Golf Trails

The game of golf has been around for over 600 years. Therefore the golf ball has also been around for the same length of time. Over the course of the years, the golf ball has undergone many improvements to meet the needs of golfers. The ball has evolved from it’s original wound construction to a solid golf ball that appeared in the 1980s.

A wound golf ball has rubber threads wound around a center core. The center core can be made up of either liquid, or a solid synthetic rubber. The covered wound core is then wrapped with either a balata or surlyn cover. Wound golf balls tend to allow more spin but do not provide the distance and durability that other types of balls offer. They also tend to lose distance when temperatures fall due to their sensitivity to the environmental temperature.

A solid golf ball contains a solid core with a solid shell around the core and then wrapped with balata or a surlyn cover. Upon impact, solid golf balls produce a hard feel and do not have adequate spin control.

Golf balls also come in one and two piece designs as well as multi-layer construction which consists of three and four layers. The later two and multi-layer balls came about because the one piece balls were made with a single layer of synthetic rubber and tended to deform on impact thus requiring more energy to propel the ball an adequate distance. However, one piece balls are economical and are used primarily today on the driving range.

The two piece golf balls contains a high restitution core wrapped in a cover and can be credited with producing longer drives. The two piece constructed golf ball may not spin sideways as much as the multi-layered or three piece golf ball.

Multi-layer balls are golf balls that contain a core material wrapped in several (multiple) covers. Golf ball designers now have the ability to use this multi-layering system to utilize different materials to enhance several performance features of the ball. Designing a golf ball with multi-layers allows manufacturers the ability to vary degrees of hardnes, specific gravity, etc. Being able to control these factors will provide better performance on the greens. Some manufacturers have actually been able to produce golf balls that compensate for slightly missed hits. Now that is “par-fect”.