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The Evolution and Aerodynamics of the Golf Ball

Andrew Wolstenholme
Tanski
English 2 .1
2 December 2014

Andrew Wolstenholme
Tanski
English 2 .1
2 December 2014
The Evolution and Aerodynamics of the Golf Ball

Since the introduction of competition, man has searched for a game where one has total
control over his pending success. Golf provides a sport that requires a perfect marriage of
mental focus and physical ability. It is a rarity where one holds his own destiny in his hands. It
is a sport with no discrimination. A golf ball does not play differently for anyone. The dream of
a golfer is to stand behind their ball and have the confidence and skill to strike the ball with
perfect rhythm and precision. In this circumstance, a player relies on their most important piece
of equipment to react perfectly to the shot they have attempted. A golf ball is the only thing in
ones bag that is used in everything a player does on the course. It is essential for engineers to
understand the tendency of ball flight and design a golf ball that will react properly in all
situations. The evolution of the golf ball over the past few centuries has tremendously changed
the flight path of a golf shot, distance and control off the tee, and has led to shooting lower scores
in the game.
Golf balls have experienced major advancements since the institution of the game of golf.
Knowledge of the golf ball before the 1800s relies on speculation and stories passed down by
the word of mouth. The History of Golf writes that in the 15th century, many villages in Europe
played a sport similar to golf. It had such names as kolf and goff. Many refer to Scotland as

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the home of golf. It is surprising then that this widely loved sport was banned for a period of
time in its mother country. Many people believe that the first man-made golf balls were
constructed of wood. Balls such as these would have been used in stick and ball games, which
are believed to be the ancestor and main influence on modern day golf (History of Golf).
The Physics of Golf provides an overview of the first multi material golf ball and how it
was made. The ball was composed of a leather pouch in the shape of a sphere. It was turned
inside out so that the stitching would be inside and allow for a smooth outer design. The pouch
was stuffed with wet goose feathers very tightly. The ball maker would then stitch a small piece
of leather over the opening used to insert the goose feathers. Once dry the ball would become
hard. It was covered with oil and painted white for a professional looking finish. The
production of a single ball would take a ball maker quite a while to complete. As a result, an
average ball maker could manufacture four to five balls a day. This design was deemed the
feathery, fitting for its core of feathers. Jorgensen notes, an acceptable drive with such a ball
was from 150 to 175 yards, (Jorgensen 65). This golf ball, as imagined, did fly relatively far.
Being made of leather and oil would have added a lot of mass to the ball. The design was not
technologically advanced but instead created with the materials they had at hand. This type of
ball was used up until 1848 when a more advance product came into existence.
The new and improved ball of the late 1800s was deemed the Gutta-Percha. It as well
was named after its main material. The Sapodilla Tree produces gum, which when dried,
becomes the material known as gutta-percha. Jorgensen describes the manufacturing process as
sapodilla gum which was hand rolled into a solid ball. Later, ball makers simply used metal
molds to concoct these creations. They were designed with a smooth finish. These balls took
much less time to manufacture, and thusly became popular with ball makers (66). The History of

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Golf noes that the durability of this new ball in turn encouraged the development of iron-faced
clubs and so continued the process of evolution (The History of Golf). The Gutta-Percha at first
did not fly as well as its ancestor, the Feathery. The more the ball was used, the rougher it would
become. Golfers noticed that these more experienced balls flew well better than a smooth ball.
Soon, some ball makers began manufacturing rough guttie balls. This was the first
breakthrough in golf ball aerodynamics, which would lead to the modern day dimple.
According to Jorgensen, a man named P. G. Tait, a British professor in the field of
physics, first began to look into the aerodynamics of a golf ball in 1887. He discovered that spin
on a golf ball was in fact essential, contrary to what he was taught as a young golfer. He states
clearly that a ball driven with spin about a horizontal axis with the top of the ball coming toward
the golfer has a lifting force on it that keeps the ball in the air much longer than would be
possible without spin. Once Taits research was published, many scientists began studying the
effect of roughness on a golf ball (66).
Scott describes the physics involved in the dimple. A smooth sphere creates a thick wake
behind the ball as air separates from the ball relatively quickly. The larger wake creates more
drag on the ball, resulting in less than desired ball flight. A dimpled golf ball creates a thinner
wake by creating a larger laminar boundary layer. This boundary layer is important for ball
flight and plays a role in all the forces acting on the ball in the category of airflow. This layer is
the surface area in which the air is colliding with the ball. It rides on the surface until it reaches
the section of the ball where the air and the ball separate and creates a wake. The transition to a
turbulent boundary layer, on the other hand, adds energy to the flow allowing it to remain
attached to the surface of the sphere further aft (Scott). It is easy to compare this visual to that
of a kite cutting through the air while its tail follows behind. Now imagine a much larger and

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heavier tail pulling on the kite. To create a seamless flow from the kite to its tail, it may appear
that the larger tail is attached farther forward on the kite. The smaller tail will be noticeably
skinnier from beginning to end while also being attached only at the end of the kite.
Once it is found that a set pattern of roughness, or dimples, must be manufactured into
the golf ball, certain properties must be created and met. In doing this, the optimum design can
be achieved. According to Reynolds, the design of dimples on a golf ball must provide the
closest possible packaging, preset the most symmetrical aspect to the wind, enables the cover to
be moulded in two hemispherical pieces where the seam does not contain dimples (29).
A U.S. patent was taken out for the golf balls dimple design by Steven Aoyama. Quigg
provides an abstract of this patent, which describes the general layout for dimples on a ball:

A golf ball is provided with evenly and uniformly distributed dimples so that six great
circle paths on the surface of the golf ball do not intersect any dimples. The spherical
surface of the golf ball is divided into 20 identical spherical triangles corresponding to the
faces of a regular icosahedron. Each of the 20 triangles is further subdivided into four
smaller triangles consisting of a central triangle and three apical triangles by connecting
the midpoints of each of the 20 triangles along great circle paths. The dimples are
arranged so that the dimples do not intersect the sides of any of the central triangles.
(Quigg 1)
So far, the forces discussed on the golf ball have been of a ball that is remaining still and
not rotating. Jorgensen writes that a properly hit golf ball will in fact have spin along a
horizontal axis. The ball should optimally be spinning with the top of the ball rotating toward
the golfer. When spin is added to the equation, the wake of the ball is set at a downward angle.

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Ball spin is created by the face of the golf club making contact with the ball at such an angle
under the ball. This can be observed as a divot is taken in the grass when a golfer correctly hits a
ball. Adding to the amount of spin is the air over the top of the ball [which] is moving more
rapidly relative to the ball than at the bottom of the ball (72).
Jorgensen discusses another force on the ball, as the pressure over the golf ball is less
than directly under the ball. This is according to Bernoullis principle. This pressure creates a
force called lift. The direction of the ball is ideally perpendicular to the lift. Professor J.J.
Thompson, who invented the electron, performed an experiment to account for the Bernoulli lift.
The spin of the ball also correlates with the lift of the ball. It is found that the more spin, the
higher the lift. This shows that the wake affected by all these forces would be found at even less
of an angle toward the ground, adding height to a shot (73).
A force found repeatedly with many moving objects as well as a golf ball is drag. Drag is
a form of friction, commonly known as air resistance. When beginning to run, one feels air
blowing toward them, not including natural wind. In some cases, this air even pushes the person
backwards, or what seems to be. This is an instance of air resistance. According to Jorgensen,
as a golf ball increases in speed, air resistance, also known as drag, is increased on its surface as
well. The drag also is increased as the rate of spin becomes greater.
The forces drag and lift coincide with each other and produce opposite effects. Drag
causes a ball to slow more rapidly. Through experience, golfers understand that a greater ball
speed is desired to optimize the golf ball and produce a longer shot. In this, drag decreases the
distance of a shot. Lift reacts in a different way. As it can be observed, more lift allows for a
ball to remain in the air for a longer period of time. Longer flight in golf, in most cases, should
result in a longer shot. So as spin increases both the drag on a ball and the lift of it, experience

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tells us that the latter is predominant (73). These results are observed of the tendencies of a
dimples golf ball. The dimples serve as the catalyst to help the ball react in a positive way when
faced with these major forces.
Jorgensen relates the dimples of a ball to the forces acting upon it. The dimples on the
golf ball create a turbulent force. This force allows for the boundary layer be extended along the
surface of the ball. The air moves from an area of low pressure to an area of high pressure. This
turbulent force begins further back on the ball creating a smaller cross section than that of a
smooth ball. This boundary layer is what dictates the size of the wake. The wake is important
for the flight of the ball as a smaller wake uses less energy (73).
Each of these forces has a different effect on a golf ball. From spin to drag, a ball
encounters many obstacles on its way to the pin. Many companies have remained on the cutting
edge of ball technology. Srixon, a major manufacturer of golf equipment, has composed a ball
with the use of chemical compounds. The company employs a bevy of chemical engineers to
design a ball that features a urethane cover, an ionomer mid layer and a rubber core (Materials).
Four of the six most abundant elements of life are bonded to create these materials, which
include carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. Together, these features allow for a golfer to
add spin, draw and fade to a golf shot with the proper skills.
The advancement of science and understanding encourages innovation in technology and
design. What was once composed of leather and oiled feathers has evolved to incorporate
chemical compounds to optimize the product. An object as simple as a golf ball requires a sleek
aerodynamic design. It must work accordingly with all the forces it will encounter in flight. In
the 2013 season on the PGA Tour, the average drive off the tee stood at an astounding 290 yards,
topping out at a whopping 314 yard average by Bubba Watson (PGA Tour). The 2013 season

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also saw the World Long Drive Championship won by a record 427-yard drive by Tim Burke
(2013 Championship). It may be said that the long way the golf ball has been come since the
1800s speaks for itself through the length of a drive. It is ironic that such a small object may
prove to be the most important part of a single round of golf.

Work Cited
History of Golf. Golf Expert, 2002. Web. 23 Nov. 2014
Jorgensen, Theodore P. The Physics of Golf. 1994. Print. 6 Nov. 2014
Materials. Srixon. Web, 2014. 24 Nov. 2014
"PGA Tour Driving Distance." Golf. Find the Best, 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
Quigg, Donald J. Golf Ball. United States Patent, 1985. Gov Document. 6 Nov. 2014
Reynolds, P. Dimples on a Golf Ball. The Mathematical Association, 1974, Vol. 3, No. 6 pag. 29
Web. 6 Nov. 2014
Scott, Jeff. Golf Ball Dimples & Drag. Aerospace Web, 2005. Web. 6 Nov. 2014
Vega, Frank. Development of the Golf Ball. Photograph. c. 2000 6 Nov. 2014
"2013 Championship." Long Drivers of America. Golf Channel, 30 Oct. 2013. Web. 30 Nov.
2014.