The inside-out on golf balls

The history of the ball

Originally, the balls used in golf were far different than what we see today. The first golf balls were made of wood, though they didn’t travel very far. Even highly skilled golfers only managed to get them to go about 100 metres.

So, it became clear a change in the makeup of golf balls was in order. By boiling feather-filled leather pouches tightly into small balls, golfers found they managed nearly twice the flight distance of the original wooden balls. These so-called “featheries” became the standard ball used for nearly 200 years. However, there were drawbacks in that they took a long time and a lot of effort to make, so they were expensive. Players simply couldn’t afford to lose their golf balls.

A revolutionary point of golf ball technology came in 1848 when a new ball called the “gutta” was designed from the dried sap of the Malaysian sapodilla tree. The sap was rubber-like in texture and could be easily heated and moulded into a spherical shape. This made production less expensive and thus guttas became the standard, replacing featheries.

Dimples

It was discovered by many players that their older, used golf balls that were covered with nicks and bumps got more flight than the fresh and smooth new ones. This observation led to the production of intentionally dimpled golf balls and brought the ball very nearly to what we see today.

Dimpling on a golf ball was common practice long before the actual physics of it was understood. Thanks to modern technology, we are able to see that dimpled balls fly farther and more true because of the way air flows over them.

Now, there is a long-winded and highly complicated explanation of the physics behind a dimpled golf ball, but that explanation would likely be found by most people to be utter gibberish. So, we’ll put it in simpler terms. The dimples redirect the trajectory of the air that moves over a golf ball, making for less drag than if the ball were completely smooth.

Golf balls today

There are two main kinds of golf balls that are produced today: a three-layer version (most commonly used by professionals), and a two-layer version (used by casual golfers).

The two-piece balls are made with a simple inside of rubber, surrounded by a hard, dimpled shell and tend to last much longer than their three-piece counterparts. The three-layer ball has a similar design, though they have the added feature of a liquid or gel core. 

The golf ball market is worth around $550 million in annual sales, with more than 850 million golf balls being manufactured and shipped every year.