Golf Basic Tips

This comes under the category of “believe it or not” but the first golf balls were apparently made in Holland. That’s right Holland. The Scots imported the balls from across the North Sea by the barrel-load. This record goes back as far as 1496 and what were these balls made of? They apparently were made of wood. More like a small croquet ball than a golf ball.

These wooden balls were used by the Dutch and made of elm or beech. However, these golf balls were aerodynamically inefficient and eventually gave way to a white leather covered ball filled with cow’s hair. It is said that this ball, called the kaatsen ball, were the inspiration for the balls made of feathers that the Scots came up with in the 17th century. This feathery style golf ball was known as “the feathery” became the popular ball of choice.

The “feathery” are a ball covered with bull’s hide soaked in alum and then filled or stuffed with goose feathers softened by boiling. The golf ball was then shaped and painted white. The painting of the ball white was to make it easier to see. When it was dried the ball became very firm and tight. Today’s golf ball weighs about 1.62 ounces and the feathery weighed about the same but there was no uniform diameter to these balls. The feathery had its draw back. For instance the average player used 4 golf balls per round because this ball had a tendency to split and get too damp. This was a problem because the “feathery” cost twelve times the price of the old boxwood ball and about the same as a wooden club. This made golf a very expensive game of the times much too much so for the common person. This price was the result of the work involved and time it took to make 4 golf balls. The most skilled craft person could only make up to 4 “feathery” golf balls per day. Some one would have to come up with a golf ball that would be available to everyone and therefore increase the games popularity.

Along came the gutta percha ball (“gutty”). This golf ball was introduced about 1848 and did restore golf as a popular game. It did not take too long for this “gutty” ball to become the ball of choice. It was easier to manufacture and therefore affordable to the common man. Gutta percha is a gum that is the sap of a tree in Malaya. This sap was pliable when boiled and soon became hard on cooling allowing the gutty two advantages.

It was less labor intensive to produce and it would travel farther when stuck. A third advantage would be the cost, about 1 shilling in the 1850’s. However the gutty was prone to break up in mid-air forcing the rules to allow the golfer to play a fresh ball from the point where the largest fragment landed. This was the last occasion the rules of golf had to be amended because of the properties of the golf ball.

Along came the rubber core ball. This ball made a strong showing in Britain around 1901. The idea of a rubber core ball belonged to an employee of Goodrich named Coburn Haskell. It was titled, of course, the Haskell ball. A pro named Sandy Herd used the Haskell ball to win the 1902 British Open and the Golf Ball made of rubber became the games favorite ball.

That brings us to the ball as we know it. These modern day golf balls have water filled core wrapped rubber yarn. In 1998 the PGA set the ball size to 1.68 and a weight of 1.63 oz. It was stated by the U.S.G.A. that only a golf ball meeting these standards could be used in professional play.

By: Bud Lyons

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