Article by Roger Titley

In the golf ball design world of air pressure, turbulence, and aerodynamics, surface structurestructure of the surface is a essential design element. There are several historical events that have contributed the design and make-up of the golf ball. Evolving over a period covering hundreds of years, a better design and composition of the golf ball has been achieved, based on scientific understanding. The humble golf ball is a good example of the development of the history of aeronautical engineering.

In the beginning of the game of golf on the eastern coast of Scotland, nearly all of the players used ancient golf clubs and balls in order to play the game of golf which was a more chaotic game than it is today. In these early days, the first golf clubs and golf balls are made of wood.

feather golf ball was used for the first time and made popular. This version of the golf ball gained the nickname of the “Featherie”. This feather golf ball was a handcraftedhand made golf ball made with goose feathers securely pressed into a horse or cowhide outer casing. This was done while the ball was still wet. As the ball dried out, the the out skin would shrink and the feathers expanded to create a hardened golf ball.

Because these types of golf balls were specially handcrafted, they could easily cost more than the golf clubs. It is not surprising that, only the wealthy people could afford to play the game of golf during this early period.

After the ‘Featherie’ the next version, to gain in popularity was the Guttie golf ball. This prehistoric form of golf ball was constructed from the rubber like sap from the Gutta Percha tree that can be found in the tropics. These Guttie balls could be readily shaped into a sphere when hot. When they became cooler, they kept their shape and could then be used as a golf ball. With its rubber nature, Guttie balls could be cheaply reproduced and could be easily repaired by reheating and reshaping.

In a comparison between the two earliest forms of golf balls, the feather golf ball was said to go a longer distance than than the rubber Guttie. The reason for the different distances was eventually identified as being due to the difference in surfaces. The smooth surface of the Guttie reduces the capacity of the golf ball to travel over greater distance.

With this new knowledge, the makers of golf balls eventually designed with balls with the “dimples” that are found on modern golf balls in use today.

Dimples are crafted onto golf balls so as to reduce the aerodynamic drag, which acts on the ball and is higher if it were totally smooth. The cause of this is because smooth balls, when sailing through the air, leave a large pocket of low-pressure air in its wake so creating drag. The drag performs as a brake and the ball slows down.

But in contrast, by having dimples on golf balls, the difference in pressure gets lowered and the drag is reduced. These dimples create turbulence in the air surrounding the golf ball. This, in turn, makes the air flow around the golf ball more closely. consequently, the air flows in to the wake created by the ball instead of flowing past it. The result is a smaller wake and less drag. Consequently the ball travels a longer distance.

Dimples also help players to put backspin on a shot so making the golf ball break off on the putting green.

The concept of placing dimples on golf balls can be traced back to the Gutta Percha phase of development. It was Coburn Haskell who introduced the one-piece rubber cored ball encased in a Gutta Percha coating. It was during this time that players first noticed how their shots became more and more predictable the more they used the same ball. They noticed that the more the balls became scuffed the more accurate and further they could hit it.

When William Taylor applied the dimple pattern to a Haskell ball in 1905, golf balls finally took on their modern shape. So the dimples came into being. From that time on, dimpled golf balls were officially used in every golf tournament. In 1921, the dimpled golf balls took on a standard size and weight.

Today, there is a big choice of golf balls to fit different golf games and conditions. Some golf balls offer greater control, while some others provide greater distance. However else these golf balls vary, they all have one fearure in common and that is the dimple. Golf balls are not just pieces of golf equipment; they are a paradigm of a physics concept!

About the Author

Roger Titley is a successful webmaster who manages http://www.newgolfputter.com which is dedicated to all aspects of golf