New Golf Balls | Design and Development

The origins of golf ball design, lies in clumsy solid piece wooden constructs. This design has developed greatly throughout the years, experimenting with composition, material and the surface area.

The “Featherie” was introduced in 1618, this was a golf ball made from feather. The handcrafted goose feathers were tightly pressed into a leather sphere while still wet. Once dry the leather had shrunk and the feathers expanded, resulting in a hardened golf ball. As a specially handcrafted golf ball, it was commonly more expensive than golf clubs, making the game only affordable for the privileged. The Guttie golf ball followed the Featherie. This golf ball took its name from the Gutta tree, from where it was made. The Gutta tree found in the tropics, produces rubber-like sap which was shaped into a sphere. By using rubber, it reduced production costs considerably and made the Guttie Ball suitable for easy repair.

The Featherie golf ball had the advantage of travelling further whereas the Guttie golf ball covered more distance because of its smooth surface. When the observation of this was made, those who were developing golf balls invented the “dimpled” golf ball. Aerodynamic drag causes smooth golf balls to slow down. The dimples act to reduce this drag.