Start Your Own Golf Ball Collection
I have been playing and enjoying the game of golf for more than fifty years. I finally decided to start a golf ball collection. You can start a golf ball collection too.
I record the golf balls in my collection in a bound notebook. Tools that I use are: a magnifying glass to help read the markings on the golf ball, a compass to draw a picture of the golf ball in my notebook, a caliper to measure the diameter of a golf ball, a pencil and pen, and a water soluble marker to help count the number of dimples on the golf ball.
I store my collection of golf balls in a plastic collector’s box that I got at the Container Store after they had been entered in my notebook. I group the golf balls by the company that made the golf balls, e.g. Spalding, Acushnet, Dunlop, etc. I also group the golf balls by the different make of golf ball, e.g. Pro V1, Pro V1x, etc.
I use the following ways to help determine the date a golf ball first appears on the market. First, I examine the number and arrangement of the dimples on the surface of the golf ball. The dimple arrangement on a golf ball is a reliable way to determine when the golf ball was commercialized. That is because many golf balls are commercialized shortly after the US patent is allowed. I used the site: https://patents.google.com to search the US patent literature for the company, the patent issue date, and the number of dimples on the golf ball. The patent issue date gives me the earliest date that a particular golf ball was commercialized.
Second, I also used the USGA conforming golf ball lists to date golf balls. Current lists are published monthly at the website: https://www.usga.org/ConformingGolfBall/conforming_golf_ball.asp. I have included links to the USGA lists from 2002 to the present on my website http://www.golfballcoverstory.com. Just look up the name of the company and the model of the golf ball for each year that the ball appears and find the earliest date.
Finally, I use these golf ball books to find reliable golf ball commercialization dates.
John F. Hotchkiss, 500 Years of Golf Balls: History & Collector’s Guide (Iowa: AntiqueTrader Books, 1997). This book contains a reprint of John Stuart Martin, The Curious History of the Golf Ball, Mankind’s Most Fascinating Sphere, (New York: Horizon Press, 1968).
Udo Machat and Larry Dennis, The Golf Ball Book, (Sport Images, 7211 Woodrow Drive, Oakland, California 94611, USA, 2000).
M. Hatcher, The History of Titleist (Acushnet) Golf Balls (Science Resort (SR) LLC, 2014).
James J. Harrison, Golf Ball Cover Story, What Every Golfer Should Know, (Waterside Press, 2055 Oxford Ave, Cardiff, CA 92007, 2018).