In the physical world of air pressure, turbulence, and aerodynamics, surface structurestructure of the surface is a critical design exercise. There are several historical events that have contributed the design and make-up of the golf ball. Over a period of hundreds of years, the ultimate design and make up of the golf ball has been achieved, based on scientific understanding . The humble golf ball is a good example of the evolution of the history of aeronautical engineering.
During the early days of the game of golf on the eastern coast of Scotland, nearly all of the players used hand-made equipment in order to play golf which was a more chaotic game than it is today. At that time, the first golf clubs and golf balls are made of wood.
In 1618 the feather golf ball was first introduced and gained popularity. This version of the golf ball was commonly known as 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 leather shrank and the feathers expanded to form a hardened golf ball.
Because these types of golf balls were specially handcrafted, they usually cost more than the golf clubs. As a result, only the wealthy people had the money to play the game of golf at this time.
After the ‘Featherie’ the next version , to become popular was the Guttie golf ball. This prehistoric kind of golf ball was made from the rubber like sap from the Gutta Percha tree which comes from the tropics. These Guttie balls could be easily shaped into a sphere when hot. as they became cooler, they kept their shape and could then be used as a golf ball. With its rubber nature, Guttie balls could be produced cheaply and could be simplyquickly repaired by reheating and re-moulding.
In a comparison between the two earliest forms of golf balls, the feather golf ball was said to go further than the rubber Guttie. The reason for this difference was eventually confirmed as being due to the difference in surfaces. The smooth surface of the Guttie limits the ability of the golf ball to cover more distance.
With this new knowledge, the makers of golf balls eventually produced with balls with the “dimples” that are associated with modern golf balls in use today.
Dimples are crafted onto golf balls so as to minimise the aerodynamic drag, which acts on the ball and is higher if the surface were totally smooth. This is because smooth balls, when travelling through the air, create a huge pocket of low-pressure air in its wake therefore producing drag. The drag acts as a brake and the ball slows down.
Alternatively, by placing dimples on golf balls, the difference in pressure gets lowered and the drag is made less. These dimples create turbulence in the air around the golf ball. This, in turn, makes the air clasp the golf ball more closely. By doing so, the air flows in to the wake created by the ball instead of travelling past it. The result is a smaller wake and less drag. So 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 idea of putting dimples on golf balls can be traced back to the Gutta Percha phase of development. It was Coburn Haskell who came up with the one-piece rubber cored ball encased in a Gutta Percha sphere. It was during this time that players bacame aware of how their shots became more and more predictable the more they played with the same ball. They noticed that the rougher the balls became the more precisely 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 current form. So the dimples came into being. From then on, dimpled golf balls were officially part of every golf tournament. In 1921, the dimpled golf balls took on a standard size and weight.
Today, there is a large selection of golf balls to fit different golf games and conditions. Some golf balls offer greater control, while some others offer greater distance. However else these golf balls vary, they all have one attribute in common and that is the dimple. Golf balls are not just pieces of golf equipment; they are a paradigm of a physics concept!
Roger Titley is a successful webmaster who manages http://www.newgolfputter.com which is dedicated to all aspects of golf
- Roger Titley
