Golf balls in cold weather

It takes a golf ball many hours to fully change temperature. If you start the round with warm (normal room temperature) golf balls, they will still be reasonably warm at the end of the round. Believe it or not, hitting a golf ball raises its temperature. As long as you are playing golf with warm golf balls, it is a non-issue. A three-hour round will help also.

Many people think that they should heat their golf balls before playing. This is a really BAD idea. The different parts of a golf ball react differently to rapid heating (or chilling) and might result in damage during play. The best idea is to keep your entire golf bag and golf balls in your home. DO NOT leave them in the garage or the trunk of your car, or an unheated bag storage room, etc. Failing to do that, your best recourse is to go into the Pro-Shop and buy a sleeve of nice warm golf balls before you tee off.

Golf balls have their best performance around 100 degrees. Anything cold is shorter and increasingly shorter with increasingly lower temperatures. Warmer feels softer, colder feels harder. Really cold is really short, AND let’s not forget that with a bunch of extra clothes and frozen joints, most golfers are making a weaker swing in really cold air. Why be compromised by cold golf balls? Go in the shop and buy some room temperature golf balls.

DO NOT USE MICROWAVES, OVEN, BOILING WATER OR ANY OTHER RAPID HEATING METHODS TO HEAT GOLF BALLS. Bad things will happen.

If you have a half hour drive to the golf course on a cold morning, and you need to warm some golf balls, try throwing a sleeve on the top of your dashboard while the defroster is blowing warm air on them. Remember, if the temperature is uncomfortable for you, then it isn’t good for your golf balls either. Don’t heat a golf ball any more than you would heat yourself. And if you would not fare well spending the night in the trunk of your car, don’t subject your golf balls to it either.

MAYBE WE SHOULD JUST KEEP OUR GOLF BAG IN THE HOUSE