Yes, The Times They Are A' Changin (Part 3)

     A couple of days ago I did a post about the game from the golf ball's perspective. I hope you read it and enjoyed it. When we talk of change, the ball has gone through an amazing evolution as well as the club.  Let's take a look at some of those changes.  I'm sure that they were slow to be accepted as not conforming to tradition as well.  However, time and progress march on.
     Some of us grew up hitting rocks with sticks. Use your imagination now as to what it was like at golf's beginnings. The first balls were not balls at all, but round rocks. It was only natural as the game grew in popularity that things would change.  A rock was not acceptable any longer.  There had to be another alternative. How about shaping a piece of wood and hitting it around.  At least the hunk of wood could be shaped consistently into a round shape.  There was only one problem.  The  wooden sphere would shatter if it was hit hard enough. The wooden ball worked, but with it's flaws it was clear that there had to be another solution.
     Enter the featherie. This was a leather pouch that was filled with feathers--thus the name featherie--and stitched up.  This ball could be compressed by the club and not shatter. It was close to being round once the feathers were in and the seams were stitched up. You could fill as many feathers as you could get into that pouch but finally it was generally accepted and adopted as a rule that you could not have more feathers in the ball than would fit into a top hat of the day. How you stuffed that many feathers into a pouch of that size still is a mystery to me. It must have been a royal pain to stuff that pouch and then stitch it up.  As with the wooden ball, there had to be a better way.
     Around the 1840's rubber was introduced in the form of a ball. At first the rubber ball didn't take over the golf scene because of it's flight characteristics. The ball didn't go as far as the featherie.  That changed when the first smile, uh cut, was put into the ball when the ball was hit by a club. This changed the aerodynamics of the ball.  The ball was a lot easier to deal with as the player didn't have to stuff feathers into a pouch any longer even though there was an industry that was around that made featheries, just as we have ball manufacturers today. The rubber could be melted and poured into a mold which made the ball easier to make.  The ball made of rubber was here to stay, even though this early "guttie" ball was solid.  It was called "The Guttie" because of the kind of solid rubber it was made of.
      The next step came around the turn of the 19th Century when the techniques of working with rubber improved.  A new design that allowed the ball to fly further was introduced. this was a ball that had a rubber center and that center core was wrapped by strands of rubber--like the rubber bands of today. The whole ball was had a hard rubber core. At first this ball was very unstable and a pattern of dimples was applied to the outside of the ball in order for it to be more playable and stable.
      Ball designed change little until the 1970's and the wound ball was king.  Then, Spalding introduced what they called "The Executive" ball which returned to the solid rubber golf ball.  At first it was not generally accepted and the ball evolved into the "Top Flite" ball we know today. We know what the nickname of the Top Flite is and I won't say it here, but top rock says it all.
     The solid ball idea didn't go away.  Today all balls are solid as the technology for making solid balls has changed with the advances in science. Rubber polymers and synthetic rubbers have softened the ball and made it much more workable and playable.  Balls are now two to four piece solid constuction with each layer with each layer bringing a different play characteristic to the ball. The new solid ball is softer for the short game and flies further.
      The history of the golf ball is very interesting.  Each time there was a major change in the thinking as to how a golf ball was made.  Traditions were shattered and change was inevitable but eventually accepted. Our game is alive, and continues to make needed changes.  I will have more about other changes in future posts.  This was a quick overview of the golf ball and the story is richer than what I have written here. Change is not easy for everyone, but we still change.

Its a great game we play.