As I get better, the wind becomes more of a factor.

[Peter Pallotta]

Over the last year, I've played more golf than I have in probably the last 5 combined. That along with finally having found a swing key that seems to work has led to my average scores/handicap coming down. While I'm still not a very good golfer, I think I'm trending in the right direction, at least. But I'm finding that, as I strike the ball better and more consistently, I've started noticing the wind more than I ever have, and it is impacting my scores more than it ever has.

This has led me to wonder if some of the great/classic and wind-blown courses we originally thought of so highly -- and today continue to be best appreciated -- by the better-than-average golfer (not that I'm one of those yet).  I wonder if some of the famous (and more so, the not so famous) GB&I links courses are most highly valued by those who can understand and appreciate the role of the wind.   

I don't play most of my golf on what would be called a windy site, but on certain days and at certain times of the day it does blow, and sometimes quite hard. When I was a worse ball striker/golfer, the wind was just one on many factors involved in my poor shots -- and so I eventually stopped really paying attention (other than taking more club on approaches if the wind was in my face). But over the last couple of weeks, it feels like I can clearly chalk up my best 9-hole scores (a 41 and a 42) to the near windless conditions, and my worst 18-hole score (a 91) to the quite windy conditions.  Both during the round and afterwards, I can note the times that well struck shots had not been properly planned with the wind conditions in mind, and so went awry; and the times when my lack of a low flying pitch that stops quickly meant that my lofted PW got knocked down short; and the times when the affects of my still too numerous mis-hits were magnified by the conditions.   

In short, and I know this isn't a new/startling observation, the wind is and is experienced as more of a "factor" as I get better, and I assume that this is true for others and that it will remain a "constant", i.e. that I will notice it and appreciate it more and more the better and more consistent my ball striking gets. I will be curious to see whether, when I play new courses for the first time, my impression of them will now more properly "factor in" the wind.

In terms of "architecture" -- it strikes me that architects who are fortunate enough to work on a windy site then need the additional good fortune of having decent golfers being in the majority those who play the course. 

Peter 

[Tommy Williamsen]

Peter, I am finding that as I have gotten older and don't generate the same swing speed, that the wind plays more with my ball regardless of how well I strike it. I have a friend who is an 18 who has a heck of a time in the wind because he fades/slices and the wind kills him.
maybe you notice the wind more because you expect you ball to go where you are aimed. Generally speaking though the more solid the strike the less the wind bothers it

[Peter Pallotta]

Tommy - thanks. I understand your point, and in turn I don't think I made my own point very clear.

What I meant was: as I start to hit the ball more solidly and on a more consistently solid basis, I am starting to better understand and appreciate the relationship between a course's design/architecture and the given wind conditions.

Like your friend, when I was fading/slicing more often, and when I couldn't even imagine flighting the ball down a bit lower, the wind killed me too; but I felt that it was to be expected, and that it (the wind) was simply magnifying the faults I already had and simply adding to the poor results. I was so busy getting killed by the wind that I never paid attention to how the golf holes might play differently because of the wind. 

As you say, I find that when I hit the ball more solidly, the wind affects it less. At the same time, though, I can
now better appreciate and understand and factor in how the wind does affect my shots, and how the design relates to the wind as part of a matrix vis a vis my shot selections. 

In short, as I get to be a bit better (but still average) golfer, I think I may be able to better understand how a given design works really well (or not well at all) in the context of wind. 

Peter

[Sean_A]

I don't think the wind is more of a factor, its just that golfers notice it more the better they get because they have more tools to counter the problem.  Hacks may not care because wind is just one of many things screwing with their game. I know that I enjoy golf less when the wind really cranks up to 15-20ish mph. I play in a good wind so often that its a bit of a drag.  10-12 mph is plenty of wind for me and it is a real treat when there is very little wind. 


Ciao

[jeffwarne]

I don't think the wind is more of a factor, its just that golfers notice it more the better they get because they have more tools to counter the problem.  Hacks may not care because wind is just one of many things screwing with their game. I know that I enjoy golf less when the wind really cranks up to 15-20ish mph. I play in a good wind so often that its a bit of a drag.  10-12 mph is plenty of wind for me and it is a real treat when there is very little wind. 


Ciao

Funny
I enjoy 15-20 the most (which is a lot of wind)
More than that can be a pain but sometimes fun.
When I play in the UK/Ireland with little-no wind(0-7 mph) I rarely play well as my imagination is not fueled and I tend to play "golf swing" rather than visualize and feel shots

[Garland Bayley]

If you are unsure where the ball is going to go, there is little need to worry about the wind. Especially if your best shots are solidly struck, as you admire the result no matter where the wind takes it.


And when did 15 to 20 mph become a heavy wind?

[Sean_A]

I wouldn't say 15-20 is a heavy wind, but it makes for difficult playing conditions...3-4 clubs and lord knows how many yards for cross wind    Its the sort of wind that will expose a poorly designed course for lack of space.

Ciao

[Thomas Dai]

The wind can be a great friend when playing. It's usually a total pain when practicing though (a reason to play more and not practice maybe!). But a strong wind with heavy rain, ugg, clubhouse time.
Atb

[jeffwarne]

If you are unsure where the ball is going to go, there is little need to worry about the wind. Especially if your best shots are solidly struck, as you admire the result no umatter where the wind takes it.


And when did 15 to 20 mph become a heavy wind?

It becomes a heavy wind nearly EVERY time an. American plays in 15-20 and reports it as 30-40

[cary lichtenstein]

I loved the wind, as a moderately better player, I would hit different shots, so for me, wind was always my friend until it got to a 3-4 club wind, then it took over my game

[Peter Pallotta]

I think those of you, like Cary and Sean, who are good golfers might've long ago forgotten the psychology of the average golfer.  Indeed, for top-flight golfers like Jeff -- who no doubt took up the game in their very early teens or even before -- that psychology is almost totally alien, since learning/gaining skills at anything happens a lot differently and is experienced a lot differently when we are youngsters than when we're in our 20s and 30s. If you took up the game late and/or are not very good as an adult, the wind can only be your enemy -- but an enemy that you simply get used to ignoring, since not only can't you beat him and don't even know how to begin to try, but you're also defeating yourself at almost every turn independently of that wind. (Unlike a 10 year old on a Scottish links or a 12 year old in west Texas, the adult doesn't automatically/unconsciously learn how to play in the wind -- and certainly not liked he learned to ride a bike when he himself was a youngster.) And so the last thing on your mind, as a golfer and as a fan of good gca, is how the architect has "engaged" with the wind and has planned to use it/work with it in his design, much as he has the natural landforms. It is only as I begin to get a little bit better and hit the ball a little more solidly that I have started to pay attention to the wind as a "factor" during my round and in the design of the course itself.   
Peter           

[Tommy Williamsen]

I don't understand and the "wind is my friend" idea. I just don't happen to agree with it. Wind is a capricious and fickle friend. You can't alway count on it to do what you would expect. I have played hundreds or rounds on links courses and do enjoy the ground game. I like to flight the ball at different heights. It takes a good architect to include the wind in the design. But even a great architect can't include every possible situation. I have had following winds knock my ball down. I have had left to right winds take no effect and seemingly mild winds take the ball far off line. I enjoy the wind because of its capriciousness not because of its consistency. Playing in the wind is an art form and one that I may never quite master.

[David Davis]

Peter,


I play 90% of my golf in windy to very windy conditions and I've become accustomed to it. I love it. Take it away and I'm a bit of a flounder, especially in the beginning. It's hard for me to adjust to playing in a vacuum. I realize how much I have grown to rely on the wind. Sure this could very well be mental but I think what happens for me is that it takes my focus away from everything else and that added challenge allows me to execute more playable shots and perhaps mentally have an excuse if they are not executed perfectly. I would agree that there is not a links course I've ever played I would want to play without the wind.


This will sounds strange perhaps but if I'm playing in a tournament I've always had my best results in high to very high wind and rain. I do have this figured out however. I realize that the more miserable everyone else is out on the course, the more they don't want to be there, the happier I am (in tournament competition). Hearing all the wining and seeing all these + hcpers mentally fall apart just makes me think to myself, one less person to compete with!


From an architecture perspective I wonder quite a lot if the old links archies ever really took prevailing winds into consideration as much as we give them credit for sometimes. in fact, that's interesting enough for a new thread as far as I'm concerned.

[Matthew Petersen]

Seems to me there's a correlation but not necessarily causation thing here. Better players are more likely to play often (and people who play more often are more likely to be better) so they have more chances to see a course multiple times and really experience it in different winds.


However, it is true too (as you say) that a player who reasonably expects to be able to hit greens in regulation will be more aware of how a 400 yd hole changes with  breeze behind, no breeze, and a breeze into than a player who doesn't hit the ball solidly very often and doesn't ever really expect to get on a 400 yd par 4 in two shots no matter the wind.

[jeffwarne]

I think those of you, like Cary and Sean, who are good golfers might've long ago forgotten the psychology of the average golfer.  Indeed, for top-flight golfers like Jeff -- who no doubt took up the game in their very early teens or even before -- that psychology is almost totally alien, since learning/gaining skills at anything happens a lot differently and is experienced a lot differently when we are youngsters than when we're in our 20s and 30s. If you took up the game late and/or are not very good as an adult, the wind can only be your enemy -- but an enemy that you simply get used to ignoring, since not only can't you beat him and don't even know how to begin to try, but you're also defeating yourself at almost every turn independently of that wind. (Unlike a 10 year old on a Scottish links or a 12 year old in west Texas, the adult doesn't automatically/unconsciously learn how to play in the wind -- and certainly not liked he learned to ride a bike when he himself was a youngster.) And so the last thing on your mind, as a golfer and as a fan of good gca, is how the architect has "engaged" with the wind and has planned to use it/work with it in his design, much as he has the natural landforms. It is only as I begin to get a little bit better and hit the ball a little more solidly that I have started to pay attention to the wind as a "factor" during my round and in the design of the course itself.   
Peter         

Peter,
I grew up in Augusta which is virtually windless most of the time.
As a result, and being influenced by Nicklaus "there are no hazards in the air" philosophy, i never learned to hit it low.
I moved to Hilton Head Island in my mid 20's and learned to flight the ball properly there as most of my golf had to be played on cold windy days when no one else was.
Along the way I learned lag, trajectory and ball control from shortening my swing to control spin and knock the ball down lower (which you had to do with woods and a spinny ball)


The main reason I enjoy the wind is everyone needs their short game sharp in the wind, and many lose patience or simply lack the ability to cope with the wind.
At least 1/2 the field is done before they tee off.


I also have ADD and need the wind to put my mind on ball flight, not mechanics.

[Thomas Dai]

..... being influenced by Nicklaus "there are no hazards in the air" philosophy, i never learned to hit it low.
I moved to Hilton Head Island in my mid 20's and learned to flight the ball properly there as most of my golf had to be played on cold windy days when no one else was.
Along the way I learned lag, trajectory and ball control from shortening my swing to control spin and knock the ball down lower (which you had to do with woods and a spinny ball)

The main reason I enjoy the wind is everyone needs their short game sharp in the wind, and many lose patience or simply lack the ability to cope with the wind.
At least 1/2 the field is done before they tee off.

Jeff,


Given how so many trees have got so much taller and wider with more overhanging branches etc as they've grown over the decades I wonder if he were still playing would JN still believe there are "no hazards in the sky"? As an aside, I recall Tom Kite playing a par-3 over water and his ball striking a bird in flight resulting in his ball dropping into the pond!


I know where your coming from with your comments about wind, short game and patience and a bunch of the field being done before tee-off. Nicely put


Atb

[Doug Siebert]

15-20 mph is a heavy wind? What are you smoking?

I'm one of those weirdos who really likes playing in a strong wind. The wind was gusting up pretty good at the 5th Major early Saturday morning (probably 30 mph or so) when we started our morning round at 9am. It kind of energized me, and we were off to a lead in our match, but my game faded as the wind did. I think often the wind causes me to think more about my shot. Also I had tweaked my back the previous day and a 3/4 punch shot didn't hurt it while a full swing did. So it was an advantage to me to have to play that shot when everyone else was dealing with the wind, but having to continue to play a lot of punches when the wind was down and everyone could play normally didn't play in my favor...

I did hit my best shot of the weekend on Red #2, punched a 4 iron into that wind to 15 feet. Didn't make the birdie but I didn't need it even giving strokes on that hole. It is definitely a beast when the wind blows that direction!

[MCirba]

I enjoy 15-20 the most (which is a lot of wind)
More than that can be a pain but sometimes fun.
When I play in the UK/Ireland with little-no wind(0-7 mph) I rarely play well as my imagination is not fueled and I tend to play "golf swing" rather than visualize and feel shots

I agree, Jeff.

Up to a point I have played some of my very best rounds in the wind for precisely what you stated; I play by feel and not trying to think of swing keys.    Well stated.