A Brief Review Of Golf Ball HistoryGeneral Golf ball history is only one part of the story of the game of golf - but it is a key part. In the early days of golf, advances in golf ball technology were infrequent but invariably devastating to the earlier ball technology. Just like today, golfers have always wanted the best technology. There were actually four different periods of development during the history of the golf ball. They are:
Pre-Feathery In the very earliest times of golf, the balls used were originally stones that were more or less round. These were later supplanted by wooden balls made of hardwood. Although there are no existing samples of the latter, there is some scant information about them. This was the situation that existed from the mid fifteenth century until the feathery ball was invented in the seventeenth century. Feathery This new ball, called the Feathery, was made by stuffing goose feathers into a hand-made sphere of cow-hide. Both the feathers and the cow-hide were wet when the balls were made. As they dried, the feathers expanded and the cowhide shrunk, making an extremely compact and tight ball. They were then given three coats of paint and marked with the manufacturer's name. These were very satisfactory balls, almost as hard as a stone, and could be hit as long as 250 yards. They were, however, relatively fragile and did not do well in wet conditions. As well, because they were hand made, they were relatively expensive. Golf, at that time, was a rich man's game. Nevertheless, the Feathery has a firm place in golf ball history,
In 1848, the gutta percha ball was developed. Similar to rubber, gutta percha is derived from the sap of a tree - the Sapodilla tree. The compound could be shaped when heated. Originally, balls were made by hand and eventually by using metal presses. Various surface designs were made in an attempt to increase distance.(Even then!) One of the more interesting designs was the Bramble. It covered the surface of the ball with raised bumps (like a bramble berry). This became the most popular Gutty design. After the introduction of the gutta percha ball, the manufacturers of featherys were put out of business. However the cost of the new ball was considerably less and the game of golf became available to many more people.
In 1898 a gentleman by the name of Coburn Haskell invented the first rubber core ball. It had a small solid rubber core and was built up by wrapping rubber thread around it to the required size. (This took a lot of rubber thread. I remember as a child finding a broken wound ball and pulling off the rubber thread - what fun!) It was then covered by a thin gutta percha cover. The surface of the cover evolved from the Bramble to dimples. Once the winding machine was developed, it was possible to manufacture balls quickly and even more cheaply. Once again, the previous ball makers were put out of business. The early Haskell shown below still has the bramble surface. Later models used dimple patterns.
Regulation Golf ball history would not be complete without mentioning the problem created by the unbridled development of ball manufacturers. Both the R&A and the USGA have struggled with this problem in order to provide as level a playing field as possible for the varied golf population. Go here to read about it! To go to Golf Club History Click Here! To Return from Golf Ball History to History of Golf click here
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