve always figured about 5 yards of carry on a short iron when temps are around 50. I do keep a couple of balls in my pocket along with hand warmers(not USGA legal) but only for those casual rounds when the temps are below 45* which works out to be only a handful of rounds each year. I do it mainly for my hands, not the golf balls.
It is legal to warm up golf balls before a round but I’ve never thought it worth the effort as they get cold quickly out on the course.

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tahoebum said:
These are carry distances and most golfers can’t carry a driver 250 yards so there distance loss/gain will be a little less. I’m not sure how accurate this chart is but I’ve always figured about 5 yards of carry on a short iron when temps are around 50. I do keep a couple of balls in my pocket along with hand warmers(not USGA legal) but only for those casual rounds when the temps are below 45* which works out to be only a handful of rounds each year. I do it mainly for my hands, not the golf balls.
It is legal to warm up golf balls before a round but I’ve never thought it worth the effort as they get cold quickly out on the course.

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Interesting. Thanks.
 
I think it has impact but I played at 37 degrees F last weekend with my normal low compression ball and did not notice that I needed to adjust iron differences. Typically when we play and it is cold we are fighting soft ground conditions as well. So to the extent I lost distance I don't know if it is the temp, the ground or most likely both.
 
One thing I do is switch so a lower compression ball. I like Srixon Soft Feel and ERC soft in the winter time.
 
Playing at 4500' of elevation we get a distance benefit. But in many years summer temps aren't that high (mountain environment). There are years where we don't see temps above 70F until July, and then often lower 70s. So when I go play lower elevations with what can easily be 20F warmer temps, the distances can equal out.
 
From 90* down to 30* I assume a loss of about 3% distance (1% per 20*). I hit it 235 during the summer so during the winter I am closer to 225 with a driver.
 
Snickerdog said:
One thing I do is switch so a lower compression ball. I like Srixon Soft Feel and ERC soft in the winter time.
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This is a good solution since the greens are also typically softer and a little fuzzy anyway.
 
Coldest I've ever played in was mid 30's. Ball didn't go anywhere, and it wasn't the easiest to turn, but a full turn was still very doable.

Hottest I've ever played was Palm Springs in the summer. 120+ temp, yeah. The heat influences the ball carry a bit. "A bit"
 
I hear 2 yards for 10 degrees under 70 here in MN a lot. I know in the late fall to early spring time I use low compression balls but mainly because they are cheaper and I don't care if I lose them in a snow pile lol!
 
Good chart!
 
Snickerdog said:
One thing I do is switch so a lower compression ball. I like Srixon Soft Feel and ERC soft in the winter time.
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I do similar. Living in Louisiana I game CSX most of the year but will play the CS in winter colder temps.
 
GoldenBuff said:
Playing at 4500' of elevation we get a distance benefit. But in many years summer temps aren't that high (mountain environment). There are years where we don't see temps above 70F until July, and then often lower 70s. So when I go play lower elevations with what can easily be 20F warmer temps, the distances can equal out.
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I will keep this in mind for August!! 3000 feet higher in elevation could really help me. :golf2:
 
WICHITAREJECT said:
So my first drive on Tuesday was smashed 230....can I expect 240 in July!!?? YESSSS
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The kind of distance gains we can all enjoy without club speed gains.
 
DataDude said:
From 90* down to 30* I assume a loss of about 3% distance (1% per 20*). I hit it 235 during the summer so during the winter I am closer to 225 with a driver.
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Okay, that seems like proof enough for me. Do you warm the golf balls in your pocket though? :)
 
camden_kid said:
Okay, that seems like proof enough for me. Do you warm the golf balls in your pocket though? :)
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No I just play shorter tees during the winter.
 
Helpful stuff. I occasionally forget abd leave some approaches short during the colder months
 
tahoebum said:
...It is legal to warm up golf balls before a round but I’ve never thought it worth the effort as they get cold quickly out on the course.
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They sure do. I carry two in my pocket (one in play and a spare) - when I finish a hole and drive to the next tee, it's easy to tell just from feel which ball was in play on the last hole when I reach in my pocket for a ball. The one that was in play will be noticeably colder (and that's even with outside temps in the 50s).
 
So you are saying I need to sit on my ball from green to tee in between holes?

There may be some validity to this, but also think softness of the ground, wind sheer & other impacts decrease ball flight distance.
 
I can buy this.

When the ball is cold, weather cold, the presumption is to club up since the ball doesn't travel as far.

When it's nice and toasty outside I can definitely see the increase in distance.
 
Sounds right to me when you go to extremes, ie 90 degrees vs like 40.
 
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