When leather golf balls were used, golf was an expensive game to play as the leather was easily cut by the club head. Golf then was largely a game of the nobility and gentry and was known as "The Royal Game," often being played in no less dignified clothes than swallow-tail coats, knee breeches and tall hats. But in 1848 came gutta percha balls and a revolution in the game. Not only did the guttas cost less and last longer, but they went further, and it was soon seen that after the balls had become cut and defaced they flew straighter. This led to their being nicked with a hammer head. Later longitudinal cuts were made as these cuts seemed to still further add to the flight of the balls. As the popularity of the game increased, hand hammered balls were given up and machine moulded ones took their places, some being moulded into a diamond pattern, others into a square pattern, and others made with knobs, these latter being supposed to offer less resistance to the air, and therefore to travel further. Why indented balls should fly further than smooth ones has never been satisfactorily explained; one explanation being that the club head catches hold of a roughened surface better and another that the indentations give a rotary motion to the ball like that given to the rifle ball by the gun barrel which makes it cut through the air and fly straighten

Purchasing Balls

To make a ball fly properly, it not only must have a certain elasticity but a certain compactness. This elasticity and compactness can only be obtained in balls which have properly seasoned, as a ball too old loses its elasticity and flies dead, and in a newly made ball the vegetable matter of the gutta percha is not old enough to make it compact. To get the right amount of elasticity as well as compactness, a newly made ball should be kept in a dark, dry place until it has seasoned.

In purchasing a ball, look carefully at the moulding. If clean cut, the ball has been well pressed. If the cuts are shallow and indistinct, the mould was probably worn out. See also that the paint has not filled the nicking, for if the nicks are shallow, the ball, though well struck, is apt to duck. See also that the nicks are not so deep that they easily become clogged with mud which makes the ball lose the benefit of the nicking.

As both the size and the weight of golf balls differ, it is a question of individual preference which to use, the heavier balls being the best for putting as they are more liable to roll true on the putting green, and also the best to use when driving against a head wind, as they will go a longer distance than the lighter ones. On the other hand the lighter balls go further when driving with the wind. When selecting a ball therefore, see what figures are stamped upon it.