SMOOTH GOLF BALLS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10060, 30 January 1909, Page 4 (Supplement)

SMOOTH GOLF BALLS.

A bombshell—perhaps not a very explosive one —has just been thrown into the golfing world by tie statement that smooth golf balls ought theoretically to fly as well if not better than the usual and what may be called the pimply kind (says ''MidSpoon in the London Daily -Mail). The story of the beginning of the nicks, the predecessors of the modern pimples, on golf balls is, of course, an old one. The discovery was made, I believe, by Mr Leslio Balfour-Jlelville's father that the smooth gutty ball flew better when it had been hacked about by the wear and tear of a round or two. Thence came the luminous idea of the hand-hammered nicks, and nowadays the nicks have given way to the bramble pattern or pimples. Now, I am not "a scientific person, and cannot for the life of me see any defect in the theory that smooth balls oflght- to go better: I dare not touch on the scientific side of the matter, but I can. tell the story of a little practical experience I had recently. I went down all unsuspecting to play a round with a friend on a metropolitan course, and found his pockets bulging with all sorts of strange balls. I steadfastly refused to be tempted into playing with them during our match, but when it was over we began to experiment. The balls he had were three; two of them were perfectly smooth and innocent of pimples, one of them painted white, the other, not having been painted at all, being coal black; the third was a ball of a well-known and popular make, with which someone had played an incredible number of rounds, so that- the pimples were knocked almost flat. I first- teed up the 6mooth white ball and smote it: it went away with a formidable whirring sound, but it never rose any great distance from tile ground, and when it had gone about fifty yards ducked suddenly and took refuge in the long grass. Then came the turn of the smooth black: it Hew perceptibly better, but indulged also in the fatal ducking movement, and went but a paltry distance. Finally I.struck ono or two shots with the smooth pimpled ball (to use a contradiction in terms); this went much better, and did not duck, though it had the moist curious swerving movement, fust to right and then to left, finishing reasonably straight, the distance of a fair but not. a good shot. Then we returned to the two perfectly smooth balls. They both continued to buzz away from the club and duck horribly, and the black always outdistanced the white. The shades of evening began to fall, and the black was, alas! soon lost-, bnt with the smooth •white I played a 6olemn match of five holes against my friend, who used an ordinary ball. I began to discover thatbrute force was of no avail, and that guile was essential; it was not- the faintest use trying to carry any bunker with thatdreadful white ball, for it- absolutely declined to fly at all from the face of a. wooden club. For some mysterious reason, however, it would fly far better from an iron; the distance achieved was still contemptible, and there was still the ducking. bnt the ball would go a certain distance in the air, and not along the floor, so that by dint of cunningly playing round the bunkers with a driving iron the holes, which were not very long, could bfe accomplished somehow. Some idea of the comparative distances may be given by stating that a, hole which with an ordinary ball would be reached with a ! drive and a mashie pitch required two full < bangs with a heavy iron, followed by a 1 very firm mashie shot. It is fair to state 1 that the well-known ball-maker who had supplied these balls declared that they were not good specimens of the smooth ( ball, and wonld not in any case fly weU, i because the covers were too soft- No i doubt there must have been truth in this,--1 although the covers showed no signs of e wear and tear at the end, since, if the i old original smooth gutty bails had been t no better than these, the feather ball 1 wonld never have yielded to them. Be- f sides the initial riddle of why. a smooth i boll will not apparently fly, there are two c subsidiary ones; first, why the unpainted t ball went far better than the painted j one—that may 'jnst possibly have Deen a r mere chance—and, secondly, why the hall v would go farther ofl the msshie than off i the driver. The theory is held that the £ use of the pimpks is to enable the club r to get a better grip of the ball; and it t

has been suggested that a pimply dub and a smooth ball would answer the pur- . pose. This I canftot judge of, but the 3 iron I was using had 110 lines or dots upon j its face, which was perfectly smooth. It I is exceedingly foolish to deride those who - have scientific theories on the subject of . games which may be contrary to the ideas ; of the unthinking multitude of .players; 5 but in this case 1 must confess to a leani ing in favor of practical experience. Un- * less some very wonderful smooth I Kill is . constructed the verdict of most golfers x will be. "Pimples, with all your faults, T I love you still."