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Recent Golf News
Golf ball technology has changed a lot over the years. Carpenters crafted the first golf balls from hardwoods. A featherie ball was produced as well. This was a hand-sewn leather pouch stuffed with chicken or goose feathers. Featherie balls were expensive, and not being perfectly round, these balls tended to fly irregularly. When wet, they didn’t fly well at all. Throughout the following years, golf balls were designed with a solid or liquid core that was wound with rubber thread and then covered with a thin outer shell. However, in 1967, Spalding developed a solid golf ball. Today, multi layered balls with urethane covers are most common.
Manufacturers submit golf balls to the USGA and the R&A for testing so they will meet regulations for competitive play. A regulation golf ball cannot be smaller than 1.680 inches and cannot exceed 1.620 ounces. It must be spherically symmetrical (round) and have dimples on its surface. Dimples were first added in 1905 to control the golf ball's trajectory, flight, and spin. Golf balls generally average 250 to 450 dimples. Regulations require that the dimples must be arranged as symmetrically as possible. These dimpled balls give superiority in flight. The USGA also measures the speed at which the ball comes off the face of the golf club. To ensure golf balls don't go too far, they have specified that legal balls may not exceed an initial velocity of 250 feet per second at a temperature between 73 and 77 degrees fahrenheit. These regulations are designed to provide a level playing field.
Golf balls are usually marked to distinguish one player's ball from another. They are normally white, but they are also available in a variety of colors for visibility in many types of weather conditions. Players can buy recycled balls or X-outs/factory seconds for casual use. Some golf balls have embedded radio transmitters. While these are not allowed in tournaments, there are computerized driving ranges that give feedback on distance and accuracy.
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