How were feathery balls made?

Featheries were made by stuffing boiled feathers into a water soaked hand sewn leather shell. As they dried, the leather shrank and the feathers expanded. This made a relatively hard ball that early clubs could hit 150-200 yards.

What are feathery balls made of?

The cover of a feathery typically consisted of three pieces of leather stitched into a sphere. The feathers stuffed inside were typically goose feathers, sometimes chicken feathers. First, the feathers were boiled for several hours to soften them.

How much is a feathery golf ball worth?

Feathery golf ball - Price Estimate: $4000 - $6000.

How far did feathery golf balls go?

While the leather shrank, the feathers expanded, which made the ball very hard and compact²¹. Interestingly, the featherie also had excellent flight characteristics as it could reach a distance of up to 175 yards²²; although the longest recorded distance is more than 361 yards.

Who invented the feathery golf ball?

With Tom Morris as his apprentice, Allan Robertson made 1,021 featherie golf balls in 1840, 1,392 in 1841 and 2,456 in 1844.

What is a feathery in golf?

The first "real" golf ball was known as a "feathery"golf ball. Basically, the feathery was a leather sack filled with boiled goose feathers, then stitched up and painted. Feathery golf balls were expensive to make easily damaged and only the privileged few could afford to use them.

What were golf balls originally made from?

Guttie/Gutta Golf Balls

Robert Adams Paterson invented the Gutta-Percha ball, or Guttie. The guttie was made by using dried sap from the Malaysian Sapodilla tree. The sap had a rubber-like quality to it and upon heating could be formed into a sphere.

Did golf balls always have dimples?

When Did Golf Balls Get Dimples? The invention of golf ball dimples happened accidentally. In the mid-1800s, the most widely-used golf balls were known as gutties, which were first created by Robert Adams Paterson using molded tree sap.

Are old golf balls worth money?

Because of the age and the craftsmanship put into these balls they are among the ones that have the highest price tag of collectible golf balls. These balls are referred to as antique, and goes for sums upwards of +$5000! See example from eBay below.

How far would a gutta-percha ball go?

In 1848, the Gutta Percha ball or 'Guttie' ball was invented, and could be hit no further than a Featherie, a maximum distance of 225 yards. The Guttie was made from the rubber-like sap of the Gutta tree, which when heated the rubber could easily be moulded into a sphere.

What is a gutta percha golf ball?

Initially, golf balls had consisted of leather pouches stuffed with boiled feathers. In 1848, a new golf ball -- the gutta-percha -- began to replace the "feathery," as the original golf ball was known. The gutta-percha consisted of hardened juice from trees located in South America and the Pacific Islands.

Who invented the golf ball?

In the mid-1800s, a guy named Robert Adams Paterson made the first molded ball. He discovered that the sap from a sapodilla tree, native to Malaysia, could be heated up, placed into a round mold and would then dry hard.

What is a balata ball?

Balata ball

ADVERTISEMENT. Balata ball was first used in the 1900s. The balls with balata covering were first produced by Spalding in the year 1903. It is basically a rubber-like material that is present as a covering in golf balls. Balata is the name of a tree in Central and Southern America and the Caribbean.

What were golf balls made of in 1900?

Robert Adams Paterson (sometimes spelled Patterson) invented the gutta-percha ball (or guttie, gutty). The guttie was made from dried sap of the Malaysian sapodilla tree. The sap had a rubber-like feel and could be made spherical by heating and shaping it in a mold.

What country invented golf?

Golf originated from a game played on the eastern coast of Scotland, in an area close to the royal capital of Edinburgh. In those early days players would attempt to hit a pebble over sand dunes and around tracks using a bent stick or club.

What is the rarest golf ball?

Divers have begun a search in Donegal for what they believe could be some of the world's rarest golf balls. The gutta percha balls once belonged to golfing legend Old Tom Morris, who won the Open four times in the 1860s.

Are there rare golf balls?

Rare today, golf balls used to come in a variety of fun patterns. A few companies produced triangle mesh balls, including Spalding—which still produces sports items today. Although these balls aren't the rarest of golf collectibles, they remain an unexpected and unique part of any collection.

What is the most rare golf ball?

The Gutta Percha ball is one of the rarest golf balls in the world. They date back to the mid 1800s and are worth thousands of dollars.

What are the small indentations on a golf ball called?

Golf balls can have dimples that are deep, shallow, large or small. Some golf balls have different sizes of dimples on the same ball. Dimples come in all different shapes, including circles, ovals, teardrops and even hexagons like a soccer ball.

What makes a golf ball Illegal?

Legal golf balls can't be smaller than 1.68 inches in diameter. The Polara balls have a diameter of 1.68 inches (the same size as normal). If you have a smaller ball, you'll have less drag and that should give you more distance. You'll also notice that illegal balls are slightly heavier.

How heavy is a golf ball?

According to the USGA Rules of Golf, the weight of the golf ball shall not be greater than 1.620 ounces avoirdupois (45.93 gm).

Why is a golf ball dimples?

Dimples on a golf ball create a thin turbulent boundary layer of air that clings to the ball's surface. This allows the smoothly flowing air to follow the ball's surface a little farther around the back side of the ball, thereby decreasing the size of the wake.

What is the oldest golf ball?

Lying in a 'dusty' corner of a museum in Stirling is one of the most important artefacts in sporting history. It is an old ball with the identical construction to later feathery golf balls. It has been dated to 1514-1570 making it the oldest of its type in the world.

Why are some golf balls filled with honey?

Honey for Golf Balls April 1 1935

According to Arthur M. Maas, in Chemistry and You, honey is hygroscopic, or has a natural affinity for water, and so will not dry out. It is not explosive—some golf-ball centres have been. It is noncorrosive—a centre filling that bums if the covering breaks is distinctly not nice.

What were Gutties?

From the late nineteenth century, we find examples in both English and Scottish sources of gutta and gutty (or guttie) as a term for a golf ball made with gutta-percha. These golf balls replaced those made with feathers. Guttie has also been used as a term for a catapult.