What is the speed of a golf ball per hour?

Answer 1

A Golf ball has no speed of its own. It gets some only when it is whacked or

dropped, and then the speed it gets depends on how far it drops or on how

hard it is whacked.

If it is dropped, then its speed begins at zero, and becomes 22 miles per hour

faster each second that it falls.

If it is whacked, then it usually has less speed on the green and more speed

off of the tee.

On the green, I think the idea is to roll the ball slowly and carefully, with just

enough speed to avoid any effects due to grass, and likewise to avoid rolling

so fast that it might skip over the cup.

Off the tee, until at least 2011, Tom Watson had the longest average drive

in professional golf, with an average drive of 315.2 yards, and was capable

of generating a ball speed of 194 mph and drives of up to 370 yards.

Some of the world's longest drivers who are not professional golfers but

compete in Long Drive contests such as the RE/MAX World Long Drive

Championship, including Jamie Sadlowski and Mike Dobbyn, are capable of

hitting a ball over 400 yards and over 220 mph.

To me, all of that seems like a tragic waste of effort and expense, when any

of them, or anyone else, can easily make his golf ball move at 200 mph if he

can just find someplace to drop the ball where it can fall for 9.1 seconds.

But then, I am not the golfer in the family.