Conference 7.286::golf

My experience is they all crack in 20 degree temperature except what else but
Topflite. Yellow is best in case there is a light snow flurey so you can locate
it. White can't be found in snow.

That's the spirit!

			Regards Phil

    Re: .1,
    
    I've had just the opposite experience.....Topflites seem to be the most
    easily cracked balls!!  I have cracked four (4) of them out of six
    balls that I've cracked in the past 4 years (one was a Maxfli and one
    was a Pinnacle).  Each incident was with the temperature around 25
    degrees or colder.
    
    I usually try to use the lowest compression balls I can find when
    playing winter golf (don't know if this makes any sense....) and have
    had success hitting Ladies Titleists (I prefer them to Flying Ladies
    'cause the aren't PINK!!!!).....they feel less like rocks in the
    freezing cold.
    
    I'm going down to New Seabury (MA) for my annual fall/winter tournament
    next weekend and intend on trying Balatas (Tour Titleists) this time
    around.  During the summer I use 100 compression Titleist DT's....can't
    afford to go through 3 or more balls a round using Tours!!
    
    I'll let you know if the Balata experiment is a success.
    
    
    Nelly

    I also like to use 80 compression balls on the days that it dips
    into the 50's out here on the left coast. Otherwise, I always use
    90's. 
        I had an experience with cracking balls but can't talk about
    it in this notesfile !!! 8^)
    
    Mad Hacker

    Don't know if it is appropriate to talk about handling of my balls in
    this Notes file.  But, once in another life, I played in about 25
    degree weather and did not crack my balls.  I played with two balls,
    one in my pocket, next to the handwarmer.  Each shot, I exchanged my
    balls (I know that the Rules of Golf do not allow this), but hitting
    a warm ball prevents cracking it - I think.  I did not exchange on
    putts, giving the ball that I was going to hit on the next tee, a
    longer period of time to warm up.
    
    Now let's see - what compression should I use today, since the
    temperature is only 92 degrees in LA?
    
    Big Mac

    
    Looks like VTers won't have to worry about swinging out in the cold
    this year.  Two indoor facilities have opened up.
    
    The first has several nets, a sand trap, and a putting course, a full
    pro-shop, and a couple of the local pros will be giving lessons there.
    
    The second is called Pizza-put.  It's a pizza shop, with a minature
    golf course and a few driving nets.
    
    Shane
    

    Asked Dan Diskin, the Pro at Stow Acres, what he felt was the
    appropriate ball to use in cold weather......
    
    He didn't think that compression made that big a deal....but felt that
    Balata balls would be preferable to surlyn.  
    
    
    HTH,
    
    Nelly

    re: .6
    
    a balata ball will give best results in warm weather, now if one
    is only looking for "what won't crack" in cold weather I'm not
    sure...but I do know that balata balls perform best in warm
    weather...in fact the warmer it is (app. above 70 deg.) the
    better they seem to perform...MHO
    
    

    I use Titleist Tour 100's when the temps reach above
    70 or thereabouts. I have not found balata covered
    balls to peform well in cooler tempuratures.  They
    get a rockhard feel in New England winter temps and
    do not travel well.
    
    I've found a Titleist DT 90 to work quite well during
    the "winter tour".  
    
    Swinging til Spring,
    Dave

    Mac -
    
        I believe the USGA ruled that warming a ball in a pocket containing
    a handwarmer is legal because you are carrying the handwarmer for your
    personal comfort, the ball getting warmer is incidental to that.
    
    Mad Hacker

    
    re .9
    
    Warming it may be legal, but switching the ball in mid-hole is not
    legal. Actually I believe that if you switch balls at anytime during
    a round, legally they all have to be the same type???
    
    --Bob
    

    Re: balatas in winter?????
    
    I played Stow Wednesday afternoon....the temperature when I finished
    was in the 30's.  I used Titleist 90 and 100 HVC's, 90 & 100 DT's, and
    90 & 100 Tours during the course of 14 holes of play.  My
    non-scientific findings were:
    
    The HVC's (my preferred ball during the summer) sounded and felt like
    rocks.....the DT's just felt like rocks.... and the Tours,although
    playing considerably shorter (by ~20 yards) still had a good feel and
    seemed much easier to control.  I tried to play several shots
    left-to-right and the HVC's sliced like a bastard, the DT's sliced, and
    the Tours faded.
    
    I am not doubting your assertion that Tours perform optimally in
    warm/hot weather....however, that is surely the case with ALL golf
    balls.  
    
    
    Nelly

    re: -1
    maybe you outa try the new titleist dt 80 compression...
    guys at my course have used it in the cold and think it's great..
    
    personally I don't think a "rock flite" or the new titleist
    HVC perform better when it's warmer...in fact just the opposite..
    that why I switch to balata when it get's warm/hot out in the summer...
    
    to each his own..

Good info on cool/cold weather playing - just received my winter golf hat - 
can't wait to use it.  I haven't seen any comments about 2-piece golf balls 
versus 3-piece.  I am assuming that 3-piece golf balls are better for these
conditions, may freeze less like a rock.

Keep on swinging...

There was an article in one of the major national golf magazines last 
year comparing the performance of different ball constructions in 
colder temperatures. As I recall, two-piece balls experienced the 
LEAST degradation in performance in cold weather. Surlan out-performed 
balata. And the worst of all were the 100-compression wound balata 
ball -- their performance curve dropped significantly with the 
temperature. I think I also recall that the difference between 100 and 
90 compression was insignificant -- in terms of performance. I don't 
doubt that there is a subjective difference: it hurts to hit a ball 
with cold hands -- the harder feeling the ball, the more it'll 
probably hurt.

Tom