By Mallory Harold Bellwood Antis High School

Girls, ever wondered which golf balls really work well in your favor on the green? And guys, wonder if those women’s golf balls really have any affect at all?

I did my project on women’s golf balls. Why? I’m the first girl on the Bellwood golf team in 27 years, so I’m very interested in golf I wondered which ball would benefit me most on the green. I was tired of guessing which one was best for me. So I decided to find out.

Problem: which women’s golf ball stops best on the green?

Callaway’s ad cites them as “the best ball for women golfers because of it’s soft, but not too soft core and aerodynamics for the slower swing speed.” Precept Ladies IQ plus’s ad states that their golf ball is made of the softest material that is regulation approved. Pinnacle’s ad states that even though their ball isn’t the softest, they are the best for lady golfers

Hypothesis: Callaway Solaire stops best on the green

Things to know: A chip shot is used to approach the green from a short distance. You want the ball to stop a short ways from the hole to make for an easy put into the hole. This is why I simulated a chip shot for my experiment, and why I wanted the balls to stop at a shorter distance. The higher the club number, the shorter the shot. The lower the club number, the longer the shot. We used a seven iron for this experiment Choking up on the club is when you move your hands down in the grip. This makes for a shorter shot no matter what the club. We choked up on the seven iron, so it was more like a nine iron or a pitching wedge, most commonly used for chip shot.

Experimental Design I set up a pendulum to hit the ball at an exact point so it was a simulated chip shot. This is the shot you take when you are approaching the green, so it was most useful in this project. Once the ball had come to a complete stop, we measured the distance it had rolled The shorter the distance, the better it was considered to stop on the green.

The three brands of balls tested were: Picture of golf balls here Callaway Solaire Pinnacle Ribbon Precept Ladies IQ plus Experimental Variables

Control Variables How the ball is hit The position of the ball Where the club strikes the face of the ball The way the ball is set on the ground(logo up, to the left side of the club, the same distance away from the club.) If the ball has been hit before If the ball has been in a water hazard or a bunker before

Temperature of the room Slope of the ground The position of the club The angle of the club to the ground If your machine is set up the right way How large your playing surface is Control Variables Cont.

This entire experiment was done in the school’s indoor sports practice room, so that weather, temperature, break in the green, hardness of the green, slope, and length of the grass were all taken out as control variables. The room was carpeted in false grass carpeting Control Variables, cont.

Experimental Variable: Ladies golf balls Experimental Groups: Control Group: Golf Balls not hit Callaway Solaire, Precept Lady IQ Plus and Pinnacle Ribbon

Procedure for each golf ball: 1: Fix a ball on the turf so that when the club is in swing, the middle of the club face will hit the ball in the middle 2:Pull the golf club back counterclockwise until it touches the piece of yarn fixed on the lower rung of the pendulum machine. 3:Release the club, being careful not to move it. Simply let the club go. 4: Watch the movement of the ball on the green to make sure it has a straight path. Measure the distance the ball moved from the starting point and record where it stops. 5: Remove the ball just hit from the green and reset the pendulum.

Pinnacle Ribbon

Callaway Solaire

Precept Ladies IQ Plus

Brand Of Ball Trial 1 (in cm ) Trial 2 (in cm) Trial 3 (in cm) Pinnacle Callaway Precept Raw Data

Data Averages

Pinnacle Precept

In Conclusion, my data does not support my hypothesis that Callaway Solaire was the ball that would stop best on the green. In fact, my data shows that all of the balls were about the same.

Further Research To further refine my project, I could fine tune my pendulum machine. I could test with different clubs rather than just a seven iron I could use different climates to test the golf balls in

A HUGE thank you to Mr. Swanson for allowing me to use the practice building for my experiment. Thank you to my father, who helped me set up the pendulum machine And thank you Mr. Goodman and Mrs. Flarend for helping me work out the bumps along the way

Data Length of the hit in cm

Pendulum machine A level indoor golf green (Astroturf carpeting) Different brands of golf balls (Callaway Solaire, Precept Ladies IQ plus, Pinnacle Ribbon) Notebook, pen, and video camera (camera optional) Materials:

My problem was which women’s golf ball stops best on the green? My hypothesis was that Callaway solaire would stop best on the green. In Conclusion my data does not support my hypothesis that Callaway Solaire was the ball that would stop best on the green. In fact, my data shows that all of the balls were about the same Abstract