Ninehole golf, gutta percha balls, sand tees, dress code. The use of wooden balls in golf in scotland is an assumption, but without any definite evidence. History of golf part four the first heroes golf channel. It had a rubberlike feel and was formed into ball shapes by heating it up and shaping it while hot. The story of gutta percha, the humble tropical tree sap. A golf ball is a special ball designed to be used in the game of golf. Take a quick glance at the highlights of historical tidbits we have put together for your enjoyment. The newly formed gutta percha company was established in 1845. The process is very nearly the same as the 1899 golf ball mold he is using. Of note, the story on this rare ball, is that there have been 4 owners, the first 3 owners each has scratched their initials into the ball.
A golf ball is a special ball designed to be used in the game of golf under the rules of golf, a golf ball has a mass no more than 1. Includes a brief history of the golf ball from wooden balls to gutta percha. Gutty gutta percha golf ball, unused and with 95% original red paint remaining if you are interested in obtaining the essential guide book to collecting golf balls. For these reasons the featherie was replaced by the gutta percha ball from 1848. Harris, john 2007 dunbar golf the story of the links at hedderwick and broxmouth printed by kelso graphics. The second and the third types were used in the last 150 years of the evolution of golf.
Sign up to receive news about our product line, special offers and where you can find us at upcoming hickory golf events. Local pickup is available here in halifax, nova scotia. It gives all golfers a sense of the enormous depth and tradition of our sport. Andrews student, robert paterson, melted discarded gutta from his worn shoe bottoms and rolled it into a golf ball. Fluid mechanics applicationsa07 dimples on golf ball. Players started to give a good slash at the ball with less focus on the direction and control. It was the major product used for golf ball manufacture from around 1848. Gutta percha balls were first painted white in an attempt to hide the darkcolored gutta sap. Ben wilson received his mphil in history from cambridge university.
Gutta percha golf ball displayplease see all photos below this is a really cool wooden shadow box frame display of the history of golf balls. A detailed study covering golfing art and memorabilia, patents, designs, the origins of the game and related sports. The history of the golf ball in the beginning there was the rock. How the ball is hit and directed is the essence of golf. Gutta percha is the evaporated milky latex produced from a tree most commonly found in malaysia. Rubberwas too soft for golf balls so a material called gutta percha similar to rubber, but harder and less elastic. It is a polymer of isoprene which forms a rubberlike elastomer. As they suffered from wear and tear, the balls began to fly with more control. The early balls were completely smooth and flew erratically. Balls are integral to the game, after all, and have a long history from the first wooden balls known from the netherlands to the latest game improvement wonders. The evolution of golf ball the history and origins of golf. Thats probably because everyone enjoyed hitting things with sticks.
Gutta percha is a rubberlike material that comes from the dried sap of sapodilla trees of east asia. This ball was made from the rubbery sap of a tropical tree, which could be formed into a sphere when heated. Includes detailed technical terms and glossary for material science and ball construction as well as performance and testing parameters. In the history of the development of golf, there were 3 types of balls. The guttie cost much less to make than the featherie. The first gutta ball is believed to have been made in 1848 by the rev.
A new type of golf ball came into use around 1848 which revolutionised golf s popularity and playing equipment. The new ball flew farther than the feathery and was. The first type of ball was used long enough before the mid19th century, for nearly 400 years. In the late 1840s the first gutta percha golf balls went into production. Describes golf balls used by phil mickelson, jim furyk and ernie els. Notable ballmakers of the 1600s were andrew dickson, leith and henry mills, st andrews. Paterson sometimes spelled patterson invented the guttapercha ball or guttie, gutty. Inside is a small history of gutta percha golf balls. A full size gutta persha ball, an illustration of historic muirfield golf links in edinburgh, scotland which was founded in 1744.
Guttapercha is the evaporated milky latex produced from a tree most commonly found in malaysia. A golf ba ll is a spec ial b all designed to be used in the ga me of golf. About 20 years later, the gutta percha ball became the ball of choice. Robert adams patterson from gutta percha packing material. The balls were originally smooth, but it was soon discovered that they flew further when marked or nicked. Gutta percha proved to be an ideal insulator for submarine cables, and as a further benefit for cable use it was found that gutta percha s insulating properties improved under the pressure and temperature conditions of the ocean bed. The modern game of golf originated in 15th century scotland meaning there are centuries worth of antiques related to it out there.
From a wooden ball in the 14th century to the modern rubber core balls, discover the history behind the golf ball. The changing story of the ball s manufacture falls broadly into welldefined phases, beginning with the feathery, which was used for centuries until it was superseded by gutta percha. It is hard and nonbrittle, and becomes soft and impressible at the temperature of boiling water. The arrival of the gutta percha ball or gutty, as it was called. The gutty golf ball was created from the dried sap of the sapodilla tree. Gutta percha remained the prime material for submarine cable insulation for over 80 years. The ball makers placed strips of gutta percha dried sap from a sapodilla tree in boiling water then molded the ball by. Without this, technological progress in the 19th century. Circa 1860 smooth gutta percha gutty golf ball youtube. It was the major product used for golf ball manufacture from around 1848 well into the 1900s. After the invention of gutties, featheries faded from golf very quickly.
In the first four hundred years of golf there were only four types of golf ball. A couple of miles from the greenbrier in white sulphur springs, w. Full text of dizionario etimologico del dialetto calabrese. Many books have been written on the various aspects of golf, but this is the first that attributes the games popularity to the introduction of the solid gutta percha gof ball in 1848 and the american rubbercored ball in 1900. James patterson of dundee who whilst on missionary work in malaysia discovered the gutty percha which is a rubber like material that comes from the dried sap of sapodilla trees of east asia james sent a statue back to scotland, which he used the gutta percha as protective packaging for. Collectible golf balls featuring gutta percha, mesh, and bramble antique golf balls. Thats why used golf balls can be pulled from ponds and still perform like new. Gutta percha is a hard, resilient, easily molded substance derived from the sap of several malaysian trees of the family sapotaceae sapodilla tree, of which golf balls and the cover of golf balls were made until the beginning of the 20th century.
However, they would split friendships before too long over a dispute about golf balls. Golf history makes for wonderful and fascinating reading. They were made from the rubberlike sap of the gutta percha tree, and gutty or guttie golf balls could be made from molds, made much faster and much cheaper than featheries. The science and the art, the price of a single feathery ball from a reputable maker could. As the industrial revolution progressed in great britainand due to the fragility and high cost of the feather ball, it was inevitable that someone would develop alternative methods for making golf balls. Made from gutta percha, the sap of malaysian trees, it was harder than the feather ball, more durable and much cheaper. Gutties, or gutta percha golf balls, were invented in 1848.
After completely the molding process, we hand paint the ball 46 times, then. He is the author of five critically acclaimed books. Under the r ules of golf, a g olf ball has a mass no more than 1. The gutta percha ball or guttie was introduced in 1848. The park the park gutta percha hardened sap of the malaysian sopadilla tree ball traces its history to 1848 when a st. Robert adams patterson from guttapercha packing material.
These balls were called as gutta percha balls as they were made from sap of gutta percha tree. The term is erroneously used for caoutchouc bookbinding as gutta percha was tried and found to be unsuitable. From 1848, golf balls made of guttapercha gum, called gutties began to. This is one of the most basic of golf collecting categories along with golf clubs, autographs, and books. Hotchkiss, john 1997 500 years of golf balls history and collectors guide antique trader books. The introduction of the gutta percha ball or guttie in 1848 by rev. Robert adams began creating golf balls out of gutta percha gutty. The evolution of the golf ball professional golfers. Guttapercha refers both to trees of the genus palaquium in the family sapotaceae and the rigid, naturally biologically inert, resilient, electrically nonconductive, thermoplastic latex produced from the sap of these trees, particularly from palaquium gutta. Before 1850, golf balls were made from leather with the interior stuffed with feathers.
Gutties, or guttapercha golf balls, were invented in 1848. Mythical origins of the golf ball and the game of golf the first golf ball in history was known as a featherie. At the time, golf balls were made of leather and stuffed with boiled goose feathers and the skill required to sew the materials together made them almost prohibitively expensive. Gutta percha golf balls 1848 to 1898 antique golf balls feathery antique golf balls gutta percha antique golf balls bramble antique golf balls square mesh antique golf balls dimples antique golf balls unusual ecommerce, open source, shop, online shopping.
Since the invention of more affordable and softer gutta percha golf ball in the 1860s, losing a golf ball was no longer a fiscal tragedy. Here is a look at the history of golf balls and how they have evolved over. The origins of the golf ball can be traced to five distinct stages of evolution. In the mid1800s, someone invented the gutta percha ball, or guttie. How to identify an antique golf ball justcollecting. History of early wooden, hairy, feathery or featherie, gutty and haskell golf balls. How feathery golf balls were made and how far they went. The romans had a small, leather stitched handball filled with hair, called the harpastum, though there is no known. Historians disagree over the origins of golf, giving credit for its invention to everyone from the romans and dutch to the french and chinese. The story of the gutta percha golf ball partick press. These balls were designed in shape of perfect sphere on the basis that smooth ball will go farther and would. Around 1848, balls began to be made of gutta percha, a packing material made from the sap of a malaysian tree.
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