Golfers fight two aerodynamic forces with every swing—lift and drag. Friction and turbulence when the golf ball interacts with the air is the drag, while lift is a combination of backspin and the Magnus effect working their magic.
But golfers competing in The Open at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland have to battle an entirely different element—the wind.
An ESPN Sport Science report explains that gusts of wind that often assault St. Andrews—even suspending The Open in 2010 for upwards of an hour due to 41-mph winds—cause two problems for the tournament's participants in the form of tailwinds and headwinds.
A headwind can increase a ball's hangtime by inducing lift, allowing for the wind to alter its intended trajectory. A tailwind can reduce lift and hangtime, still altering the ball's trajectory.
Furthermore a tailwind of about 40 mph will typically carry a golf ball about 20 extra yards. A headwind of the same speed can shorten a ball's flight by over 40 yards. The difference of hitting with and against a 40-mph head/tail wind can be roughly 60 yards for golfers at The Open tournament in Scotland.
More punishing, according to Sport Science, can be crosswinds, with the ESPN entity's computer simulation estimating that a 10-mph crosswind at 90 degrees can knock a golf drive off line by 15 yards. A more devestating crosswind will easily have golfers in the rough.
Entering The Open play Thursday (July 16), Jordan Spieth took advantage of calm St. Andrews' conditions shooting a 5-under-par 67. Let's see how Spieth and his fellow golfers react, though, when the winds start howling on the greens.
