Check out June's winning question. The dimples found on golf ball enable the ball to travel farther than one without dimples. Today's dimpled golf balls can easily sail two hundred yards from the tee. Golfers discovered this about a hundred years ago, when they noticed their old balls, covered with scratches and nicks, sailed farther down the fairway than shiny new ones. Early dimpled golf balls.
Rough balls fly through the air more easily than smooth ones.
As air flows around a smooth ball, it breaks away from the surface, forming a pocket of swirling currents at the back, like the wake behind a speedboat. The faster the ball moves, the larger the wake, and the more drag it feels. Images from the Sporting Life.