Believe it or not golf was originally played with golf balls made from wood until the early 1700s. Then a golfer had the idea for a new ball that was called the featherie. The name featherie comes from the fact that the golf ball was a hand made cow skin bag filled and packed tightly with goose feathers. The outside surface was then coated with a special thick paint intended to withstand a fair amount of ball / golf club contact without immediately chipping the paint off. Advances in manufacturing and composites, plastics, and rubber production lead the way for innovation for golf balls developed with a core and multiple layers around it. At first golf ball called wound tpye balls were developed consisting of a solid or liquid core, a rubber thread wrapped around the core and a thin surleyn shell. Golf balls today are either a two, three, or four layer design. The materials used in the manufacturing of the golf ball are synthetic isomers typically surlyn. The golf balls made today are available in a variety of playability characteristics to suit the expertise level, swing speed, launch angle, etc. oof a particular golfer.
When the golf club strikes the golf ball, the impact position and direction of force decide the golf balls initial velocity, launch angle and spin rate. A ball travelling through air experiences two forces known as lift and drag. Drag will decrease or impede the forward motion of the golf ball as the air offers resistence while the force of lift will make the golfball rise. Modern golf balls have dimples or indentations to increase the lift force and minimize the drag forces. A spinning golf ball creates a flow of air around the ball. All golf balls today typically have between three and four hundred fifty dimples. Golf balls with a greater number of dimples are not approved for use by the USGA and R & A. The world record for most dimples on a golf ball is 1,070 dimples. All makes and brands of golf balls have even-numbered dimples. The United States Patent and Trademark Office's patent database is a good source for the historical record of past dimple designs.