Why DO golf balls fly?

Why DO golf balls fly? Penfold Golf's expert on ball manufacture, William Baird, explains...

Since 1927, the Penfold brand has been synonymous with high performance, top quality, professional-standard golf balls. The Penfold factory in Bromford Lane, Birmingham in the UK's Midlands at one time employed over 500 people manufacturing golf balls and supplied golf balls to major golf markets around the world. Although now manufactured in a modern plant, the history of the brand and knowledge of golf ball manufacture is still vital to the production of the newly-relaunched Penfold Heart.

In the early days, golf balls were manufactured using rubber thread wound around a small centre, with a dimpled cover molded around it. Today, golf balls no longer use the rubber thread, but use various layers of graded polymers and synthetic rubbers that give different velocity and spin combinations.

Golf balls fly because of a combination of factors. They need speed to go far, they need resilience to compress on the clubface, they need back spin to create lift and they need durability to give long life.

The speed comes from the ball compressing when it is hit by a golf club. The faster the club's speed the more the ball compresses (and the faster the ball recovers its shape as it releases off the club head). The loft on the club head imparts backspin on the ball and the dimples drag air around the ball creating uplift. 

Using Dupont's unique material ‘Surlyn' produces a cover that is both durable and flexible, allowing the full performance of the centre to work itself out. Naturally, the new Penfold Heart golf ball is manufactured using these optimum materials - rather like re-writing a chapter of golfing history using MS Vista instead of a quill!