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Wind Shift

• gherkinhead1 245 Posts

  Tue, Dec 15 2020 3:54 PM

  On some courses (ie Wolf Creek)  the wind seems to be very erratic.   My question is - does the wind speed and direction change relative to topography - for eg-  if you tee off from the top of a cliff,  is the wind effect mitigated lower down?

• Cicero733 2,293 Posts

  Tue, Dec 15 2020 5:08 PM

  Yes it does, but there is not a consistent formula for it. You just “learn” variations through practice and trial and error. In your example, the issue is the wind effect from the tee position. With big elevation drops, the ball is in the air much longer therefore the wind will have a more pronounced effect.

• HamdenPro 2,410 Posts

  Tue, Dec 15 2020 5:17 PM

  Hey Gherkinhead...

  I have noticed the same exact thing, both on 3 pars, Wolf Creek and Pebble...I believe the topography must be built into the WGT Algorythms...it seems on Wolf Creek hitting down onto the par 3 surround by cliffs, the wind has a "canyon effect"...wind getting trapped in the canyon and pushed around by wind blowing over the canyon...the ball seems to always drift to the extreme right.  On Pebble, the par 3 surrounded by the Pacific ocean has swirling winds that push the ball to the right as well and it easy to overshoot the green...this would be caused by the pacific winds.

  What I do is make sure I have my flag animation set to on...this way, before hitting, I can check which way, and how strong, the flag is blowing on the green...try it, it may help.

• gherkinhead1 245 Posts

  Tue, Dec 15 2020 7:13 PM

  Also does the wind have an effect on long distance putts,  for eg - ST Andrews (where the wind could be up to 25mph)  - 5th hole on say a 150ft putt?

• Cicero733 2,293 Posts

  Wed, Dec 16 2020 9:12 AM

  It has been documented that heavy winds can affect putts; the effect is expressed in inches, so it’s a matter of a slight adjustment in putt alignment. But I am not aware of any calculation that addresses this phenomenon.