Do warm golf balls\u2014assuming identical brand, age, compression, etc., and a consistent 80-degree temperature\u2014 go farther than cold (say, 40-degree temperature) golf balls when struck with a consistent and equal force? \u2014Old Golfer Needs Advantage<\/p>\n
I\u2019m of two minds about this question, Golfer. On the one hand, I like its straightforward, old-school charm\u2014it\u2019s the kind of applied-science question Marilyn vos Savant might have answered in Parade magazine back in 1985. On the other, I know there are guys out there who\u2019ve spent decades poring over the minutiae of golf-ball physics like JFK buffs studying the Zapruder film and will pounce on any errors I make with the glee of a flat-earther discovering the U.N. logo.<\/p>\n
These waters are made even more perilous by the fact that golf science is like early Christianity, with competing sects all disagreeing on obscure points of doctrine and perennially accusing each other of heresy. It\u2019s like that theological debate from The Name of the Rose\u2014no matter what you say, someone will tell you you\u2019re wrong. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we do know: All else being equal, the ball really does carry farther in warm weather than in cold weather. Moreover, there\u2019s actually a rule forbidding players to artificially warm their balls (yeah, yeah, laugh it up) during a round. So a heated ball must go farther, right? <\/p>\n
Well, no. The ball goes farther because the air is warmer, not because the ball is. Warm air is less dense, offering less resistance to the ball\u2019s travel. There are some minor variations due to the temperature of the ball itself\u2014it seems to be harder for the club face to impart spin to a cold ball, for example, which reduces lift and shortens drives, while an excessively warm ball can soften and rebound off the club face less energetically, which can also shorten drives\u2014but the temperature of the air has a much more pronounced effect.<\/p>\n
Because golfers are monomaniacal lunatics for whom no aspect of the game is too insignificant to waste a month of your life on, the effects of ball temperature on shot distance have been tested in the real world at least three times. In these studies, heating the ball gave results ranging from very slightly longer to very slightly shorter, while chilling the ball consistently reduced shot length. In other words, you can\u2019t improve your game by preheating your golf balls, but you can definitely make your opponent\u2019s game worse by freezing theirs. It\u2019s not even against the rules! (Unless you get caught.) Good luck!<\/p>\n