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Doug Siebert

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Wind
« Reply #25 on: April 08, 2008, 03:03:01 AM »
Lou, quick summary:

higher elevation, higher air temperature, lower barometric pressure, higher humidity = air that is less dense

lower elevation, lower air temperature, lower barometric pressure, lower humidity = air that is more dense

The golf ball travels further in air that is less dense.  You'll notice it a lot if you play in Denver versus sea level, you'll notice it in the difference between 90* and 50*, if you pay close attention you can tell the difference between playing under a low pressure and a high pressure weather system, but you won't tell the difference humidity makes because its just a couple yards off the driver between the driest and wettest air you'll find at a given location.

If you want to play with various elevations, temperatures, etc. to see how they compare here's a link below.  This doesn't translate directly into changes in distance but you can at least see the magnitude of the change.  For instance I plugged in the numbers for the round I played on Saturday.  I'm at about 700 ft here and the temp was 61, the dewpoint 34 and the pressure 29.95.  No, I didn't memorize this, I know a site that shows the hourly conditions here for the last few days ;)  It shows a relative density of 96.97%.  That's relative to standard sea level, which is defined as 59*, 29.92", and 0% humidity....though 57* temp and dewpoint with 30" barometric pressure comes out to -20 ft and probably more closely approximates an cool day at Pebble Beach or TOC.

Now if I took a warm summer day here with a bit of a low pressure system moving through, I might plug in 90*, 29.50", and a dewpoint of 72* and I get 89.75%, so the air is about 11% less dense on those days.  I don't actually fly it 11% further on such a day than I do at TOC so like I said you can't calculate your distance but you can at least compare the magnitude of changes in conditions.

http://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_da.htm
My hovercraft is full of eels.

Tom Birkert

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Wind
« Reply #26 on: April 08, 2008, 05:11:37 AM »
Without wanting to remove this too far from the original topic, I certainly have anecdotal evidence that cold weather (and indeed a cold wind) reduce overall distance of the golf ball.

In winter my home courses play a lot longer than they do in summer. In my opinion this is due to wetter ground which restricts roll, lower air temperature and stronger winds. I will generally be playing 2 clubs less in summer than winter.

Adam Clayman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Wind
« Reply #27 on: April 08, 2008, 10:55:09 AM »
Unusual, or hard to predict carry distances, are an important part of a courses mojo.
 
I know of plenty of site specific, and weather specific scenarios, combined with a specific ball flight, that require counter-intuitive predictability.

They exist and require a graduate school awareness level.

Sully, If I teach you what they are, what percentage of winnings can expect as a gift, next year on tour?
"It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing your whole life." - Mickey Mantle

JESII

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Wind
« Reply #28 on: April 08, 2008, 11:14:10 AM »
Adam,

I can assure that if mis-judging downdrafts was the difference between stardom and butt-blisters for me you would be entitled to 90%...

Give it a shot...

Dan Herrmann

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Wind
« Reply #29 on: April 08, 2008, 01:58:15 PM »
I have a rule of thumb - If I start feeling downdrafts, I get myself off the course because a thunderstorm usually follows.

Mark Chaplin

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Wind
« Reply #30 on: April 08, 2008, 05:41:49 PM »
Being used to a breezy course, one of the toughest journeys when learning a new links course is just how much the wind affects short game and putting. There are plenty of windy inland courses but the wind rarely has an affect on the green, where as at Deal I've seen 20ft "straight" putts have a hole width or more break due to the crosswind.

Sean - your earlier photo confirms you are barking mad, you should pour some coffee and kummel and relax in the clubhouse discussing the finer points of cricket rather than subjecting yourself to such conditions.

Mind you my sanity is in doubt after running the Paris marathon at the weekend, all 252lbs of me!
Cave Nil Vino

Patrick_Mucci

Re: Wind
« Reply #31 on: April 08, 2008, 05:56:46 PM »
Wayno,

Forget what you've been reading.

Just find the airport nearest the golf course you're referencing and it's a pretty good bet that the runway directions will indicate where the prevailing winds are from.

I started a thread on the relationship between nearby airport runways and routing and hole design several years ago.

Prevailing winds are just that, prevailing, but not limited to a sole direction.

As to the Philly area, day in and day out, the weather generally tends to move from the west to the east.

Some courses, especially those near large bodies of water, are lucky and tend to have more than one prevailing wind on any given day.

Newport comes to mind.

Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Wind
« Reply #32 on: April 08, 2008, 06:27:15 PM »
Being used to a breezy course, one of the toughest journeys when learning a new links course is just how much the wind affects short game and putting. There are plenty of windy inland courses but the wind rarely has an affect on the green, where as at Deal I've seen 20ft "straight" putts have a hole width or more break due to the crosswind.

Sean - your earlier photo confirms you are barking mad, you should pour some coffee and kummel and relax in the clubhouse discussing the finer points of cricket rather than subjecting yourself to such conditions.

Mind you my sanity is in doubt after running the Paris marathon at the weekend, all 252lbs of me!

Chappers

After to waking up to this:


I couldn't wait to hit the links.  The round started off brilliantly:


But we could always smell Scottish BS in the air.  Its awful when the wind comes out of the north!

Do you fancy a game anytime soon?  I will take a shot per kilo of weight difference - ha!


Ciao
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

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