History of the Golf Ball

The simple white ball used in golf has a history stretching back at least 500 years. During this period the game has evolved from a past-time for bored shepherds into one of the highest-paying and most demanding professional sports in the world. The growth of the sport has also driven the development of the golf ball, transforming the pebbles used in the earliest versions of the game into the sophisticated, carefully designed balls used in the modern game.

1400 – The gowf ball

The earliest version of a game resembling modern golf was first documented in Scotland in the 1500s. The game was believed to have been played by shepherds, who dug small holes in the ground and then attempted to steer rounded pebbles into these holes using wooden clubs.

1500 – The golf ball is born

By the 1500s some formal rules for the game of golf had been codified, leading craftsmen to design the first equipment specifically built for the game. The golf balls used during this time were made of wood, which was strong and could easily be shaped into a sphere.

1600 – The feather ball

The feather ball began replacing the wooden ball in the 1600s, at least in games played by golf aficionados wealthy enough to purchase these expensive pieces of equipment.

Crafting a feather ball was a time consuming and painstaking business, which involved ball makers stuffing a large quantity of boiled feathers into a leather pouch. This was then sewn shut and hammered into a ball shape once the feathers had dried.

1848 – the Gutta Percha

Rev. Dr. Robert Adams is credited with helping the golf ball take its next evolutionary step. Adams made use of a rubber-like liquid extracted from Malaysian Gutta Percha trees to craft a new generation of golf balls. These balls represented a significant improvement over feather balls as they were cheaper, more resilient, and could be repaired and reshaped by golf ball makers.

By the late 1800s the Gutta Percha or ‘gutty’ was being mass-produced, using specially designed moulds. Many of these balls featured the ‘bramble’ pattern of spherical bumps across the surface of the ball.

1898 - The Rubber Core ball

Another large leap in the development of the golf ball took place in 1898 when Coburn Haskell, an ardent golfer, designed a golf ball with a rubber core encased in a Gutta Percha covering. The use of rubber in the core added substantially to the flight of the golf ball off the tee.

The Gutta Percha covering was replaced by Balata in the early 1900s. During the next decade, ball manufacturers experimented with a variety of ball patterns, finally settling on the familiar dimple pattern, which minimised drag whilst simultaneously maximising lift.

1932 - The Modern Ball

The modern golf ball came into existence in 1932. Rather than incorporating new design features, the modern ball was the product of production specifications set by the United States Golfing Association. The minimum weight of the ball was set at 1.620 ounces with the diameter set at a minimum of 1.680 inches.

While the basic appearance of golf balls has remained unchanged since 1932, scientific advances in the manufacturing of synthetic materials, has led to golf ball manufacturers improving ball performance and design. Modern golf balls are manufactured from space-age plastics, silicon and synthetic rubber parts.

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