Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-05-23
GOLF GOSSIP

George A. Phiipot generally contri-
butes page of items relating to pro-
fessional golfers, to the World OF
Golf. He says in recent number:
II hear on the best authority that
the year 1918 will see several firms
connected with the manufacture Of
rubber trying their hands at the DIFF
ficult business of ball making. This
is q hazardous venture. this making
of golf balls. and personally. ! have
great doubts as to whether the pro-
ductlons of existing firms will ever
be ousted from the almost impregna-
bic position they now hold. The
great point Is that II takes some time
to learn how to manufacture a golf
ball. and by the time the initial fall
ures are explained away the reputa-
ton Of the firm has vanished into
thin air. Nor must 1t be forgotten
that II will need very fine ball to
be better than any at present on the
market"
Another article in the same journal
goes into the question we went into
q short time ago: The average golf
or often wonders why a golf ball has
Q distinct marking. Why not q
smooth exterior like another ball?
Cricket, tennis, or hockey balls are
practically smooth. Why not a golf
ball. He probably thinks It a bit
;5f fancifulness on the part of the
manufacturer.
escrst Of Marklnn.
Any one who has tried 10 play With.
an unmarked rubber-cored ball win
noon tell you emphaticaIly. that 1t
cannot be done. 1t Is strange, but
true that smooth golf ball cannot
be made to hy straight nor for more
than 80 or 100 yards, no matter how
wen It is hit. 1t ducks and swerves
at about hall the usual distance.
The explanation Is simple. A golf
ball or any other ball, flies, or for the
matter of that, rolls in the direction
In which It is made to spin. As e.
golf ball cannot be produced Which is
perfectly spherical or perfectly homo
genous, the uneven distribution Of It's
weight sets up sort Of fiywheel ac-
tion causing the ball to spin errati-
cally.
The object, or at all events, the eff
feet of the marking is-to cause the
ball to spin in one definite direction.
The roughness of the surface enables
the face of the club to grip the ball.
The action of striking, assisted by
the loft on the clubs face conse-
quently imparts a strong back spin
or under spin to the ball. This UNI
derspin being stronger than all pther
spins, In the case of true stroke,
causes the ball tbttfavel forward and
hlDward. }. e. In the direction In
which 1t is revolving. A sliced ball
obviously flies to the right in proper
ton to the amount of right hand spin
given to it.
A too prominently marked ball ac-
quires an excess of underspin. there
fore 1t scars, while an insuficiently
marked hall ducks If any player
wishes to test the accuracy of the
latter statement let him take an or
binary golf ball and add two or three
thick coats of paint to the four or
five which it already bears and then
try to play with 1t.
May Affect Flight.
One frequently hears a golfer who
10 using an old ball say that it Is not
flying properly, and many theories
are advanced to account for it, such
az the shell is loose, the ball is out Of
shape, rubber is persisted, ETC., etc.
Any of these conditions will affect
the flight, hut the reason generally
10 that the marking has worn down,
rendering the surface too smooth to
take back spin sufficiently. Not only
must the marking be of the correct
depth but it must be also correctly
distributed upon the balls surface.
n too crowded the ball scars. and IL
too sparse it ducks.
For many years there has been set
up, practically. a standard in bramble
markings. Whether this standard Is
the outcome of careful calculation
and experiment or merely accidental.
I cannot say. but departures from it
have not been very successful, SO It
must be about right
The practice of molding various
kinds of depressions in the surface
having become popular only compare
lively recently, each marker has had
to experiment for himself. but in the
case of the bramtle marking. I be-
lieye very few markers gave it much
thought, being content to accept
stock patterns from the mold maker.