GC2 sea level carry and 1,000 ft elevation differences..

[fortysixandtwo]

Is there going to be much of a real world difference in carry with the gc2 readings at sea level vs playing out at say 1,000 ft elevation?

[mthunt]

The GC2 measures ball flight for a foot or two. I don't think it is enough carry to impact the numbers.

[SFR]

The GC2 calculates it's carry based on sea level numbers so yes, there would be some difference in what you see at 1,000 ft compared to what you see on the GC2 read out. I am at about 2600 ft and see a larger difference in carry. However temperature and humidity can play a huge roll in this as well as on a dry hot day, the ball will fly a lot further than the same temp day, but more humid.

Also it's not an even 5% across the board for all clubs as LA and spin also play a roll in carry. It would be close to 5% for 3000 feet so 1000 ft would be not near as much difference.

What I also found was in real life at sea level it is easier to hit the ball straight compared to higher elevation and lower humidity.

So you hitting on a GC2 at sea level or in Denver will not produce a different readout on the GC2 due to where you are in real life, but it calculates the carry based on the ball speed, spin and LA, as if you were at sea level. This is one of the biggest reasons guys at a higher elevation will think the GC2 or skytrak for that matter, is short compared to their real life ball carry.

[Ronsc1985]

.For starters the air on a humid day is thinner then the same air on a less humid day. Air density determines how far the ball flies given a set of initial launch conditions. Generally the lower the air density the further the ball flies, UNLESS, the decreased lift in the thinner air causes such a low ball flight it doesn't fly as far. This hardly ever happens but is is a possibility for lower ball speeds and launch angles. .

To find out how much you are off from sea level go to a program like TrajectoWare Drive, which is free, to compute the differentials for your atmospheric conditions.

[doublebogey]

I guess question is how does elevation, temperature, humidity, etc. affect the ball in the first few feet of ball flight after impact (i.e., on its ball speed, spin, etc.)? As this would apply to SkyTrak as well, I would be interested to better understand the effects, if any, especially if adjusting temperature, humidity and elevation in the LM app's ball flight algorithm on top of the actual temperature, humidity and elevation (assuming hitting outdoors) might maybe negatively double-penalize (or doubly-impact positively) the ball distance and ball flight shown in app.

[Ronsc1985]

I guess question is how does elevation, temperature, humidity, etc. affect the ball in the first few feet of ball flight after impact (i.e., on its ball speed, spin, etc.)? As this would apply to SkyTrak as well, I would be interested to better understand the effects, if any, especially if adjusting temperature, humidity and elevation in the LM app's ball flight algorithm on top of the actual temperature, humidity and elevation (assuming hitting outdoors) might maybe negatively double-penalize (or doubly-impact positively) the ball distance and ball flight shown in app.

Ambient conditions effect the total ball flight due to the drag and lift differences due to different air density. This has nothing to do with launch conditions measured by a GC2 or Skytrac. What is affected is the computation of carry distance. Launch conditions are measured, carry distance is computed by an iterative computation and is thus affected the air density assumed in the computation.

[doublebogey]

Thanks.

So I guess although elevation and humidity will not affect measured launch conditions, ball speed might be slightly affected by the ambient temperature (as some have mentioned before that the temperature of the golf ball itself has some effect on ball speed coming off of clubface)?

[fortysixandtwo]

So if I carry my 7 iron 160 on gc2, and go play at 1,000 elevation in normal 70* temp with mild humidity, should I expect 2-3 extra yards of carry?

[Ronsc1985]

Thanks.

So I guess although elevation and humidity will not affect measured launch conditions, ball speed might be slightly affected by the ambient temperature (as some have mentioned before that the temperature of the golf ball itself has some effect on ball speed coming off of clubface)?

Hardly worth mentioning. I have tried balls at 32F vs those at 72F and found the ball speed difference was less then my normal variability shot to shot.

In the days of wound balls temperature was a significant factor but modern solid construction balls are not wound and the solid materials used don't have much susceptibility to the range of temperature differences you see when playing golf.

[doublebogey]

Thanks for the insights Ronsc1985.