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Golf Balls

Golf balls are fairly small in the world of sporting balls. Regulation requires that a ball be no smaller than 1.68 inches in diameter and that it weigh no more than 1.62 ounces. Modern golf balls have a dimpled surface that improves their aerodynamics.

The history of a golf ball is brief but interesting. The first balls used were wooden; they were generally spherical and had moderate range. In the 17th century, ball makers came up with a way to make a more resilient ball with better flight characteristics. They would boil goose feathers and stuff them in a leather pouch. As the feathers cooled, they expanded, and the leather contracted. This made the ball much bouncier than the wooden balls, allowing it to react with more force to a strike and improving range.

In the mid-19th century an inventor began making balls out of hardened tree resin. This was the first time it was noted that balls with irregularities on the surface flew better than ones with smooth finishes. Near the end of the 19th century the golf ball as we know it was invented, a hard surface covering a rubber coating, and all of that over a solid core.

Modern golf balls have upwards of 300 dimples, dispersed throughout the outer shell. These dimples accentuate the backspin that is imparted to a ball on impact with a club. Unfortunately they also accentuate any sidespin imparted to the ball, which accounts for the degree of difficulty involved in hitting a golf ball.

 

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