How Has Golf Equipment Really Changed Over The Years?
The Road to Modern Golf
As we play golf, we often take for granted the luxuries we have. The advanced clubs and balls of today are so different from those of old. A player from the earlier days would think we were playing with space age tools. But with all of this technology have you ever stopped to think about the work that goes into designing these clubs? From golf irons to golf woods, clubs worth $1000, clubs worth $20, any number of golf products today have become so advanced, that it is truly impressive when compared to the old-fashioned paraphernalia.
Consider the golf balls we use today; things with names like PRO V1x maxfly. But back, back in the day, they did not really have such things. Originally, in the first days of a sport similar to golf, men used pebbles. They just hit them around with sticks or clubs. But once the game became a true game and began evolving, men began using leather balls stuffed with feathers: not quite the Titleist we use today; they did not fly far at all. But then, in 1848, Reverend Adam Paterson constructed a ball from the sap of a Gutta tree. This ball was actually very similar to the ball design we use today (without the dimples obviously). It flew roughly 225 yards, if hit powerfully and correctly. Nearly fifty years later, a man by the name of Coburn Haskell introduced a ball with a rubber cored ball. Men marveled at this new design that, when hit correctly, would fly distances of an astonishing 400 yards. Now, just when did the dimples come into play? Well fairly soon, players began to notice that as the balls became older, they flew farther. Maybe they were just breaking them in. Maybe they were not. Soon, the men connected the distance increase with the scars and dents that the balls acquired. They would take new balls and intentionally add these scars. However, it was not until 1905 that a ball manufacturer by the name of William Taylor began making balls that came already dented. Thus, the dimples of a golf ball were born.
Clubs of today have come so far from the wooden sticks that men used to play with. Consider the old set of clubs that you swing around today, regardless of whether or not they are cheap golf clubs, or, better yet, consider the clubs that Tiger Woods swings. Then compare that to the wooden sticks with a small, wooden head on the bottom that were used a long time ago.
Originally, irons were used very sparingly because they could easily destroy the feathery balls of the day. They were heavy, crude things that were considered clumsy. But soon, with the increase in forging technology, the irons became more and more practical.
The biggest innovation of golf clubs is perhaps the departure from the smooth faced clubs. Designers, through experiments, soon discovered that a grooved face created more backspin, which resulted in farther distances. And these new technologies opened up the game when they were applied to ladies golf clubs and even childrens clubs.
Development of new clubs went hand in hand with the development of new balls (which could be hit harder and harder).
A question very rarely asked (though perchance you’ve asked yourself this) is the question of the development of the golf tee. Originally the word ‘tee’ meant simply the area where you teed from. Then, men used little heaps of sand to prop up the ball. The sand was kept in boxes in the teeing area. Thus, we have the term tee-box. The first tee to be patented was credited to Scottish golfers William Bloxsom and Arthur Douglas. Their ‘tee’ consisted of a long, flat disk that rested on the ground and had three prongs that projected up, on which the ball rested. It did not even stick into the ground. Three years later, in 1892, the first tee to peg the ground was patented. Percy Ellis introduced his ‘Perfectum’ tee. It was a metal peg that stuck into the ground with a round, rubber top on which the ball rested. All sorts of innovations came and went, including a tee with a scorecard etched upon it. Widespread use did not come (most golfers continued to use the ground) until William Lowell, Sr. introduced his Reddy Tee, a wooden peg that pierced the ground and had a flared top, with a concave bulge on top, and he hired two professional golfers to use and advocate them. Soon, the tee we know today was being copied and used around the world.
Tags: golf equipment | golf equipment | golf products | golf products | golf wedges | golf wedges | golf clubs | golf irons | golf irons