Back in the golden days of Golf, there were 3 types of Titleist balls  - 100 compression (black letters and numbers), 90 compression (black letters and red numbers) and 80 compression (red letters and numbers).  These were the ones with wound cores.  I caddied at the St C Country Club in 1972 (how ironic - I was 14 at the time) and noticed some of the men would switch to the 80 compression balls in winter.   

Hi Kris,

Our R&D team provided us with some insight on this topic a while back. Here is what they had to say on the effect temperature has on golf ball performance:

“Will temperature effect either of these golf balls in different ways?”

R&D: If you are playing with cold golf balls you’ll see distance loss. We recommend playing with room temperature golf balls. However, the other factors that typically accompany cold-weather golf (i.e. wearing more layers, frozen ground, wind, etc.) might have a bigger impact on a golfer’s overall performance.

Check out this link to see all of the other topics they covered: http://www.titleist.com/teamtitleist/b/tourblog/archive/2011/03/29/titleist-golf-ball-r-amp-d-team-answers-your-questions.aspx

Hopefully this helps answer your question.

Cheers,
Mike 

Ok thanks lou and mike for that info and i will maybe play a yellow nxt tour s in winter now proberly from my birthday onwards (late november) because i always play 9 holes everyday after school to prepare for saturday and sundays compatition which i will use nxt tour s white and give up playing my pro v1x's until winter goes for the next month or 2 i will stick to my pro v1x's which have been great and wait until the new models come out as i still have 4 dozen of them left but will trade 2 dozen for the nxt tour s yellow and white 1 final question will you be realsising a new model of the pro v1 and pro v1x's in 2013 and when can i expect them to arrive in the uk.

Thanks once again for the help.

Kris   

In San Diego, one can play golf all year around but the temperature during the night dips down into the 30s (0* C) - there is one course where people can play with a little bit of frost and I play 1 club stronger until it warms up and I use my lob wedge more because the greens are hard.

Thanks for the link Kris.  I was on here looking for an answer to the same question, but the answer from the R&D team did not help me (with all due respect).

Recently Titleist has focused on educating players about the fact that compression should not really be a (major) consideration when choosing a ball.  I understand and agree with the logic to an extent, but hopefully you (or they) can clarify something for me:

My driver SS is right around 100mph.  I may get a little above that, but I doubt I ever exceed 105mph. I still get noticably more driver distance from the ProV1x than I do from the ProV1 (which supports Titleists claim).  Where I'm confused is with this cold weather question/response.  If it's cold outside, all else being equal, I would expect to see driver distance loss with both balls (noted above), but shouldn't I still hit the ProV1x farther than the ProV1?  A related question is why would it be better to use room temperature balls?  My guess is because they will compress better when struck with the club, and help to minimize distance loss.  If that is the case, then I would think that compression is an important factor in cold weather golf ball selection, and perhaps it would be a good idea to switch to the ProV1 when it gets colder out if I want to minimize distance loss on my drives/full shots.

That being said, I know that it's more important to focus on short game performance when selecting a ball, but I'm playing in a championship match on Saturday at my club, and it's not supposed to get above 60* for the first time this season.  I'm concerned about the impact of the weather (temperature) on the balls performance.

In colder weather I usally play one club longer to make up for lower swing speed due to more clothing. I also try to keep the ball warm by holding it in my fist as much as I can and keeping the spare in a pocket against my body to keep it warm.

I have also found heating pads for golf balls (like the type of pads you put in gloves and boots) that you shake and squeeze to activate to keep a golf ball warm for better flight and control.

Is it not illegal to use an outside influence on your golf ball, I.e. Warming it with a hand warmer, during a competition, I think this is something you can be disqualified for. Be careful what aids you use during a round of golf, keep your hand warmers away from your ball in play! 

Mike, Thanks for the great info your scientific group! This is such a popular topic EVERY year...another reason why I do not store my clubs/balls in my trunk or garage during the colder times of the year. 

Thanks again for all your help and just another great reason to be part of the growing Team Titleist Community!

Chris

Though it is not abiding by the rules to use hand-warmers on a ball during a round, it is 100% okay to warm your golf balls by wrapping them in a heating pad or using a heat lamp before the round. Then wrap them up in a towel (or in the unplugged heating pad) and put them in the insulated pocket of your bag before heading off to the course. They will stay nice and toasty well into the round. You can also keep one inside your cloths in the warmest place you can find on your body (you be the judge of that), while you play the other. Use a fresh ball from the supply in the insulated pocket on each tee until there is no heat left in them. Once you put a ball into play in 40 degree weather, I don't care how warm it was when you took it out of the insulated compartment, by the time you hit your 2nd shot with it, it will be pretty cold. However, probably not as cold as a ball that was not heated earlier. By the time you putt out, it will be time for a fresh warm one. After about 6 or 7 holes, they won't feel so warm anymore, but by then you should be in your groove and you can continue to warm them by putting them in that warm spot against your body, wherever that may be ;-). 

Playing throughout the winters in the northeast (whenever conditions permit), I have used this approach for years and it works. When you tee off on the first hole you feel the ball compress just as if it were summer. Not so much by the back nine, but still, it feels like you are not hitting as big a "rock" as it would had you not heated them. 

Yes warming golf balls prior to a round is fine, thanks for the tip, but the original line of thought stemmed from someone actually warming the golf ball during play was an infringement of the rules. 

Pink Golf Balls work great in the snow

:-)

Superb advice.

I was going to recommend the website Mike D. did, he was able to find it much quicker than me, I think he was the one that posted my first view.  Ever since reading that I keep my clubs and golf balls inside the house between rounds.  

As far as switching balls for winter golf, I think it comes down to ... are you in an area where the greens are responsive all year round, or are you basically "able to play" to keep your swing in shape.  If the green is responsive, play "your ball".  If conditions change so much that you aren't playing as much as keeping in form, it might be a good idea to play a cheaper ball.

My view is, if the conditions are up to it ... play your best ball, if the conditions aren't ... play your best :)