What wind speed is too windy for golf?

Why wind costs you more than it seems

A calm-day yardage on a scorecard is only true in calm air. TrackMan, the launch-monitor company most tours and coaches use to measure real shots, has tested this directly: at a steady 20 mph wind, a headwind costs a player roughly twice the distance that the same strength tailwind gives back. A shot into the wind climbs, spins harder and drops out of the sky early. A shot downwind flies flatter and doesn't gain nearly as much as you'd hope.

Diagram to followDiagram comparing a golf shot's flight into a headwind, downwind and in a crosswind

The effect isn't the same for every club. A low, punched shot barely notices a breeze that would blow a full wedge shot yards off line, because the higher and spinnier the shot, the longer the wind has to work on it. That's why good wind players tend to flight the ball lower rather than simply swinging harder.

Crosswind does the same job sideways: it pushes the ball off its line for as long as it's in the air, so again, the shot that hangs up there longest drifts furthest.

What each wind speed actually feels like

There's no rule that sets a cut-off for golf. The table below uses the Met Office's own Beaufort scale, the standard way UK wind speed is described, with a practical read on what each force means for a round.

Gusts matter more than the steady speed for golf, because it's the sudden jump that catches a ball mid-flight or a stance mid-swing. A round with a gentle 12 mph breeze and the odd 30 mph gust plays harder than a steady 20 mph with no gusts at all.

Exposed by the coast

The North West sits on the western, Atlantic-facing side of the country, and the Met Office's regional figures for North West England confirm what anyone who's played Southport or the Fylde coast in a February wind already knows: the region has a prevailing south-westerly wind through the year, and the exposed coast sees more wind than sheltered inland spots. Coastal areas here average five to ten days of gale-force wind a year; low-lying inland ground gets fewer than five.

Links courses (built on sandy ground by the sea) sit right in that exposure, with little in the way of trees to take the edge off. That's part of what makes links golf what it is, for better and for worse depending on your tee time.

Photo to followA golfer steadying their stance on an exposed links tee as the wind bends the flag sideways

Checking before you go

Our hour-by-hour board on each course page shows wind speed and gusts for your tee time, colour-coded so you can see at a glance when a round is likely to turn into hard work rather than a nice walk.

It won't tell you exactly how much distance you'll lose on your 7-iron, but it will tell you whether it's worth the drive.

For older golfers

Balance in a strong gust is as much the issue as ball flight. If footing on an exposed tee feels unsteady in wind, there's no harm in teeing off from a sheltered spot on the tee box, or simply choosing a calmer day if the course allows a flexible booking.