What’s your favorite golf ball? Is it that new one you take out of the pack you bought in the pro shop?
Or maybe it’s the one you find when searching around in the rough, and you find out it’s one of the premium balls without a mark on it? It’s all very subjective.
But the question is, do golf balls make a difference to your game?
The major manufacturers will certainly have you believe that the answer is a definite yes to the question of do golf balls make a difference.
The golf ball market is a huge business – the market value in 2022 came in at $876.95 million.
Throughout this article, we’ll look to uncover some of the secrets to answering the question of do golf balls make a difference by looking at the following:
- How You Can Be Fitted For Your Ideal Golf Ball
- How A Modern Ball Is Designed
- Is The Modern Golf Ball A Threat To The Game?
- A Whistle-Stop Tour Of The History Of The Golf Ball
Let’s get the ball rolling!
How you can be fitted for your ideal golf ball
Do golf balls make a difference to your game?
The answer is yes.
You can be fitted for your ideal golf ball in the same way you can be fitted for your ideal set of clubs.
When you go for a custom fitting session for golf clubs, one of the first things the fitter will do is get you to hit your own clubs.
Amongst other things, this helps the fitter understand:
- How you deliver the club head into the ball
- Spin imparted on the golf ball
Whilst the fitter can start to fit you into clubs that can help generate more or less spin if needed, the golf ball can also be fitted to complement the club recommendation.
Does the golf ball matter? In my opinion, yes, I would highly recommend being fitted for your ideal golf ball!
How a modern ball is designed
The use of computer-aided design means that engineers can build dimple patterns that assist in producing more or less spin with the ball flight while studying the airflow around the ball in flight.
The modern ball also can still have several layers depending on the playing characteristics the manufacturer is looking for.
So, as an example, the Titleist Pro V1 is a 3-piece construction ball, whereas the TaylorMade TP5X is a 5-piece construction ball.
Different forms of rubbers and plastics are used depending on the manufacturer, and the golf balls are constructed using specialized automated machines to ensure consistency throughout the build process.
Covers are constructed from materials like urethane elastomer, which offer durability and feel for the golfer.
Golf balls today are designed to offer the following:
- Low spin
- High spin
- Performance tailored to certain swing speeds
- Durability
- Exceptional distance but great feel around the greens
- Different colors – color is back in with the manufacturers
Is the modern golf ball a threat to the game of golf- Does the Golf Ball Matter?
From an amateur perspective, the answer here is no, but in the professional game, the argument over whether the modern golf ball is ruining the game has rumbled on for years.
The basis for this is that many traditional courses professional tournaments have been played on are becoming obsolete because of the distance the players can hit the modern golf ball.
The dawn of the current game could be seen when Tiger Woods won his first Masters in 1997, reducing some of the par 5s to a drive and a very short iron.
Although Woods still used a traditional wound ball to win in 97, the launch of balls like the Pro V1 made a difference to overall yardages from the longest to the shortest hitters on tour.
This, in turn, meant the old classic courses had to be lengthened to bring the challenge back, but there is only so far they can be stretched.
By comparison, some of the modern golf courses featured on the professional tours are truly monstrous, playing up to 7800 yards in competition to accommodate today’s power game.
Do golf balls make a difference in this instance?
The governing bodies certainly think so – the R&A and the USGA have tried to take steps to slow down the development of the golf ball. It’s clear the industry does not feel the same.
Do Golf Balls Make a Difference? Golf ball History
Can you imagine what it would be like to tee it up with a wooden golf ball? That’s what golfers did from the early 1400s to the early 17th century!
A quantum leap was made with the introduction of the “featherie,” which was literally feathers (boiled goose feathers were the preferred choice) stuffed into a cowhide leather sack and shaped to the size of a golf ball.
The year 1848 saw the next golf ball revolution to break cover in the form of the Gutta Percha golf ball, affectionately known as the “Gutty.”
So, here we see the first instance in our quest to discover whether golf balls make a difference.
The “Gutty” being cheaper and easier to produce helped open up golf to a broader audience from the privileged few who could afford the more expensive but fragile “featherie.”
In 1905, the first ball to feature a dimple pattern was introduced to the world.
Designed by William Taylor and using the rubber-cored Gutta Percha, the dimple design on the ball was the genesis of the modern golf ball.
Balata eventually replaced Gutta Percha, and these golf balls became the ball of choice for professionals who enjoyed the soft feel and spin characteristics.
2000 saw the launch of a revolutionary golf ball – the Titleist Pro V1, which changed the game in good and bad ways and led us to the modern generation of balls.
The Pro V1 was revolutionary because it essentially took the best bits from the wound, balata balls combined with the harder, more distance-oriented golf balls.
The result was a ball that flew much further than any distance ball that came before it but could offer spin, feel, and control of the balata ball without damage to the cover.
The Titleist Pro V1 and sister ball – the Pro V1X- have arguably become the most successful golf balls ever made.
Indeed, by the start of the 2019 PGA Tour season, over 3000 wins had been chalked up worldwide using the Pro V1 or Pro V1X since the 2000 launch.
In taking you through the evolution of the golf ball from its humblest wooden beginnings to today’s technical tour de force, it’s fair to say it has evolved at a pace similar to that of golf equipment.
Do Golf Balls Make A Difference? Key Takeaways
We posed the question Do golf balls make a difference, and the answer is yes in two different ways.
With the introduction of the Gutta Percha ball, the game of golf was opened up to many more people as it was cheaper and easier to produce than the long-standing “featherie” it replaced.
The second way the golf ball makes a difference is in how it can now be included in the fitting process for a golfer, which helps them maximize their spin, launch, and flight characteristics.
So the next time you find a ball in the rough (hopefully, it’s a good one!), take a second to think about the centuries of development and design that have led to what you have just found!
