Natural selection: evolution of the golf ball

(NC)—The most recent developments in golf ball technology seem a world away from the feather-stuffed, hand-stitched balls first used over 500 years ago – and so they should.

The first golf balls were made of everything from feathers to the rubbery sap of the tropical Gutta tree. Later developments saw golf ball cores filled with rubber, compressed air, cork, and metal. What remains the same, though, is the goal has always been to increase accuracy and distance – an elusive plan when early balls were made from feathers, sap or animal hides.

Modern technology has not only made it easier to hit the golf ball longer, but also accuracy can be improved by using the correct type of ball on the course – and for many years, that choice included either a two- or three-piece ball.

"If you wanted spin and control you had to give up distance and play a three-piece spin ball. If you wanted distance you had to give up spin and control and play a hard two-piece ball," says Steve Ogg, vice president of golf ball research for Callaway Golf.

But Ogg, a former aeronautical engineer who now works to maximize the performance and accuracy of Callaway's golf balls using science, says things have changed. His team was behind the development of Callaway's new Tour i and Tour ix balls, which use industry-leading four-piece construction and a dual core that allows the ball to achieve distance off the tee while still enabling spin around the green. Ogg's team optimized the Tour i ball for maximum short-game control, while the Tour ix was created with both distance and control in mind.

"For maximum distance you want the highest speed, a high launch angle, relatively low spin and good aerodynamics," says Ogg.

Increasingly, touring professionals are using the four-piece Tour i or Tour ix balls to improve their performance at the world's top golf tournaments. Golf great Phil Mickelson has been quoted as saying that the Tour i and Tour ix balls have had the greatest impact on the game of golf, "more than any other piece of equipment in the history of the game – even more than steel shafts."

Source: www.newscanada.com