Chuck,
Now that you have stirred up an old subject of mine, here is an explanation of where golf balls are at in the golf world today. There is a great deal of marketing hype with golf balls, but it is a bit ridiculous when the U.S.G.A. puts distance limits on golf balls used in competition.
While wound golf balls are still the cat's meow with the better players, there are other popular options with golfers depending on their swing tendencies and shot results. The four options for golf ball construction these days are wound golf balls, 2-piece, 3-piece and 4-piece.
Wound balls are balls whose core (liquid or solid) has been wound around with a rubber thread. On a 2-piece ball there is a resin-like core with a more durable cover. 3-piece balls (aka a multi-layer balls) are usually made of a large synthetic core, a thin mantel and a coat. For optimised weight centering some manufacturers use Tungsten-weights in the center of the synthetic core. 4-piece balls (also a multi-layer ball) have a small inner core surrounded by the actual core which we already know from the 3-piece balls. This inner core is surrounded by a thin inner mantel which transmits the relevant distance characteristics from the coat to the core and is thus responsible for that special feel players used to get from the softer, less durable, Balata cover.
Enough for today's lesson on golf balls. :-) |
