What are the scientific facts in regard to elevation's affect on the golf ball?

[Brett_Morrissy]

Wondering what in reality is the effect on a golf ball at elevation - does it scale evenly?

What is the effect at 200m/650ft - 500m/1,640ft - 1000m/3,280ft  on a 230m/250yard tee shot?
e.g. using above: does it scale in this manner 2% - 5% - 10% more distance on the tee shot.

thanks

[Bill_McBride]

There's got to be some correlation with swing speed because I have seen little added distance at altitude.   

[Steve Lang]

  Bill, You obviously weren't high enough!

[Jason Topp]

It is approximately 1% for every thousand feet but several factors can offset the number including temperature, the fact that spin has less ability to keep the ball in the air and you are playing up or down big slopes for the most part. 

[Greg Chambers]

I played at altitude for a long time...but my stats are not scientific.  The short irons travel a lot farther...the mid irons travel a little farther...the long irons travel just as far.

[Matt_Cohn]

Shots that have more spin, more speed, and more hangtime will be more affected by elevation. If I have a 200 yard shot at 5,000 feet, I'll play it like it's 180. If I have a 100 yard shot, I'll play it like it's 94. If I have a 50 yard shot, I won't adjust anything because there's just not that much interaction with the air on that short a shot. (Think of it this way...on a 50 yard shot, you could play a golf ball with no dimples and it wouldn't change the shot that much. The ball-air interaction just isn't as big a deal on that kind of shot.)

[Bryan Izatt]

Here's an article that addresses the subject.  It all depends, as others have stated above.  Unless you're going above a mile high and you're a professional with good distance control, for the most part the differences will be within your margin of error in distance control I would bet.

http://www.usgtf.com/articles/summer12/page33.html

[Jon Wiggett]

Having played regularly at 1500m to 1800m I found it added about 10% to all clubs. For me it was a fairly easy calculation to alter the distance on full shots but a nightmare with the 50 to 100m distance as the feel was all wrong. What is worse is going from 1500m back to sea level as the ball just does not seem to fly properly

Jon

[Pat Burke]

I was a medium flight golfer.
At Castle Pines, I added 8%.  Seemed to fit pretty well.  #10 at Castle Pines was another story.
Straight down hill, usually a little helping wind, going over water, and after a milkshake, I could never
figure out how far it was going on my approach.
The guys with higher ball flights were 10% longer, and some added more to their carry numbers.

Spin, launch angle, ball speed= dazed and confused for me

[Brett_Morrissy]

so at 500-1,000ft elevation is pretty much negligible - is that the consensus so far?

thanks for the article Bryan - certainly sounds as though a chilly day may have more impact than the elevation...

[Tom_Doak]

so at 500-1,000ft elevation is pretty much negligible - is that the consensus so far?

thanks for the article Bryan - certainly sounds as though a chilly day may have more impact than the elevation...

Yes, 1000 feet is a negligible difference.  1000 meters is signficant ... that's the elevation of Ballyneal and Sand Hills, and the ball travels quite a bit farther out there.  In many places, the combination of low humidity and elevation makes the added distance greater ... I think that's why you get 8% or 10% in Denver even though the physics says it should be 5%.

[MClutterbuck]

so at 500-1,000ft elevation is pretty much negligible - is that the consensus so far?

thanks for the article Bryan - certainly sounds as though a chilly day may have more impact than the elevation...

Yes, 1000 feet is a negligible difference.  1000 meters is signficant ... that's the elevation of Ballyneal and Sand Hills, and the ball travels quite a bit farther out there.  In many places, the combination of low humidity and elevation makes the added distance greater ... I think that's why you get 8% or 10% in Denver even though the physics says it should be 5%.

I recently read, and don't understand the physics of it nor if it is true, that really low humidity actually hurts distance. I don't remember where. Anyone read this?

[Matt_Cohn]

so at 500-1,000ft elevation is pretty much negligible - is that the consensus so far?

thanks for the article Bryan - certainly sounds as though a chilly day may have more impact than the elevation...

Yes, 1000 feet is a negligible difference.  1000 meters is signficant ... that's the elevation of Ballyneal and Sand Hills, and the ball travels quite a bit farther out there.  In many places, the combination of low humidity and elevation makes the added distance greater ... I think that's why you get 8% or 10% in Denver even though the physics says it should be 5%.

I recently read, and don't understand the physics of it nor if it is true, that really low humidity actually hurts distance. I don't remember where. Anyone read this?

This is correct, although the difference is minute.

The science is that, at any given temperature and pressure, there will always be a fixed number of molecules in any given volume.

Air is mainly composed of N₂ and O₂. When there's more humidity, there's more H₂O in the air. But because there can only be a fixed number of molecules in any given volume of air, when there are more H₂O, there are fewer N₂ and O₂ molecules.

H₂O molecules have less mass than N₂ or O₂ molecules because the hydrogens are so tiny. Therefore when O₂ and N₂ molecules are displaced, basically one-for-one, by H₂O molecules, the resulting air actually contains less mass and is therefore less dense. The golf ball flies through it with less resistance — although I think I remember reading that the difference was equivalent to either one inch or one foot on a 300-yard drive!

Incidentally, this the same reason the ball flies farther when it's warm — warmer gasses are less dense, so the ball encounters less resistance.

[Steve Lang]

 

IF you want some numbers, and aren't familiar with the Ideal gas Law (PV=nRT), go to following website

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/air-altitude-density-volume-d_195.html


look up air drag and friction

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/airfri.html

"At very low speeds for small particles, air resistance is approximately proportional to velocity"

"For higher velocites and larger objects the frictional drag is approximately proportional to the square of the velocity" { ... and proportional to the air density} by the equation :

f(drag) = - (1/2) x C x ρ x A x (v^2)

where ρ is the air density, A the cross-sectional area, and C is a numerical drag coefficient.

which is all why the density of the air is so important.  and if you're really adventurous, look at a psychometric chart to put density things lb per cubic feet) in terms of wet and dry bulb temperatures (% relative humidity)

[Brad Klein]

I wrote this up years ago, April 2009 in Golfweek. As I learned (?) by asking Frank Thomas, everything is variable: depends upon launch angle, humidity, NFL scores the night before, but it's basically 1.7% per 1,000 feet of elevation change, less as the club you hit gets shorter.

Playing distance: or, how far is 175 yards?
By Bradley S. Klein

You're standing over a shot that measures exactly 175 yards on the ground.
For most of us, that's an easy club to pull. An average male amateur might
select a 5-iron. A PGA Tour pro would probably hit a 7-iron or perhaps even
an 8-iron. An average female golfer might go for a 3- wood. The choice
obviously depends upon how far one hits the ball. But it also depends on how
far that 175 yards really is.

Compared to what? If you're playing golf in Denver, the shot will play
shorter than if you're playing in Death Valley, Calif. That's because air is
denser at 300 feet below sea level than at 5,000 feet above and thus offers
more resistance at the lower altitude. So there's more air to penetrate, in
effect, during the duration of the ball's flight when you're closer to sea
level - or under it.

What's the formula for calculating effective distance? Don't ask an engineer.
They'll just give you an engineer's answer. "It depends on launch angle and
spin rate," said Frank Thomas, formerly the USGA technical director and now
proprietor of his own firm, Frankly Consulting, in Chester, N.J. As Thomas
makes clear, effective distance is a function of a series of interactive
factors, including altitude, the vertical climb (or fall) of the shot,
humidity, wind and temperature. Each of these elements exercises a different
effect upon the golf ball's coefficient of lift and drag. Don't have time for
calculating differential equations in the middle of a round? Here's a quick
and dirty guide to figuring out effective distance. Note no. 1: these data
are my own non-linear extrapolations from USGA Research and Test Center
studies of driver distances and represent ballpark estimates at best. As with
everything else in golf, more research is needed.

For altitude, a good rule of thumb is two percent per 1,000 feet of
elevation. Actually, the figure is about 1.7 percent for drivers, probably a
little less for mid-irons given their higher spin rates and launch angles.
But ballpark estimates work well enough, so for each 1,000 feet of elevation
on that 175 yard shot, figure a 3 yard bonus. That means at 5,000 feet above sea level it will play like 160 yards.

Hot air is thinner than cold air, thereby offering less resistance and
allowing greater distance. On drives, the bonus approaches one yard for each
5-degree increment, less than that for a mid-iron. If that shot plays 175
yards at 75 degrees F., it will play about 170 at 115 degrees and 180 at 35
degrees.

Humidity has a much smaller effect on distance than either altitude or
temperature, but it does count, even if it's barely discernible. Contrary to
conventional wisdom, humid air is thinner and drier air is denser. Note no. 2
(to certain TV tournament commentators): the ball actually flies farther in
humid conditions than in arid ones. If folks think the ball travels better
when they play in the desert, that's a function of altitude, not humidity.

Wind is the obvious wild card in any golf game. Interestingly enough, on long
shot (with a lower trajectory), it's effect on roll actually exceeds its
effect on carry. For that 175-yard shot, the effect is about the same, but a
fair number for calculation is +/- one yard for each mile per hour of
head/tail wind. Into the teeth of a 15 mile per hour breeze the shot plays
190; straight downwind it plays 160..

Let's not forget the vertical climb or fall of the shot. We all know downhill
shots travel farther and uphill shots travel less. But how much? This one is
very tough to estimate because it varies so much with the shot trajectory.
Shots with a higher angle of launch (and descent) will be affected less.
Confused? Figure the difference at about 1.5 percent per 10 feet of elevation
change (Note no.3: it helps to be able to eyeball elevation shifts). So,
let's consider a 175-yard par-3. Uphill to a green 30 feet above the tee, the
shot plays 183 yards; downhill to a green 30 feet below the tee, it plays 167.

It's all pretty simple to calculate. Who says golf isn't rocket science?