The Legendary History of Golf Balls
How Golf Balls Were First Developed As early as 1550 Golf started in Scotland First balls used were wooden Large nuts, and small rocks were also used if wooden balls were not available
Feather Golf Ball 1600s Handcrafted ball made with goose feathers tightly packed into a horse or cow hide sphere Makers would boil the feathers, and stitch the ball around the feathers The feathers dried and expanded inside of the leather sphere, which made this ball hard Very expensive
Gutta Percha Ball 1848 Made from the hardened sap of a gutta tree Easily made in a mould Could be repaired by reheating Cheap to make Could not fly as far as feather balls, so in 1880 patterns were added to the outside of the ball
Rubber Core Ball 1898 Spherical ball with notches that was solid rubber, and wrapped in rubber thread Hit farther than the gutta ball In 1905 William Taylor made the first ball with uniform dimples
Modern Golf Ball 2 Piece balls consist of a plastic outer layer and a rubber core (casual golfer) 3 Piece balls consist of a plastic/ synthetic outer layer with a middle layer of rubber thread, and an inner core made of either gel or hard rubber All balls have dimples of some kind but the pattern depends on the manufacturer
The Taylor 5 Layer Ball The Ball of the Future Soft Urethane Cover The firm and fast Outer Mantle semi-firm and fast Middle Mantle soft, fast Inner Mantle extremely soft, low-compression core The Ball of the Future