October marks the beginning of a much-needed cooldown for much of North America. If you live in the Southwest, where scorching heat has punished golfers, a return to tees that start with a 6 or 7 can’t come soon enough.
This is the time of year to get as much golf in as possible before the bottom falls out and you have to reach for a beanie and hand warmers. Speaking of wild temperature swings, in the latest episode of waves Fully featured podcastcrew discussed how extreme temperatures can affect the golf balls in your bag.
“Below 55 degrees is when you start to see degradation,” co-host Gene Parente said. “And it’s not just a ball that happens out of the blue in 55-degree weather. In certain parts of the country, I tell people this all the time: If it’s cold, don’t keep your golf balls in your trunk or golf bag. Bring them inside. The core gets cold and takes an hour to warm up.”
How far are we talking? According to a study conducted by GOLF Top 100 Instructor Andrew Rice, he found that golfers lose approx two meters with every club in their bag for every 10 degree drop in temperature below 75 degrees. The opposite plays like golfers win two meters with any club over 75 degrees.
Rice’s test was performed on him Coaches Camp Conference 2018 using a TrackMan launch monitor to capture the data. While the average is two yards across the board, the carry delta is reduced to just 1.3 yards per 10 degrees, according to the findingswith pitching wedge.
Because we know graphs are the easiest way to consume data, here’s a look at Rice’s findings for golf balls hit from 30 degrees to 110 degrees.
| Temperature (Fahrenheit) | driver (yard) | 4-iron (yards) | 7-iron (yards) | PW (yards) |
| 30° | 242.4 | 182.8 | 152.8 | 122.8 |
| 40° | 244.3 | 184.6 | 154.6 | 124.6 |
| 50° | 246.2 | 186.4 | 156.4 | 126.4 |
| 60° | 248.1 | 188.2 | 158.2 | 128.2 |
| 70° | 250 | 190 | 160 | 130 |
| 80° | 251.9 | 191.8 | 161.7 | 131.3 |
| 90° | 253.8 | 193.6 | 163.4 | 132.6 |
| 100° | 255.7 | 195.4 | 165.1 | 133.9 |
| 110° | 257.6 | 197.2 | 166.8 | 135.2 |
To avoid losing distance, leave your golf balls inside during the winter and summer months when temperatures swing wildly in both directions. It will save you some headaches during the course.
