8
THE AMERICAN GOLFER
On the Inside of a Golf Ball
A Few Things You May Not Know About the Missile That You Bash, Gash, Smash and Curse Around the Course
By Walter Trumbull
M
scientific knowledge.
Before going into
the actual construction
of the golf ball let us
consider its importance in the community. That it occupies
a prominent position
in regard to health and
amusement may be
proven by an overwhelming weight of
testimony, but few realize its prominence in
the world of finance.
Over three hundred
thousand dozen golf
balls have been sold
this season. At an
average price of one
dollar a ball this
Golf also acknowlmeans an investment
edges its debt to the
of $3,600,000. And
favorite members of
that is not taking into
the Driver, Brassie,
The finished product as it comes from the mold. The cover is made and shaped separately in
account the sale of reSpoon, Cleek, Iron,
halves, then pressed on in these molds— (International)
painted balls. Quite a
Mashie, Niblick, Puttidy little stock issue
ter and various other
clans. Golfers spend a lot of time with them, ball, but he never has followed up the oppor- could be floated with this amount of ready
not only on the links but frequently on the tunity for knowledge that such a shot pre- cash. And now let us see in just what this
best parlor rug or the once smooth and velvet sents. He has, to be sure, his own theories money has been invested.
side lawn.
as to the make-up of the little pellet. He
Evolution of Golf Balls
Yet, with all the golfers and all the golf will frequently announce such theories just
RACTICALLY everyone knows someclubs, where would the game be without that after a shot into a trap or into the rough or
thing of the general evolution of the golf
spirit of infinite variety enclosed in gutta- after the ball has failed, from a foot away,
percha and officially known as the golf ball? to seek the seclusion of the cup. Golfers ball. The oldest manufactured balls were
those with a leather cover stuffed with feathThe Royal and Ancient Pastime drafts its even have been known to declare that cerrank and file from the duffer class. Some tain evil spirits, upon being cast out, did not ers. The covers were hand-sewn and the
feathers were tightly packed. In order to
are ranker than others, but most of them can enter a herd of swine but invaded a flock of
accomplish this a small opening was left in
be classed in a general group. There are golf balls, which immediately rushed over a
the cover and the maker packed in the feathprobably a thousand duffers to one real ex- steep bank and into a water hazard. These
pert, but the man who does the course in 144 suppositions, however, are not based upon
ers by pushing them in with a pointed wooden
is just as particular
stick while holding the
about the golf balls
ball against his chest.
he uses on the way
It is said that many of
around as is the man
those who manufacwho plays in 72 about
tured balls in this
the golf ball with
fashion died from long
which he accomplishes
trouble.
that feat.
The plain gutta ball
was the next to apPoint of Difference
pear. This would go
further, but its flight
HERE is this difference: the expert
was attended by amazing curves and slants.
picks a ball from acIt was learned by extual knowledge of his
perience that the only
own requirements and
war to make the ball
its capabilities, while
follow a straight and
the duffer usually
narrow path was to
sticks to the brand
beat it up. At first
with which he once
they roughened the
happened to clear the
surface with axes, but
trap on the long hole.
later brass moulds
To the average golfer
with square raised
the construction of the
markings came into
golf ball is as much of
use.
The golfer of
a mystery as the conyesterday, like the
struction of the watch
golfer of today, was
he carries. All he reafter distance. He
quires of either is that
tried the all-rubber
it will keep on going.
ball and various other
Of course he has
The process of wrapping the rubber band is a delicate one, and require skill in regulating the
tension at which the wrapping is done—(International)
(Cont. on page 29)
cut into many a golf
ANY contend
that the most
striking
features of golf are found
on the countenances of
the Hutchisons, the
Hagens, the Duncans,
the Rays and the Vardons, not forgetting
honorable mention for
the Evans, Jones and
Ouimet families.
It
cannot be denied that
if the ordinary golfer
ever ceases to talk
about his own game he
usually occupies the
interval by discussing,
the efforts of one of
the tribes just named.
P
T
29
NOVEMBER 6, 1920
On the Inside of a Golf Ball
(Continued from page 8)
experiments, but they wouldn't do.
Then came the rubber-cored ball.
This was the immediate forerunner of
the golf ball of the present.
For a time the makers of golf balls
ran wild. They used an acid core,
but this made it extremely dangerous
for the golfer to follow the main precept of golf. It was not safe for him
oftentimes to keep his eye on the
ball. If he did he lost his eye. Then
there was the ball with the core of
compressed air. Like the automobile
tire, this ball punctured and left the
golfer flat. At this period the manufacturers would have used T. N. T. if
they hadn't been afraid that it would
drive the golfer further than the ball.
All this has changed.
There is no danger in the presentday golf ball except the danger of
apoplexy to the user after he has
made a bad shot. The standardized
ball, which will be in general
use next
year, is 1.62, or roughly 15/8 inches in
diameter and 1.62 ounces, or roughly
29.53 pennyweight when placed on the
"I would not give up subscribing to The American
Golfer for a good deal of
money. It is the best sporting paper I know."
DEVEREUX EMMET,
St. James, Long Island.
scales. The core of the ball is about
one inch in diameter and is fashioned
in many ways. Some balls still have a
solid rubber core. The core of others
is in plastic form and filled with bits
of cork or weighted with steel filings
or lead.
The Liquid Core
HERE still is what is known as
the liquid core, but the liquid is
so heavy in composition that if you
squeezed it out it would appear very
much like vaseline or shaving cream.
One of the liquids now used is castor oil. This core is placed in a machine and many yards of rubber band
or tape is wound upon it. The machine is something after the fashion
of a bobbin except that it turns the
core so that the winding may be even
on all sides and the ball round. This
winding is done at great tension,
which is furnished by the grip of the
operators who feed the tape to the
T
machine. Here the personal equation
comes in. It is natural that some
operators will wind a ball at higher
tension than others, or will wind one
ball at higher tension than another.
Of course everything possible is done
to eliminate this factor, but it exists.
It is also possible that once in a very
great while something happens, and
the core of a ball is not exactly centered. It may readily be seen that
any such accident would make a ball
lopsided and keep it from flying or
rolling truly, but fortunately this happens very rarely.
When the tape is all put on, the ball
looks like nothing so much as a mass
of extremely emaciated angleworms.
On top of this a shell of gutta-percha
is moulded,
varying in thickness from
1/16 to 1/8 of an inch. Then the ball
is painted. Four coats of paint are
general.
The varieties of markings on the
outer shell or cover are peculiar to
the various manufacturers. The markings are of great importance, as a
ball with indentations too deep or
raised portions too high will act
strangely in the air.
The greatest fallacy under which
the unthinking labor is that the softer
golf balls are the ones that cut. Of
course the two things for which the
manufacturer aims are distance and
durability. They cannot be altogether
obtained in the same ball. It is not
the soft ball, but the hard ball which
first shows signs of usage. A moment's reflection will convince anyone
that this is true. The harder the surface the greater the resistance to the
club. Try to cut a tennis ball by
swinging at it with an iron. The ball
gives to the blow. For this reason
the hard balls with which a golfer gets
distance are not the durable balls.
So called "tournament balls," supposed to be manufactured for certain
professionals, are nothing but balls
selected from the ordinary stock
which happen to have been wrapped
at higher tension than the others.
There are many ways of ascertaining
which these balls are. The golfer who
knows something about the construction of the golf ball can select the one
best adapted to his own use and not
merely pick it as haphazardly as most
women pick a horse to win a race—
because she likes its looks.