Golf and Wind (eBook)

Dr Sandeep Saha is Assistant Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Kharagpur. He obtained his bachelors and masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. He completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London. Before joining IIT Kharagpur, he was working as Marie-Curie Experienced Researcher, C.N.R.S. (laboratoire FAST), Orsay, France. He worked as Aerodynamics Engineer, ALSTOM Power, Rugby, UK; as Research Scientist (Fluids), Schlumberger Gould Research, Cambridge, UK; and as academics Staff member, Mechanical Engineering, Univerisity of Duisburg-Essen, Germany (in collaboration with SIEMENS AG). Dr Saha has published various articles in reputed journals and presented papers in many prestigious conferences. His area of specialization is fluid mechanics.

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This book simulates the complete trajectories (flight and subsequent ground run) of golf shots using the aerodynamic and material properties of golf balls, and establish the significance of wind's impact on gameplay. It also presents insight into how physical parameters like launch conditions (speed, angle and spin-rate) and wind conditions affect the trajectory of a golf ball. It discusses the specific effects of wind on the flight trajectory and explore the consequences of effect of wind direction; impact of golf club selection on the wind-induced deviation; strategies and their effectiveness to counter the diversion due to wind; and the sensitivity of the trajectory to aerodynamic characteristics of golf balls. Furthermore, the impact of wind on a player's strategy is elucidated with cases studies on the renowned holes of three golf courses: (i) Hole 17, TPC Sawgrass, (ii) Hole 8, Muirfield Golf Club, and (iii) Hole 18, Pebble beach Golf links.  It presents an integrated mathematical model and quantitative data on ball trajectory accompanied by insights and illustrations for players, golf-course designers, ball manufacturers, scientific community, and golf enthusiasts. This book will be useful for researchers and professionals in the fields of aerodynamics engineering, sports science and physics. Additionally, this book will be a good read for golf players and coaches, golf-course designers, as well as golf-ball manufacturers.