Tell me about your experiences with the wind

[Patrick_Mucci]

George Pazin,

As you know, I love the effect that the wind has on the game.

It's the icing on the cake.

Not wind where you can't control your balance, but, wind that affects your play and ball flight.

The wind accentuates your mistakes, mental and physical.

Last week, at a Charity event at The Creek, the 11th hole played at 165.  I hit a 6-iron.   Later in the day they had a hole-in-one contest.  The hole was cut in the same location, but the tee was moved up to 141.   I hit a 5-iron.

24 yards shorter, but it played much longer, that's the wind, and, it wasn't one of those extreme winds which Mike Hendren debunked, it was a nice, cool breeze from the SW.

Wind brings another dimension to the game.

I believe the Scots used words to the effect that:
 "If there's Nay wind, there's Nay Golf

[Tom Yost]

My favorite wind story:

A few years back, I was playing in an after-work 9-hole match play league.  It was during the Phoenix summer "monsoon" season where the weather pattern brings moisture up from Mexico, which creates huge thunderclouds and afternoon rain usually preceded by a "dust storm."  The monsoon winds can get pretty strong and create havoc like downed trees, power lines, etc.

I'm a 12 handicap with ugly swing that typically produces a low ball flight.  My opponent for the match was a 6 hc with a smooth, fluid swing and a high trajectory.  We could see the storm building and we reached the tee on the 4th hole just as the duststorm hit.

It was a 200 yard par 3 directly into a serious head wind. My opponent hits a towering 5-iron that catches the wind and falls 60 yards short of the green.  I pull out my driver, choke down and hit a low screamer that doesn't get more than 6 feet off the ground, lands short and bounces between the bunkers and rolls onto the green about 8 feet from the cup.  My opponent immediately begins to gripe about what a lucky shot it was.  I explained that it was executed exactly as planned.  

"I can't believe you got away with that ugly shot while I hit a perfect shot that got held up in the wind," he moaned.

I laughed as I lectured him about creating different shots for difficult conditions and how his perfect high shot won't work well in the wind.  He just muttered as I nailed my birdie putt.  

For the next several holes he continued to gripe about getting beaten by such an ugly shot and he became so flustered that it totally took him off his game and I ended up winning the match 3&2.

As I left him headed for the parking lot, he was still muttering about that ugly shot...  


Tom

[Matthew Hunt]

I've in a 60mph wind(BBC weather) on the tail-end of a hurricane(The same one that nearly stopped the 2006 Ryder Cup.  

[George Pazin]

"I can't believe you got away with that ugly shot while I hit a perfect shot that got held up in the wind," he moaned.

Your opponent has an interesting definition of the word perfect.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

'Tell me about your experiences with the wind'

After a curry or cabbage?

[RSLivingston_III]

My first time to Dornoch in 1999, the wind was blowing so hard the members wouldn't play. I did go out with the member hosting me (and he was descretely protesting), but we really couldn't putt on any of the greens. The balls would not sit still in that wind. Tee shots on cross wind holes required aiming about 50 yards out over the gorse and letting the wind bring the ball back in to the fairway. I remember an into the wind hole requiring 3 wood shots and an Iron to get to the green.
I think the next time I played Dornach it was in the evening and was as benign as you can get.

[peter_mcknight]

Heaviest wind was at Wingpointe Golf Course, a City of Salt Lake City golf course near or on the airport ground at SLC.  It is an Arthur Hills design, treeless, supposed to play like a links, but with a few ponds thrown in for good measure.

Was in SLC for a SWANA conference and, in the afternoon, we broke out to play 18 before dinner.  Went out to Wingpointe in early July 2001 when there was a hot wind blowing, raising temperatures to near 100 in SLC (a record).  It felt like the Santa Ana wind condition I'm familiar with in So-Cal.  Well, the wind blew at 55 mph consistently.  We were basically the only ones on the course.  We asked why that was and the ranger said once the wind passed 30 mph, the locals stayed home.  We got round in 3.40 despite the wind.

The 2 notable points in the round were the following:

1.  The first hole was approximately 450 yards, downwind.  Hit 3 metal and sand wedge.  The 2d hole was 340 yards and hit driver 6 iron and was short.
2.  The 4th hole was 225 yards with the pond on the left and wind from right to left.  In order to have a chance to hold the green, you had to hit the tee shot (5 iron) on the other side of the cart path road and it drifted back nearly 40 yards.  Oh, there were also whitecaps on the pond as well.

[Kalen Braley]

Heaviest wind was at Wingpointe Golf Course, a City of Salt Lake City golf course near or on the airport ground at SLC.  It is an Arthur Hills design, treeless, supposed to play like a links, but with a few ponds thrown in for good measure.

Was in SLC for a SWANA conference and, in the afternoon, we broke out to play 18 before dinner.  Went out to Wingpointe in early July 2001 when there was a hot wind blowing, raising temperatures to near 100 in SLC (a record).  It felt like the Santa Ana wind condition I'm familiar with in So-Cal.  Well, the wind blew at 55 mph consistently.  We were basically the only ones on the course.  We asked why that was and the ranger said once the wind passed 30 mph, the locals stayed home.  We got round in 3.40 despite the wind.

The 2 notable points in the round were the following:

1.  The first hole was approximately 450 yards, downwind.  Hit 3 metal and sand wedge.  The 2d hole was 340 yards and hit driver 6 iron and was short.
2.  The 4th hole was 225 yards with the pond on the left and wind from right to left.  In order to have a chance to hold the green, you had to hit the tee shot (5 iron) on the other side of the cart path road and it drifted back nearly 40 yards.  Oh, there were also whitecaps on the pond as well.

Very nice Peter,

I live in the SLC area and have played that course a couple of times.  Its good fun with some daunting shots to be had.

Sounds like #16 would have been dead into the wind, did you carry the pond to the fairway?  

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