"What's the best golf ball to play in cold weather?" and "Will my golf ball still perform when it's cold outside?" are a couple of questions that typically bubble up this time of year, so we went back to an earlier blog post to get some expert advice and insight from our golf ball R&D team. 

As for the first question around what ball to play, the advice is pretty straightforward. Your best course of action is to play the same golf ball you typically play.

It's a common misconception that you should switch to a lower compression golf ball in colder conditions. This practice is meant to compensate for the increase in compression that occurs when a ball gets colder. If you play with balls that are at near room temperature as we suggest, this becomes a moot point. Furthermore, modern golf ball models are not sold in a choice of compressions like they were in the wound ball days, so changing compression would necessitate changing to a different model, which may have playing characteristics that are different from what you are used to.

Now, when it comes to the impact cold weather might have, it's really two separate issues to consider with regards to temperature and golf ball performance: the temperature of the air and the temperature of the golf ball.

Factor One: Cold Air

When a golf ball flies through colder air, it loses distance because cold air is denser than warm air. Colder air increases both the lift and drag forces acting on the ball, which results in a slightly higher and shorter trajectory. There is nothing a golfer can do about the effect of air temperature, besides taking it into account when planning the next shot.

Factor Two: Cold Golf Balls

Distance loss can also result from playing with cold golf balls. If a ball gets too cold, its materials can lose some resiliency, resulting in a reduction of initial velocity off the club face. Keep in mind, excessive heat can also have an effect.

To negate this effect, we recommend playing with room temperature golf balls, and storing your golf balls indoors at room temperature throughout the year. Avoid leaving your golf balls in extremely cold or hot conditions, i.e., in the trunk of your car during the winter or summer. If your golf balls are exposed to these conditions, as long as you let them return to a normal temperature gradually, they will perform the same.

If you’re playing in extremely cold conditions, it’s also a good idea to rotate a couple of golf balls hole-by-hole, keeping the idle one in a warm pocket in your jacket or pants.

Other Factors:

The exact amount of distance loss due to cold temperatures is difficult to state due to a large number of variables. However, the other factors that typically accompany cold-weather golf (i.e. cold muscles, wearing more layers, frozen ground, wind, etc.) might have a bigger impact on a golfer’s overall performance. For the air temperature effect alone, figure on a distance loss of about 1.5% per 20°F reduction in temperature. For example, for a 50°day versus a 70°day, on a 200 yard shot you would lose about 3 yards.

As always, we hope you all find this insight helpful and here's to an early Spring!

#TeamTitleist

Payne Stewart switched to a softer ball when he played at Hazeltine in MN.
He won!