What were the first golf balls made of?
The first golf balls were made of leather of untanned bull’s hide, two round pieces forming the ends, and a piece for the middle. These pieces were softened, shaped and firmly sewed together, a small hole being left through which the feathers might afterward be inserted.
Who hit the first golf ball in space?
- Complete Coverage: ISS Expedition 14
- Orbital Tee Time: Spacewalkers Set for Golf Shot, ISS Maintenance
- Canadian Firm Hopes for Orbital Hang Time in ISS Golf Shot
- IMAGES: Launch Day for Expedition 14 Crew, Anousheh Ansari
What is the best golf ball in the world?
The best golf balls, in order of preference
- TaylorMade Tour Response. This is a great choice for mid-level golfers. ...
- Titleist Pro V1. Titleist likes to remind us that that the Pro V1 is the No 1 ball used by professionals on worldwide golf tours, but that it's a ...
- Callaway Chrome Soft Golf Balls. ...
- Wilson Staff Model R. ...
- TaylorMade TP5x. ...
- OnCore Vero X1. ...
- Titleist AVX. ...
- Vice Pro Soft. ...
What is the longest golf ball ever made?
Wilson Ultra 500 Distance Golf Ball
- Built with a two-piece construction for faster ball speed,
- machined grooves to help generate lift from the tee,
- softcover for control on short game shots,
- and high-energy core (HEX) to maximize the initial launch trajectory.
Who invented the first golf ball?
In 1835, at age 14, Tom Morris (later known as Old Tom Morris & the Grandfather of Golf) began working under Robertson at St. Andrews. The two worked together making featherie golf balls until the advent of the guttie ball.
Where was the first golf ball invented?
Work, an employee of the B.F. Goodrich Company in Akron, Ohio, received a patent for a golf ball. Initially, golf balls had consisted of leather pouches stuffed with boiled feathers. In 1848, a new golf ball, the gutta-percha, began to replace the "feathery," as the original golf ball was known.
When was the golf ball created?
In 1848, the Rev. Dr. Robert Adams Paterson (sometimes spelled Patterson) invented the gutta-percha ball (or guttie, gutty). The guttie was made from dried sap of the Malaysian sapodilla tree.
What were early golf balls filled with?
They weren't perfectly round and it's safe to assume that they sucked. The 17th Century saw the slight design improvement of the featherie, a leather ball stuffed with bird feathers and stitched shut. But these things took forever to make, behaved differently when vet versus dry, and were also not perfectly round.
What is the oldest golf ball?
We know that the first record of a sold golf ball dates from 1452,18 while the first feather ball known as the featherie was introduced only in the early 17th century. In 1618, a golf ball maker James Melvill from St.
Who invented the golf tee?
In 1899, Boston dentist Dr. George Grant, frustrated with this tedious and messy process, invented a wooden golf tee. Dr. Grant was born to escaped slaves in 1846, eventually finding work as an assistant at a dentist's office.
What country invented golf?
ScotlandGolf originated from a game played on the eastern coast of Scotland, in an area close to the royal capital of Edinburgh. In those early days players would attempt to hit a pebble over sand dunes and around tracks using a bent stick or club.
Who invented the dimples on a golf ball?
William TaylorIn the early 1900s, another inventor found that indentations in golf balls performed far better than raised protrusions. In 1905, an English manufacturer named William Taylor registered a patent for a golf ball dimple design. Before long, all golf balls featured dimples that would be more or less recognizable today.
What makes a golf ball Illegal?
Legal golf balls can't be smaller than 1.68 inches in diameter. The Polara balls have a diameter of 1.68 inches (the same size as normal). If you have a smaller ball, you'll have less drag and that should give you more distance.
What did the original golf ball look like?
Wooden golf balls were used up until the seventeenth century, when the feathery ball was invented. The first "real" golf ball was known as a "feathery"golf ball. Basically, the feathery was a leather sack filled with boiled goose feathers, then stitched up and painted.
Are old golf balls worth anything?
Because of the age and the craftsmanship put into these balls they are among the ones that have the highest price tag of collectible golf balls. These balls are referred to as antique, and goes for sums upwards of +$5000! See example from eBay below.
When did they stop making wound golf balls?
Remember, wound golf balls were popular prior to the 2000s and they were constructed with thread windings that wrapped around their cores.
Who invented the Gutty golf ball?
It wasn't until 1848 that Rev. Dr. Robert Adams began creating golf balls out of Gutta Percha "Gutty". The Gutty golf ball was created from the dried sap of the Sapodilla tree. It had a rubber-like feel and was formed into ball shapes by heating it up and shaping it while hot.
What is the evolution of the golf ball?
The evolution of the golf ball highlights the major changes in the game of golf and depicts important golf landmarks during the long evolution of the game. The development of the golf club, the golf course, and the rules of the game were affected by the evolution of the golf ball itself. The balance (and debate) between technology ...
What was the most popular design of the Gutta Percha era golf ball?
Golf truly became the sport for the masses. "The Bramble" design, with its minute bulges resembling a Brambleberry, became the most popular design of the Gutta Percha era golf ball.
What is a feathery golf ball?
Basically, the feathery was a leather sack filled with boiled goose feathers, then stitched up and painted.
How were feathery golf balls made?
The feathery golf balls were manufactured while the leather and feathers were still wet, and as the leather shrunk while drying, the feathers expanded to create a hardened, compact ball. The Feathery was then painted and sold, often for more than the price of a golf club.
When did rubber core golf balls replace gutty golf balls?
The more modern rubber core golf ball replaced the gutty in 1899. However, the rubber core golf ball of the day did not meet with immediate success. Golfers complained that while the rubber cored golf balls were longer off of the tee they were far too lively on and around the greens.
When was the Brambleberry golf ball invented?
The advent of the rubber core golf ball changed the face of the game of golf as we knew it. This new design was invented in 1898 by Coburn Haskell in association with the BF Goodrich Company.
What was the first ball used in golf?
There are theories that wooden balls may have been used in a target version of golf in Scotland, but this is not golf proper and it is more likely than not that the ‘hairy’ colf ball was the first ball used for golf on the links in Scotland.
What is the most famous golf ball?
The feathery or featherie is the most famous of all golf balls, though it is not definitively known when or where it was developed. There is a reference in the Edinburgh Testaments (vol xlvii 123b) to 'fyve scoir twell flok goiff ballis' (112 flok golf balls) in a will in 1612.
When were gutties invented?
However, by 1860, gutties were good enough and popular enough to replace the feathery and a new era of golf was born. In 1871, Willie Dunn at Musselburgh created a mould to make gutties, which was a quicker and more consistent method of production.
What are the four types of golf balls?
In the first four hundred years of golf there were only four types of golf ball - the Hairy, the Feathery, the Gutty and the Haskell. Everyone refers to golf as a ‘stick and ball’ game, and this has over-emphasized the role of the clubs, ...
Where did feathery ball originate?
The first reference to a feathery is in the Netherlands in a poem in 1657, as a pennebal, in connection with a Scottish 'cleek', so it is possible that the ball was developed in Scotland and the concept re-exported to the Netherlands.
Where was the hairy Colf Ball found?
Hairy Colf Ball from 16th Century found in 1984 in Amersfoort, courtesy of Archeologish Centrum Amersfoort, The Netherlands.
Who was the author of the Gutty Golf Ball?
Gutty Golf Ball which sold at Christie's for £180 2006. Rev John Kerr, writing in 1896, does not mention this story but provides three other tales ascribing the origin of gutties to Dr Montgomery in 1842, Campbell of Saddell in North Berwick in 1848, and Mr H T Peter at Innerleven in 1848.
Who broke the world record for the fastest golf ball?
Canadian long drive champion Jason Zuback broke the world ball speed record on an episode of Sport Science with a golf ball speed of 328 km/h (204 mph). The previous record of 302 km/h (188 mph) was held by José Ramón Areitio, a Jai Alai player.
How big is a golf ball?
The Rules of Golf, jointly governed by the R&A and the USGA, state in Appendix III that the diameter of a "conforming" golf ball cannot be any smaller than 1.680 inches (42.67 mm), and the weight of the ball may not exceed 1.620 ounces (45.93 g). The ball must also have the basic properties of a spherically symmetrical ball, generally meaning that the ball itself must be spherical and must have a symmetrical arrangement of dimples on its surface. Additional rules direct players and manufacturers to other technical documents published by the R&A and USGA with additional restrictions, such as radius and depth of dimples, maximum launch speed from test apparatus (generally defining the coefficient of restitution) and maximum total distance when launched from the test equipment.
How does impact affect golf ball?
When a golf ball is hit, the impact, which lasts less than a millisecond, determines the ball's velocity, launch angle and spin rate, all of which influence its trajectory and its behavior when it hits the ground.
When was the first golf ball invented?
Even though the Haskell’s rubber-wound core ball is traditionally regarded as the first modern golf ball, the origins of the ball that is used by today’s pros and amateurs alike dates from the 1960s. At that time, an American chemical engineer named James R. Bartsch (1933-1991) entered the golf ballmaking business only to find out that he was not going to succeed unless he finds a way to reduce the cost of the materials and labour. He started to experiment with various synthetic materials and refused to give up until he found the perfect formula. Bartsch’s ball, however, wasn’t only more than twice less expensive to produce 63 but it also re-introduced the concept of a solid-moulded ball.
What is the history of golf balls?
A golf ball is central to the game of golf. In fact, golf is all about the ball. Well, getting it into the hole in the ground. All the fuss surrounding the correct posture, swinging technique, proper grip, etc. is actually all about hitting the ball at the right angle, ...
What was the name of the ball that was used to play golf?
Gutta Percha Ball (The Guttie) In the mid-19th century, most people could only dream of playing golf. There were at the time fewer than 20 golf clubs around the world, with just three being outside Scotland. But that was not the only thing that prevented most people from playing golf.
What was the ball of choice from the mid-19th to the early 20th century?
Likewise, it didn’t perform well in extremely high temperatures and when compared to the featherie, the guttie didn’t only felt harsh and rigid, it also sounded harsh when hit with a club. 46 Despite its “flaws”, the guttie was the ball of choice from the mid-19th to the early 20th century around the world.
How many times has the golf ball revolutionized the game?
According to John F. Hotchkiss (1997), the author of one of the most acclaimed books on the history of the golf ball, the latter revolutionised the game at least four times.
What were the first golf balls made of?
According to most authors who investigated the early history of golf ball, 14 15 16 17 the first balls (if we ignore the story about the shepherd and stones) were probably made of wood, most likely beech, boxroot and similar hardwoods.
When did golf become affordable?
By making the game more affordable, especially after the mechanisation of its manufacture in the early 1870s 40 , the guttie transformed golf from a sport of the elites to the sport of the masses. Golf suddenly became extremely affordable not just for tradesmen and artisans but even for college students.
When was golf invented?
By many accounts it is presumed that the earliest games of golf were played with a wooden ball in the 14th century. It’s been refuted that wooden balls were never used in links golf in Scotland, but instead they were used in early games that were similar to golf.
Who was the first golfer?
Golf’s first professional, Allan Robertson, was considered the premier ball and club maker of his time, in the early 1800s. In 1835, at age 14, Tom Morris (later known as Old Tom Morris & the Grandfather of Golf) began working under Robertson at St. Andrews.
What sap is used to make Haskel golf balls?
Thus bringing the modern look of the golf ball that we’ve become accustom to. The balata sap initially used to make Haskel golf balls had a tendency to get indents on it as it was relatively soft.
Why is a featherie golf ball harder to fly?
Since the featherie golf ball was filled with feathers it was able to be stuffed more full than the hairy, making it harder thus able to fly farther. To make a featherie, the feathers and leather would be shaped while wet. Upon drying the leather shrank and feathers expanded creating the desired hardness for the ball.
Where did the hairy golf ball come from?
Hairy Golf Balls. From 1486 through 1618, the Scottish received and used the hairy golf ball imported from the Netherlands. The hairy golf ball was a hand-sewn round leather ball filled with cows’ hair or straw. In 1554 the hairy golf ball was being produced in Scotland by the “cordiners and gouff ball makers of North Leith.”.
How many stages of evolution are there in golf?
The modern golf ball has undergone a few transformations to get to where it is today. The origins of the golf ball can be traced to five distinct stages of evolution. From a wooden ball in the 14th century to the modern rubber core balls, discover the history behind the golf ball.
Who invented the Gutta Percha ball?
In 1848 Dr. Robert Adams Paterson invented the Gutta-Percha ball, or Guttie. The guttie was made by using dried sap from the Malaysian Sapodilla tree. The sap had a rubber-like quality to it and upon heating could be formed into a sphere.
Modern Golf Balls
To this day golf ball designs still follow a similar formula to Haskell’s rubber golf ball design. Modern golf balls feature a variety of different designs in terms of construction, core, cover, and dimples.
Conforming Golf Balls
When it comes to golf ball designs manufacturers have free rain in terms of design features, the Rules of Golf do however have set standards that all legal golf balls need to conform to. These standards include that a golf ball cannot be smaller than 1.680 inches in diameter and the weight of the golf ball can’t exceed 1.620 ounces.
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that the history of the golf ball is fascinating and it is hard to imagine how difficult it must have been to play with a feathered stuffed leather golf ball.
When was golf invented?
A golf-like game is, apocryphally, recorded as taking place on February 26, 1297, in Loenen aan de Vecht, where the Dutch played a game with a stick and leather ball. The winner was whoever hit the ball with the fewest strokes into a target several hundred yards away. Some scholars argue that this game of putting a small ball in a hole in ...
Who was the first person to play golf?
The earliest known instructions for playing golf have been found in the diary of Thomas Kincaid, a medical student who played on the course at Bruntsfield Links, near Edinburgh University, and at Leith Links. His notes include his views on an early handicap system. In his entry for 20 January 1687 he noted how "After dinner I went out to the Golve", and described his Golf stroke:
Where did golf originate?
The modern game of golf is generally considered to be a Scottish invention. A spokesman for The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, one of the oldest Scottish golf organisations, said "Stick and ball games have been around for many centuries, but golf as we know it today, played over 18 holes, clearly originated in Scotland." The word golf, or in Scots gowf [gʌuf], is usually thought to be a Scots alteration of Dutch " colf " or " colve " meaning " stick, " club ", " bat ", itself related to the Proto-Germanic language *kulth- as found in Old Norse kolfr meaning " bell clapper", and the German Kolben meaning " mace or club". The Dutch term Kolven refers to a related sport where the lowest number of strokes needed to hit a ball with a mallet into a hole determines the winner; according to the "Le grand dictionnaire françois-flamen" printed 1643 is stated the Dutch term to Flemish: "Kolf, zest Kolve; Kolfdrager, Sergeant; Kolf, Kolp, Goulfe."
How fast can a golf ball go?
These standards were later followed by a USGA regulation stating that the initial velocity of any golf ball cannot exceed 250 feet per second.
How did golf evolve?
The evolution of golf can be explained by the development of the equipment used to play the game. Some of the most notable advancements in the game of golf have come from the development of the golf ball. The golf ball took on many different forms before the 1930s when the United States Golf Association (USGA) set standards for weight and size. These standards were later followed by a USGA regulation stating that the initial velocity of any golf ball cannot exceed 250 feet per second. Since this time, the golf ball has continued to develop and impact the way the game is played.
When was the first round of kolf played?
In December 1650, the settlers of Fort Orange (near present-day Albany, New York) played the first recorded round of kolf (golf) in America. The Dutch settlers played kolf year round. During the spring, summer and fall it was played in fields. In the winter it was played on ice with the same rules.
What are the factors that contributed to the evolution of golf?
Another notable factor in the evolution of golf has been the development of golf clubs. The earliest golf clubs were made of wood that was readily available in the area.
The first golf balls were made of leather and stuffed with feathers
Golf balls have been around for a very long time. In fact, the first golf balls were made of leather and stuffed with feathers. It wasn’t until much later when the modern day golf ball was invented that we started to see changes in material and design. If you want to know more about how your favorite type of golf ball is created then keep reading!
Golf balls are now made out of rubber and other synthetic materials
Golf balls are now made out of rubber and other synthetic materials. They typically have a cover, which is usually white or brightly colored, that can be crushed to produce the distinctive “ping” sound from hitting it with a club. The golf ball has been used for centuries as one of the most important pieces in playing this ancient Scottish game.
There is an average distance for a hole in golf that is 5,500 yards long
Golf is a game of precision. It requires skill, stamina and patience to play well. One of the most important aspects of golf is the ball. Golf balls are usually made from rubber or plastic materials that allow for better grip on the course.
First golf balls were made of wood
Golf balls were first made of wood. A golf ball is a small, hard ball used in the game of golf to hit into an empty hole (or “hole”) on a course, with the goal of scoring points by getting the ball closer to the hole than other players’ balls.
From many materials over the years including gutta percha, ivory, rubber, plastic and even metal
Golf balls have been made from many materials over the years including gutta percha, ivory, rubber, and plastic. These days they are most commonly made of a hard plastic resin or ionomer. One thing that has not changed is golfers’ preference for dimples on the ball as it flies through the air.
Modern day golf balls are typically made of polyurethane covered by dimpled hard acrylic
Golf is a sport that has been around for hundreds of years and even today, it continues to grow in popularity. One aspect of the game is its equipment which includes clubs, balls, and other gear.
Overview
Regulations
The Rules of Golf, jointly governed by the R&A and the USGA, state in Appendix III that the diameter of a "conforming" golf ball cannot be any smaller than 1.680 inches (42.67 mm), and the weight of the ball may not exceed 1.620 ounces (45.93 g). The ball must also have the basic properties of a spherically symmetrical ball, generally meaning that the ball itself must be spherical and must have a symmetrical arrangement of dimples on its surface. While the ball's dimples must be sy…
History
It is commonly believed that hard wooden, round balls were the first balls used for golf between the 14th through the 17th centuries. Though they were no doubt used for other similar contemporary stick and ball games, made from hardwoods such as beech and box trees, there is no definite evidence that they were used in golf in Scotland. It is equally, if not more likely, that leather balls filled with cows' hair were used, imported from the Netherlands from at least 1486 o…
Aerodynamics
When a golf ball is hit, the impact, which lasts less than a millisecond, determines the ball's velocity, launch angle and spin rate, all of which influence its trajectory and its behavior when it hits the ground.
A ball moving through air experiences two major aerodynamic forces, lift and drag. Dimpled balls fly farther than non-dimpled balls due to the combination of these two effects.
Design
Dimples first became a feature of golf balls when English engineer and manufacturer William Taylor, co-founder of the Taylor-Hobson company, registered a patent for a dimple design in 1905. William Taylor had realized that golf players were trying to make irregularities on their balls, noticing that used balls were going further than new ones. Hence he decided to make systematic tests to determine what surface formation would give the best flight. He then developed a patter…
Behavior
Today, golf balls are manufactured using a variety of different materials, offering a range of playing characteristics to suit the player's abilities and desired flight and landing behaviours.
A key consideration is "compression", typically determined by the hardness of the ball's core layers. A harder "high-compression" ball will fly further because of the more efficient transfer of energy into the ball, but will also transmit more of a shock through the club to the player's hands …
Selection
There are many types of golf balls on the market, and customers often face a difficult decision. Golf balls are divided into two categories: recreational and advanced balls. Recreational balls are oriented toward the ordinary golfer, who generally have low swing speeds (80 miles per hour (130 km/h) or lower) and lose golf balls on the course easily. These balls are made of two layers, with the cover firmer than the core. Their low compression and side spin reduction characteristics su…
Marking and personalization
Golfers need to distinguish their ball from other players' to ensure that they do not play the wrong ball. This is often done by making a mark on the ball using a permanent marker pen such as a Sharpie. A wide number of markings are used; a majority of players either simply write their initial in a particular color, or color in a particular arrangement of the dimples on the ball. Many players make multiple markings so that at least one can be seen without having to lift the ball. Marking t…