Humidity and the golf ball

[bobblehead]

I was golfing yesterday(42* with humidex) and could swear my ball was getting less carry especially on my irons. I guess this would make sense with the density of the air. Did anyone else notice this or maybe I was hallucinating and having another heat stroke

[BullDog]

I was golfing yesterday(42* with humidex) and could swear my ball was getting less carry especially on my irons. I guess this would make sense with the density of the air. Did anyone else notice this or maybe I was hallucinating and having another heat stroke

I don't know... I played Friday and Saturday and didn't notice any loss of distance. What I did notice, though, and if anyone has any tips, I'd appreciate it, but I found that I had a very hard time maintaining a decent grip on the club lots of the time. I changed gloves every 6 holes, and no, I don't swing like I'm trying to crush it 5,000 yards.

Would "rain gloves" be good on an extremely warm and humid day?

It sure was an experience and a half out there...

[bbad]

I don't know... I played Friday and Saturday and didn't notice any loss of distance. What I did notice, though, and if anyone has any tips, I'd appreciate it, but I found that I had a very hard time maintaining a decent grip on the club lots of the time. I changed gloves every 6 holes, and no, I don't swing like I'm trying to crush it 5,000 yards.

Would "rain gloves" be good on an extremely warm and humid day?

It sure was an experience and a half out there...

Rain gloves work very well when it's really hot out. Had to play a match yesterday afternoon and would have lost after a few holes without them.....

I did notice the ball losing some distance. I was about a half a club shorter.

[jvincent]

Ditto the recommendation for rain gloves. It might has well have been raining with the amount of sweat coming off my arms yesterday.

[The Saint]

I carried three gloves with me. I switched after nine along with my hat. Although I have rain gloves I didn't think to wear them. I also take me glove off after my tee shot and put it back on for my subsequent shots.

[jvincent]

I also take me glove off after my tee shot and put it back on for my subsequent shots.

That was the beautiful part of the rain gloves. I just kept them on and used them to wipe the forehead, arms, etc.

Since rain gloves grip better when they are wet, there was no problem keeping them on and letting them get soaked.

That being said, I did switch my grips last night from Winns (this year's experiment) back to full cord. Bring on the heat and humidity.

[oldmaninblack]

I also played Saturday. Ditto the slight loss of distance.

I don't use a glove, so I have to keep my hands dry. Full cord grips are the best answer. I have Golf Pride Tour Velvet full cord on my woods and had no trouble ... TourWrap on the irons and they were slippery.

[ros_bif]

i've played the last 4 or 5 days and haven't noticed any distance changes..only thing i noticed was that my driver & 16 deg hybrid were flying a little low...but i figured that was my fault

yesterday I was on the range and a guy was complaining that his trajectory was flat b/c of the weather.

anybody know the 'official' answer on humidity and ball flight?

[BC MIST]

I was golfing yesterday(42* with humidex) and could swear my ball was getting less carry especially on my irons. I guess this would make sense with the density of the air. Did anyone else notice this or maybe I was hallucinating and having another heat stroke

At the risk of sounding dense, I think the air is less dense under the current weather conditions. When air is heated it expands and rises,(less dense) and when it is cooled, it contracts and falls(more dense). So the density of the air will allow for longer shots on days like the most recent.

Secondly, we all know that cold golf balls in the late fall do not fly nearly as far as warmer golf balls do when it is hot, therefore, the ball should fly farther now. I normally hit a seven iron a modest 145 yards or so. Yesterday, I carried one 160 into a slight breeze and several of my iron shots flew farther than normal.

Just before playing a shot I wet my hands with a wet towell and then dry them. And, I take a drink of cold water after I play a shot because if I do this before I play, I sweat even more.

Lastly, I fill several water bottles(3.5 litres total) to about 90% capacity and freeze them overnight. Before I play I fill the rest with water and between shots I take a few sips of the ice cold water. Probably cools me a little internally and have never had a problem with feeling light headed on the course. Played Upper Canada on Friday with two friends who drank very little and they wiped out and their scores ballooned starting early in the back nine. With my ice water I felt great.

[sharkshooter]

Here is one person's attempt at a scientific answer ...

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives...3045.Ph.q.html

[dbleber]

I only use one glove. I take it off after evershot and don't have a problem with it. My right hand gets a bit slippy, but I carry a towel and just wipe everything off before I hit. As for distance I would say that I too am hitting farther and would have to relate that to the ball being nice and hot.
BCMist: I take 1 bottle of water and fill it up along the way, since my course has common sense and competent staff, they keep clean/cold water on the course. Any course that doesn't do this is just lazy and are milking the scare from last year. Anyways your right, you have to keep drinking on the course but there is noway your carrying your bag if you have 3.5L of water in there!
Denny

[broken27]

I only use one glove. I take it off after evershot and don't have a problem with it. My right hand gets a bit slippy, but I carry a towel and just wipe everything off before I hit. As for distance I would say that I too am hitting farther and would have to relate that to the ball being nice and hot.
BCMist: I take 1 bottle of water and fill it up along the way, since my course has common sense and competent staff, they keep clean/cold water on the course. Any course that doesn't do this is just lazy and are milking the scare from last year. Anyways your right, you have to keep drinking on the course but there is noway your carrying your bag if you have 3.5L of water in there!
Denny

I carry my bag with 4L of water in there. Just means no room for beers... Usually I'll freeze one 2L bottle the night before, and near-freeze the other bottle. By the time I'm done the first one, the second is perfect...

Why do courses not keep water on them? Is it that stupid West Nile thing? I haven't heard of a single person getting the damn virus, nor do I know much about it. Is it really such a big risk?

Dan

[jvincent]

Why do courses not keep water on them? Is it that stupid West Nile thing? I haven't heard of a single person getting the damn virus, nor do I know much about it. Is it really such a big risk?

Dan

Two or three summers ago there was an incident where the water coolers at a course were contaminated from not being cleaned properly. A bunch of people got sick and I believe one person died as a result.

The reaction (over-reaction IMHO) was that pretty much all courses yanked their water coolers based on a recommendation by an official organization, can't remember which one.

All that really needed to be done was to ensure that the coolers are properly cleaned daily.

[Kilroy]

The National Golf Course Owners Association NGCOA

IMO it is far riskier to NOT provide water on the course. Dehydration is serious stuff, and golfers sometimes forget or don't want to lug enough water with them. Of course nobody to blame but yourself for that, so I guess liability-wise it's makes sense, but I'd think a warning label on the coolers (for the lawyers) and a good cleaning regiment would do.

[Eldred]

Just got back from first my visit to the Chateau Cartier... If you don't own any Cool-max golf shirts, go get some, they work wonder in this sauna weather

The starter gave us four bottle of ice cold water after we've hit our first tee ball, so that was nice.

My two gloves were soaked by the 9th hole, so went "commando" or a la Fredie Couple... with my new Lamkins cross-line tackier grips, I find I didn't need the glove with this hot condition. I just use the towel before each hit.

In the term of ball flight, we hit them pretty long today. My buddy was hitting the 3 wood in excess of 250 yrds. Likely the heat has loosen us up a bit... It's the last four holes that really tested each of our four-some stamina. And that dreaded par 3 155 yards where the green was carved on the side of the hill more than two story high.

[dbleber]

Two or three summers ago there was an incident where the water coolers at a course were contaminated from not being cleaned properly. A bunch of people got sick and I believe one person died as a result.

The reaction (over-reaction IMHO) was that pretty much all courses yanked their water coolers based on a recommendation by an official organization, can't remember which one.

All that really needed to be done was to ensure that the coolers are properly cleaned daily.

That story turned out to be a load of BS. It was one person in the states who got sick and after they did the investigation it wasn't even the water that did it. Courses jumped on this band wagon as a reason not to provide water and pay the extra staff for the up keep. For shame,as Homer would say

[jvincent]

That story turned out to be a load of BS. It was one person in the states who got sick and after they did the investigation it wasn't even the water that did it. Courses jumped on this band wagon as a reason not to provide water and pay the extra staff for the up keep. For shame,as Homer would say

Wow, I never heard that it was bogus.

Thankfully the course I play nearly all of my rounds at still has their water coolers.

[Golfpeasant]

I agree BC MIST, but I know in Vegas my ball goes farther than here. Both in air, and HUGE roll from the wonderful fairways. Dry heat vs wet heat?