are differently built, some are very simple others are more
complex. To get an easy picture about the structure of today's
golf balls, we would like to explain the basics as follows:
In early times golfers made out
that irregularities in the surface of the ball would let the
ball fly higher and farer. Soon, right after the Gutta Percha
balls the so called dimples were purposely printed
into the surface of each ball. Still nowadays, most of the
ball manufacturers are testing
out different shapes and numbers of dimples. The rule goes:
the more dimples a ball has, the higher it goes. Then, balls
having too many dimples, do fly too high and are lacking distance.
Most companies have found their best number of dimples, mostly
they are ranking between 300-500 per ball.
Well hit golf balls go about 200 km/h (120 m/h). Once off
the tee, the ball starts to slow down because because air
is sticking to it while flying, just like water sticks to
a ball if it falls into water. Since air is sticking to the
surface it streams over, it makes sense that the less area
on a ball, the less sticking and the less drag there is to
It looks obvious that a smooth coating on a polished sphere
would go farther than a ball with a roughed, lemon skinned
surface. But, at the speed that golf balls go, it doesn't
quite work that way.
Imagine to be a tiny entity, perhaps the size
of a micro crustacean - small enough to fit between grains
of sand. Now imagine to ride on the surface of a golf ball
in flight, or in the wind tunnel at the lab. You realize that
right at the surface of the ball, the air is still and it
sticks to the plastic as the air molecules are dragged along
like syrup running from the rim on a little pitcher at a popular
pancake breakfast place. But getting
away from the surface, say as far as the thickness of three
sheets of paper, we notice that the air is going full speed.
Here we're in, what we in golf science call, the "free
stream" which moves at 200 km/h.
However, the air streaming over a golf ball forms a "boundary
layer" of relatively slow moving air. It's distinct.
Right at the surface, the air is stuck. A millimeter away
from the surface, the air is going full blast. In between
- in the boundary layer - it's just slurping along.
That slow moving air in the boundary layer
is a source of drag. It lets the air stick to the surface
and tumble behind the ball in wild whipping whirlpools. The
energy in the boundary layer is lost energy. The tumbling
air behind the ball allows a large (relatively large, it's
just a golf ball) region of low pressure to form, creating
a partial vacuum that would suck the ball back toward the
tee. So, the thinner the boundary layer, the less slurpy drag
there is, and the sooner the air behind the ball can get back
up to the "free stream" speed. The less drag, the
farther the ball will be driven.
Here's where the dimples do their job. Dimples
make the molecules in the layer tumble. They start roiling
against one another. The boundary layer becomes "turbulent."
The molecules in the layer are no longer just sliding across
the surface gently jostling. Now, they're rolling and bouncing
and bumping each other along. When the molecules are in a
turbulent boundary layer, they're moving closer to the free-stream
speed. There is less of a difference between the speed of
the tumbling molecules and the speed of the ball.
It turns out that the air flow in a turbulent
boundary layer on a dimpled golf ball is thinner than a smooth
or "laminar" flow on, say, a ping-pong ball. Boundary
layers are laminar or turbulent, or somewhere in between.
We say they're in "transition." Dimples make the
transition quick-- not a smooth transition, a turbulent one,
ha! (A little fluid dynamics gag there...) When the layer
is turbulent and thin, the ball loses less energy to the free
stream air. And, drag is lower. Isn't that weird? The dimples
make the ball develop less drag.
Some balls are indicated with a compression
of 80, 90 or 100 etc. Originally it was used as a measurement
for quality of 3-piece balls, where a long rubber was streched
arround the core. The rubber had a lenght of approx. 20 meters
and was streched at a factor of approx. 20 times of its original,
depending on the compression that is wanted. This way it is
wounded arround the core. It was said that the tighter the
windings, the better the ball performed. This created a long-standing
perception that compression affects golf ball distance and
Because golf ball technology uses newer
heat-resistant threads with newer and better winding equipment
for three piece balls, golf ball compression has become merely
a condition of feel. Now with the availability of the consistent
quality of a two piece ball, compression as a measurement
of quality is rather obsolete.
Definition: Today the word "compression"
in the golf ball industry relates to a value expressed by
a number in the range from 0 to 200 that is given a golf ball.
This number defines the deflection that a golf ball undergoes
when subjected to a compressive load. Compression simply measures
how much the shape a golf ball changes under a constant weight.
Measurement: All three-piece balls
and some two-piece balls are measured for compression. A ball
that doesn't compress is rated 200; a ball that deflects 2/10ths
of an inch or more is rated zero. Between those two extremes,
for every 1/1000ths of an inch that the ball compresses, it
drops one point from 200 and the compression rating is then
Most balls have compression ratings
of either 80, 90, or 100; the lower the compression, the softer
the feel. Not every ball marked 80, 90, or 100 is exactly
that rating. The actual rating can fall roughly within 3-5
points on either side of the indication. Any ball that falls
out of this range is usually sold as range ball, or as X-outs.
Prove: There have been several published
texts to prove that golf ball compression relates more to
feel and your own superstition than its performance. The conclusions
were, if you take different rated golf balls which have the
same construction, aerodynamics, and cover material, and use
an automatic golf swing machine such as the Iron Man, the
yardage difference between the balls hit were negligible,
less than two yards.
The covers of today's golf balls
are made of numerous different materials such as Balata, Surlyn,
Zylin, or Elastomer. The main challenge is to find a cover,
that provides a sensitive, soft feeling for the ball while
hard enough not to be cut still after thousands of shots.
Therefore, ball manufacturers
have special machines shooting the ball against a wall with
a speed of more that 250 km/h.
Balata: as a type of natural
rubber and the softest of all other cover types, Balata is
less cut resistant. However, with all other aspects of construction
being equal, a balata-covered ball will spin easier and is
preferred by players who demand maximum feel and control.
This means more control over shots where the action of the
ball is critical.
Surlyn: Surlyn was the
first and most durable cover material that revolutionized
the construction of the golf ball when it was introduced in
the early 80's. It is a trade name for a group of thermoplastic
resins developed by the Dupont Corporation. Most manufacturers
of durable covers use either Surlyn or a similar material
blend. The emphasis today is to provide both durability and
This durable cover offers better cut
and abrasion resistance than the balata cover. A Surlyn covered
ball generally feels harder than balata covered balls. The
hardness of this cover material accounts for a lower spin
The deciding factor for most golfers is economics:
many of today's regular golfers have turned to durable covered
balls simply because they know an occasional miss-hit won't
cut the cover.
Choosing a golf ball we mostly find information
on the box mentioning to be a 1-, 2-, or 3-piece ball. In
simple words, the explanation is as follows:
This ball is seldom used as a playing
ball. It is a good ball for beginners, cheap in its
production, and mostly used on driving ranges. It
typically made from a solid piece of Surlyn with dimples
molded in. It is inexpensive and very durable. On impact
with the club face, the one-piece ball has a softer
A Two-Piece golf ball is used by most
ordinary everyday golfers because it combines durability
with maximum distance. These balls are made with a single
solid core (usually a hard plastic) enclosed in the
ball's cover. The solid core is typically a high-energy
acrylate or resin and is covered by a tough, cut-proof
blended cover that gives the two-piece ball more distance
than any other ball. These "hard" balls are
covered in either Surlyn, a specialty plastic proprietary
to the Du Pont Company, or a similar kind of material.
The two piece is virtually indestructible and with its
high roll distance, it is by far the most popular golf
ball among ordinary golfers.
Three-Piece golf balls or wound balls
have either a solid rubber ore liquid center (core)
which is covered by many yards of elastic windings,
over which is molded a cover of durably Surlyn, Surlyn
like, or balata. Wound balls are softer and take more
spin, allowing a skillful golfer more control over the
ball's flight when hit. It typically has a higher spin
rate than a two piece ball and is more controllable
by good players. A Surlyn cover is a thermoplastic resin
that is harder than a balata and is considerably more
durable. A balata-covered, liquid centered, three piece
ball takes longer to manufacture than a two-piece ball.
The wound construction over a liquid center, combined
with a soft synthetic balata cover, produces a very
high spin rate, providing maximum control and feel.
The 4-piece ball is a newer form of
the original 3-piece ball.
Seen with the eyes of an ordinary golfer sizes
of golf balls have hardly changed throughout the ages. Nevertheless,
there are and have always been differences in sizes, in the
recent years mainly two sizes. Before the 1980's the common
size was 1.62 inches (4,11 cm), while soon after the size
of 1.68 inches (4,27 cm) was standard. Nowadays, in tournaments
there is only the standard size of 1,68 inches allowed and
in shops there is generally no other size available.
history, golf balls had quite irregular weights. While the
feathery balls were less standarized the weights were becoming
standarized with the beginning of the gutta percha balls.
Nowadays, golf balls are ranking between 41-47 gramms, including
those being produced still in the 70ies. The everage weight
would be arround 45gr.
One exeption is the Cayman ball, constructed by Jack
Nicklaus in the 80ies. This ball only weights half of the
standard weight (approx. 20 gr.) to enable less distance for
smaller golf courses.
The information above was provided
824 Golf Dr. #202,
Pontiac, Michigan 48341