Man, You're Breaking My Balls!

In my last post I mentioned that I would attempt to have a couple of blog posts that everyone can relate to.  So I got to thinking: How can I write about golf technology and appeal to the vast majority of people.  I somehow got to thinking of my childhood and my fascination with breaking things.  As a kid I liked to either take things apart or break them and see what was inside.  This included toys, rocks and in my teen years GOLF BALLS.  As a teenager I worked in the proshop at the local golf course.  On rainy or cold days business was very slow and there wasn't much to keep a guy occupied.  I often spent these days repairing and re-gripping golf clubs.  However when I no longer had any clubs left to repair I would use my trusty torch for something else.  Myself and couple of friends who also worked there would go out on the deck and burn the hard outer layer of golf balls off to get to the inside.  This created quite a bit of entertainment as some of the golf balls were either comprised of a wound rubber band inner core or a liquid core.  If we were lucky enough to choose one of these balls, we were in for quite a surprise.  As the flame of the torch melted through the outer layer of the ball and contacted either the rubber bands or the liquid the insides would explode and shoot out of the ball.  One of my favorite stories to tell people is that if you were very careful, and only removed the outer layer of a Titleist Professional golf ball (a rubber band wound type) you could remove the inner wound core without breaking the rubber band.  If you were successful it was possible to unwind the entire rubber band and when stretched out this band covered a span of nearly 300 yards.  As much entertainment as these "shinanigans" provided it got me interested in golf ball technology at an early age.

The golf ball has gone through many changes throughout the years.  In the very first stages golf balls were made out of wood.  These balls were very easily manufactured however they could not fly very far, averaging about 100 yards.  Later on someone came up with the crazy idea that if feathers could help birds fly why not golf balls?  The result was a ball made out of boiled duck or goose feathers encased in a leather coating.  This introduced a ball that was capable of flying 200 yards.  The problem with this was the manufacturing process was very slow as only a couple of balls could be made in a day.  Later on the balls were made out of tree sap from Malaysia.  And finally the technology of dimples which as stuck around until now was introduced.  Someone noticed that a ball that was scuffed up after taking numerous of blows flew further.  The result was a ball with an outer casing comprising of hundreds of indentations.

Today's balls are all very similar on the outside.  They consist of a cover with 330-500 dimples.  The inside is the important part and can make a big difference in how far the ball flies and how much control the golfer has over its flight.  They are divided into two general categories: wound balls and non-wound balls.  Wound balls consist of a liquid or solid core surrounded by strips of rubber while non-wound balls have a solid or liquid core surrounded by a pressurized urethane solid material.

Golf ball technology has played a very big part in the evolution of the game.  For those golf enthusiasts out there, I seriously suggest breaking open you're favorite ball on a rainy day and exploring the material technology that plays such a big part in you're game.  It definitely provided me with hours of entertainment in the past.

Sean