Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-21
WATER IS PUMPED
TO LIQUID CENTER
Pressure on Rubber Winding
Gets ResuIts-Test by
Hunter Convinces.
BY w. r. McCALLUM.


its liquid successor to now
i illegal beverage of pre-war
Gays, has struck a popular
chord, and if the plans of Harry
K. B. Davis, the man who has de-
vlsed the scheme of doctoring golf
balls until they act quite differ
emily from the present balloon
ball, go along as he hopes,
needing" Of golf balls will be-
come standard practice
Davis has been in Washington for
q fortnight or more explaining to the
local golf professionals his method of
increasing tension on the rubber wind
Ing around the core of a liquid-core
ball, and thus not only adding cou-
pie Of hundredths OF ounces to the
weight Of the sphere, but actually in
creasing by as much as 20 yards the
distance the sphere may be driven.
Yesterday afternoon we saw the en-
tire process worked out in the golf
shop at Indian Spring, and after a
number of balls of the present legal
size and weight, j. E., 1853 inches in
size and 1.55 ounces in weight, had
been pumped up with water we saw
j. Munro Hunter, the big pro at In
dian Spring, knock the doctored balls
had just been removed spick and span
from the factory wrapper. The Davis
method of doctoring golf balls comes
just at the time the new official sphere
weighing 1852 ounces and 1853 inches
in size has made its appearance on
the market. but Of the two balls-the
''doctored" sphere which weighed 155
before needing" and the new ball
the doctored sphere acts much livelier.
THE Davis method of doctoring golf
l. balls simply is this: He takes
hydraulic pump with a pressure
gauge attached and punctures the in
ner core of any liquid-core ball. Then
he pumps water into the core, thus
increasing the internal pressure on the
rubber thread which Is wound around
the core and increasing the expansion
of the thread until he claims it lies
flush against the inner surface of the
balata cover. The size of the ball is
in no way changed and the hypo-
dermic needle used is SO small that
the hole it leaves is barely discernfble.
But, oh my, what a difference it
makes in the feel Of the ball of the
club and the added distance.
Monro Hunter got behind few OF
the needed balls yesterday with his
big 15-ounce driver and knocked them
many yards past his best efforts with
OOJn U1e present Dig, LSlG Ddll anu lie
new big and heavier sphere. So we'll
did he like them that he asked Davis
to pump up dozen or more for his
own use, and then other members of
the club, including DR.. L. S. Otell, be-
came interested. Otell hit one so far
off the first tee it went past the big
barn on the right, a distance he never
has been able to get with the present
legal ball.
Nov, naturally you would think
IN that, given heavier ball, Hunter
would be able to handle it better
than the average individual because OF
his abnormally long arc OF swing and
his strength. But Davis claims that the
needed" ball will benefit both the hard
hitter and the light hitter, because the
doctored ball gets away from the club
face so fast and responds so quickly
! to any blow. Hunter. after few wal
Hops with the doctored sphere. says 1t
Is the nearest approach to the late |
lamented rabbit ball he ever has |
swung at and was literally as tickled as
a kid with new toy at the results
he obtained.
Davis hopes ultimately that the man
ufacturers will use his needle method |
of pumping up pressure from within |
golf balls instead Of applying pressure
on the winding. We saw him yester-
day build up the pressure in pounds per
square inch from $50 to 1000, and we
saw that 2,000-pound ball knocked out |
q distance of more than 300 yards,
counting carry and roll with no IA
voring wind. Try to do 1t some day
with the balloon ball and see how far
you get. 1t seems that there is a linn
itation to the pressure which may be
applied to the winding OF the rubber
thread on golf balls. because OF the pos
ava@
stopping Of machinery.
DAVIS also claims that by his method
- Of producing internal expansion
against the contraction Of the rub
Der winding much time is saved In the
manufacture of golf balls. The balata
cover Is sealed on by heating method
which takes about Is minutes and
which is supposed to impregnate some
of the upper layers of the rubber wind
ing with the cover material. Actually,
according to Davis, the rubber winding
loses some of its tension under the heat
applied and thus the ball loses some of
its efficiency.
BY keeping the ball under heat for
2 to minutes instead of the usual is
minutes, to which is added or 10 |
minutes for cooling, Davis claims the
rubber winding will not lose it's tension |
so quickly and the ball may then be
pumped up to any pressure by hydraulic |
pressure applied through needle to the |
core He has experimental with va
rious liquids for building up pressure |
and has found that water is the best. |
The actual increase in the weight Of the |
ball is not over two-hundredths of an |
ounce, he claims. adding that the manu-
facturers are not now making a ball |
which weighs as much as 155 ounces |
because of fear of going beyond the
legal weight standard.
So it may come at some not distant |
day that we shall walk up to the pro
and ask question something like this. |
Here, Jock. give me 1,200-pound
ball" Or. If we have illusions about |
being a long hitter, we may ask for a