The Washington times., 1921-11-06

points clear about the modern Dali.
the game used feather ball. Old I
by stufiing q hat full Of feathers int
they worked to get the cover on goo
We, who hit the rubber-cored ball
| 200 or 500 yards down the fairway To-
day, can appreciate how the game
has advanced since those times. Tne
sutta percha ball followed the 'feath-
en-" but IL was by an accident only
| that II came TO supersede II.
When gutta percha was discovered
early in the last century, II was
| thought to be suitable for a golf ball
Several were made up and submitted
| 10 the Royal and Ancient Committee.
They were tried, but found wanting,
because they would not fly properly.
| The ball had a habit of ducking, which,
OF course, was no good for the play
| crs who wanted to increase their dis.
t,,nce. 1t broke OH line sharpiy anu
could not be depended upon for diree-
ton.
They Became Nicked.
The balls were thrown away, and
some of them got into the hands OF
the caddies. They began to bat them
around with iron clubs, and as re-
suit. they became nicked all over. The
more they nicked them the greater
distance they would fly. The boys
called the committees attention to
this strange result. 3,
The secret was soon discovered anu
lot of new gutta percha balls were
ordered and little lines or creases were
made on the surface. which caused the
ball to hold up I'm the air and steady
on the line when properly hit. A ball
nerfectly smooth with surface like a
marble will not resist the wind, and
this is why the gutta percha ball maze
was Of no use until SCARED.
The rubber core made its appear
ance at the beginning OF the present
century, twenty-one years ago. The
art of golf hail making has all been
learned in that time. and golf balls TO-
day are a pretty big part of the game.
The first rubber cores had brambie
markings, which gradually disap-
peared, giving away to the recess OF
dimple marking.
The dimple marking will hold the
hall mn I'm the air better than the old
style, 10 experts claim. When the
ball is used a lot and becomes dirty,
vii not fly nearly so far. Goifers
should remember this point ana Keep
the ball clean. Nearly every up-uo
date course has provided bucket OF
While on the subject of cleanliness.
want to suggest that the player WIN
q white ball before him every shot mas
a great advantage over the players
with a dirty one at which to aim. IL
Ia easier to see and will appear much
larger to the eye. We pros seldom
play around without using two OF
three new balls. IL the stake is worth
It.. the expense or a rev paiis s
trifIing in comparison.
we pros are responsible, am
afraid, for the women golfers follow
ing our example in using small Dali
when they were popular. These baiis
could only be driven a great distance
by being hit very hard. They were
made. winding the rubber extremely
tight which made them more dlf1lcuit
to compress, but when hit a hard biow'
they could be compressed suf1icientiy
to get plenty of rebound from the cluo.
The makers of balls, realizing that
they were suited only to players who
could sock hard, made several lighter
balls. There are balls on the market
made now to suit every golf swing.
The easier the swing the lighter the
ball should be.
The standard weighs thirty penny
weight. This ball has been great
surprise to the authorities who tried
to reduce the distance from the tee as
this model-the best makes-will
travel even a greater distance than
the thirty-one.
There Is q "Floater."
There is a ball called "29" that is
better adapted to the game OF the wo-
man golfer or the light hitter. Then
there is stiI a lighter ball that is
called a floater. Some players can
use the floater. which is intended for
water hazards only. on the entire round
and get perfect satisfaction. However.
Il Is not suited to most styles.
know pros who used to drive one
of the small heavy balls against the
wind and one a little lighter with
following wind. I have often done this
myself and found It an advantage.
The small heavy ball was supposed
to act steadier on the green's as the
claim was made for II that II would
keep a better line. A large ball every
one thinks is so light that the least
thing defects II from Its course. A
smaller ball In good for hard hitter.
The present standard ball Is about
as perfect as possible but manufac-
turers are not entirely satisfied. Balls
vary a. little no matter what care IL
taken to make them perfect
Trouble sometimes results from hsv-
ing a ball 'lobsided. This In caused by
hard hitting. Sometimes the cord not
being in the exact center causes
trouble. Not so much with the flight
as with the action of the ball on the
putting green. II very much off cen
ter a small putt would not run
straight. II would not make so much
difference in the long putt as II ts
quite impossible for any one TO pick
out the true line to the hole when as
far as eight OF ten feet away over a
carpet of grass. A bad putt may,
therefore, find it's way into n cup while
(Copyright, 1891, by Bell syndicateD
n supposed good one might miss II.