The Small Ball

[Glen Rapoport]

Does anyone recall how the USGA and R & A came to an agreement on the size of the golf ball?  What were the politics between the two groups at that time?

[A_Clay_Man]

Glen- Try this research paper that JohnV wrote.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/opinionvanderborght.html

[George_Bahto]

I used to play with the small ball Dunlop 45"s (or some #) at times when I first started to play while in the USN .... we used to get them for about $5 a dozen.

Play with them for a while and then switch to the reg ball .... it swas like winging at a grapefruit.

[Glen Rapoport]

George,

Are they still available anywhere?

Does anyone think that routings or architecture changed because of the switch to a larger ball which I assume is influence by the wind more; at least the old ones were.

[Dan King]

The late, great Alister Cooke explained what happened with the bigger golf ball:

"It became slowly but painfully apparent that playing a different sized ball in the championship matches of each country would present a problem, if not an ultimatum. The R & A followed the usual practice of British diplomacy. They thought a sensible compromise was possible, in the shape of a ball somewhere in between. They manufactured two experimental balls, 1.65 and 1.66 inches in diameter respectively. They were offered to the Americans as a proud solution. The Americans, however, remembering Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase (which was unconstitutional, and sneaky, but worked), had a better idea. Why not compromise, they suggested, by using our ball. And so it was. The bigger American ball is now compulsory in all R & A championships and in British professional tournaments."
 
Cheers,
Dan King

For many years I had an impression of my golf swing, which was: that I vividly resembled Tom Weiskopf in the takeaway and Dave Marr on the downswing. Unfortunately, there came a day when I was invited to have my golf swing filmed via a video camera. Something I will never do again. When it was played back, what I saw -- what you would have seen -- was not Weiskopf and Marr but a man simultaneously climbing into a sweater and falling out of a tree.
 --Alister Cooke

[ForkaB]

Glen

The small ball was only "legal" outside the US (at least in my far too extensive lifetime....).  You might be able to pick them up on e-bay (or I might even have one or two in my shag bag....), but I wouldn't bother.  Even when and where they were legal, most good players used the bigger balls in most conditions.

As for influencing design, I'd say no, as there realy wasn't much building going on in the UK at the time of the switch over (early 80's).

PS--I got my first hole in one with a small ball in the US (Spyglass #12, 1979).  Was it illegal?

[JohnV]

The R&A officially switched to the 1.68 inch ball in 1990.  For some years before that they allowed both sizes.

I believe that some of the "hot" balls that could be found in small ads in the back of magazines like Golf Digest are simply 1.62 balls.   I don't know if they still have those ads since I don't read GD.  Over the years I've found a few of them on golf courses.

[Bob_Huntley]

I started playing golf with the small ball and to set the record straight, the R&A made it mandatory to play the large ball at the 1974 Open. The use of the small ball was finally prohibited by that body in 1988.

Despite what Rich and and the poo-bahs of the game may think, I believe that the small ball required more precise striking than the balloon we now use. In a dinner conversation with famed Open winner Peter Thomson, He iterated that hitting the bigger ball off of links turf was a piece of cake.

Opening the black wrapper with the number '65' on the gold badge was as tactile as getting a Tiffany box and unloading a silver martini shaker.

[Bill_McBride]

"....a silver martini shaker."

Mr. Huntley, you are the man!

[ForkaB]

Bob

A pooh bear, maybe but never a pooh-bah......

It was precisely because the big ball was easier to play (particulary in terms of the short game) that it overtook the little 'un, before such was required (particularly with most good players).  Probably there was some of the Dr. Johnson effect in terms of "concentrating" the mind at work also......

[JohnV]

Bob, while the 1988 rules were the first where the R&A stated that the ball would be 1.68 inches, they also said that the small ball could be played until December 31, 1989, so 1990 was the first time that everyone was required to play the larger ball.

The following notes were in the 1988 rules:
"1.  The size specified in (b) above will take effect from 1st January 1990. Until that date the previous size specification of a diameter not less than 1.620 inches (41.15mm) will apply.
2.  The Overall Distance Standard will apply only to balls which meet the new size specification of a diameter not less than 1.680 inches (42.67mm).
3.  In international team competitions, until 31st December, 1989, the previous size specification of a diameter not less than 1.620 inches (41.15mm) will apply."

You are right that the 1.68 ball is easier to hit off the ground than the 1.62.  If you read my opinion piece you will see that the reason the USGA kept the 1.68 size when they went back to  the 1.62 ounce weight was for that reason.  Players liked the size, they hated the light weight of the balloon ball.

I loved going to England when I was young and getting some of the individually wrapped balls.  I wish I still had some.

[Bob_Huntley]

John,

Thanks for putting me right.

There was something really satisfying in opening the individually wrapped ball......almost like being a kid at Christmas.

Bob

[Brian_Gracely]

http://search.ebay.com/Dunlop-65-Golf_W0QQsofocusZbsQQsbrftogZ1QQfromZR10QQsacategoryZ-1Q26catrefQ3DC6QQsotrtypeZ1QQsotrvalueZ1QQsosortpropertyZ1Q26sosortorderQ3D1QQcoactionZcompareQQcopagenumZ1QQcoentrypageZsearch

Search from ebay on "Dunlop 65 Golf"......maybe some fun Christmas gifts out there.

[peter_p]

Penfold also makes them, but they are rocks. Don't think they're up on the new ball technology.

[George_Bahto]

Bob - you're right! unwrapping one of those new was really something special.

but boy you really had to hit it right - it really moved a lot ...... not the ball for a slicer.

I wish I would have kept a box of them just fo the fun of having it.

It really was a problem though if you played with them regularly ..... and on out Navy pay at the time, this was the "affordable" ball ......  going back to the "big ball"

Glen ... sorry I didn't get back to you before now but I think your question has been answered.
 
Rich Goodall, your hole in one with a "65":  I've only had one hole in one in my life after playing so many golf holes and that was in my first year playing - duh!

I just now looked  at that mounted ball sitting on the shelf.

It is a walnut shaped figure one with a small plaque that says:

            Dunlop
     Hole-in-One Award
          George Bahto
         Cedar Point GC       (that was the Navy base in MD)
           July 9, 1954

THE MOUNTED BALL IS A DUNLOP 65 (small ball version) - HAH!

holy smokes that's damn 50-years ago ...... (itz not easy being ME!)

I remember getting about 30 boxes of goodies at the time - like Life Savers - all sorts of candy - certificate and a small engraved medal from the Wilson Co .....there was really a lot of stuff companies used to send out.

Interesting memory i haven't thought about for a while.

[TEPaul]

JohnV:

What was the weight of the "small ball" (1.62 in diameter) that was used for about 60 years? Was it the same weight as the larger USGA ball?

I used to use the smaller R&A ball (Dunlop) sometimes in this country and in Europe. I always liked it better than the larger US ball. It was much easier to play into the wind but the US ball carried downwind noticeably farther. In every other way I always thought the small ball was an easier ball to play. I don't know what this idea is all about that the larger ball is easier to hit off the fairways or off tighter lies. I sure never thought that---maybe even the opposite.

[A_Clay_Man]

George, You got Lifesavers? On my last (most recent) ace, I got an attaboy.

[Mike_Clayton]

TEP


The small ball was the same weight as the big one.
I played the small one for the first 8 years of my golf and there were no Balata small balls in Australia so it was really difficult to chip and pitch with. They were all just rocks but they flew longer.

Now I would say the Pro V1 is a significantly easer ball to play with even in the wind. It flies like a small ball used to,it stops and it's easier out of the sand and to chip and pitch with.

A friend of mine used to caddy for Sandy Lyle and he played a practice round with Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry at the 1993 Open.
Max told Jack he had seen him win The Dunlop tournament in Sydney in 1971 with a small B51 Slazenger ball.
'Longest ball ever made' said Jack. And at that point it certainly was.

[A_Clay_Man]

Her's one circa 20's-30's, still in the wrapper.

[TEPaul]

Glen:

In my opinion, the primary reason (or the politics, as you asked) the USGA and R&A went to one size ball is the motivation to unify all the rules of golf that began in the early 1950s simply continued on until almost all the playing rules and the I&b rules were basically unified between the two bodies. In the end it's just less complicated that way.

[JohnV]

The 1.68 ball was always legal in the UK because the R&A rules said that the minimum size was 1.62 with no maximum.

In 1973 the USGA and R&A experimented with a 1.66 ball but supposedly didn't go with it because of fears of anti-trust litigation.

A great resource for information on this and other old rules questions is the Rule History Website  You can see all the old R&A rules editions from the past.