The insides of golf balls have changed drastically over the years, but the outsides have remained dimpled since the early 1900s. Dimples on golf balls have important aerodynamic effects on the trajectory and distance a golf ball can travel, and offer both positive and negative consequences.
Benefits
In addition to-ting, effects on, and offer both positive and negative consequences. Dimpled golf balls travel faster and go farther because of the dimples. Golf balls are slowed down, and thrown slightly off course, because of the drag of air against the ball. This friction is minimized when dimples are added to the ball.
History of
Early golf balls consisted of leather bags filled with boiled goose feathers. This method was used for hundreds of years. It was not until 1845 that golf balls were made from the gum of a Malaysian sapodilla tree. This created a completely smooth ball that could travel much farther distances than the leather pouch golf ball. However, golfers quickly realized that the ball handled better and traveled even farther after it had been used, and thus dented and scuffed, a few times.
During the 1930s, the use of dimpled golf balls became standard and the outside of golf balls has changed very little since then.
Invented by
In 1905, a golf ball manufacturer named William Taylor was the first person to intentionally add dimples to his golf balls design. By 1921, dimpled golf balls had achieved a standard weight and size and had become required equipment in major tournaments.
Identification
The dimples on a golf ball are not random. They are set an equal distance apart in rows. On American golf balls, there are usually 336 dimples, although some brands and some special types of balls can have as many as 500 dimples. There are 330 on a British ball.
Risk Factors
The distance a golf ball can travel because of its dimples is not without some risks. Property has been damaged and people injured because of golfers who lost control of golf balls that traveled long distances. Thus, there a movement has developed to reduce the distance a golf ball can travel. So far, most changes have experimented with the center of the golf ball rather than to the dimples, because players do not want to give up the added control the dimples afford.
Resources
- —Why golf balls have dimples
