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In the golf ball design world of air pressure, turbulence, and aerodynamics, surface structurestructure of the surface is a critical design consideration. There are several historical events that have contributed the design and make-up of the golf ball. Over a period of hundreds of years, the optimum design and make up of the golf ball has been achieved, based on scientific understanding . The humble golf ball is a good example of the evolution of the history of aeronautical engineering.

During the early days of the game of golf on the eastern coast of Scotland, nearly all of the players used ancient golf clubs and balls in order to play the game which was a more disorganized and less formal than it is today. Then, the first golf clubs and golf balls are made of wood.

In 1618 the feather golf ball was first introduced and made popular. This type of the golf ball was commonly known as the "Featherie". This feather golf ball was a handcraftedhand made golf ball made with goose feathers securely pressed into a horse or cowhide outer casing. This was done while the ball was still wet. As the ball dried out, the the leather would contract and the feathers expanded to form a hardened golf ball.

Because these types of golf balls were specially handcrafted, they could easily cost more than the golf clubs. As a result, only a few privileged people could afford to play the game of golf during this early period.

After the 'Featherie' the next version , to gain in popularity was the Guttie golf ball. This prehistoric type of golf ball was constructed from the rubber like sap from the Gutta Percha tree which comes from the tropics. These Guttie balls could be easily formed into a sphere when hot. as they cooled, they kept their shape and could then be used as a golf ball. With its rubber nature, Guttie balls could be mass produced and could be simplyquickly repaired by reheating and reshaping.

In a comparison between the two earliest forms of golf balls, the feather golf ball was known to travel a longer distance than than the rubber Guttie. This apparent paradox was eventually identified as being due to the difference in surfaces. The smooth surface of the Guttie limits the ability of the golf ball to travel over greater distance.

With this new scientific analysis, the makers of golf balls eventually came up with balls with the "dimples" that are found on modern golf balls in use today.

Dimples are put onto golf balls so as to minimise the aerodynamic drag, which acts on the ball and is raised if it were totally smooth. The reason for this is because smooth balls, when flying through the air, create a huge pocket of low-pressure air in its wake therefore creating drag. The drag acts as an anchor and the ball slows down.

But in contrast, by having dimples on golf balls, the difference in pressure goes down and the drag is made less. These dimples create turbulence in the air around the golf ball. This, in turn, makes the air flow around the golf ball more closely. consequently, the air flows in to the wake created by the ball instead of flowing past it. The result is a smaller wake and less drag. As a result the ball travels a longer distance.

Dimples also assist players to put backspin on a shot thereby making the golf ball break off on the putting green.

The concept of placing dimples on golf balls can be traced back to the Gutta Percha phase of development. It was Coburn Haskell who created the one-piece rubber cored ball encased in a Gutta Percha cover. It was during this time that players first observed how their shots became more and more predictable the longer that they played with the same ball. They noticed that the more the balls became scuffed the more precisely and further they could hit it.

When William Taylor applied the dimple pattern to a Haskell ball in 1905, golf balls finally took on their modern form. So the dimples came into being. From that time on, dimpled golf balls were officially used in every golf tournament. In 1921, the dimpled golf balls took on a standard size and weight.

Nowadays, there is a large choice of golf balls suitable for different golf games and conditions. Some golf balls offer greater control, while some others provide greater distance. However else these golf balls vary, they all have one fearure in common and that is the dimple. Golf balls are not just items of golf equipment; they are a paradigm of a concept in physics!

Roger Titley is a successful webmaster who manages http://www.newgolfputter.com which is dedicated to all aspects of golf