Lot # 155: Two c. 1900 Floater Golf Balls: 1 rubber core, 1 gutty

Starting Bid: $100.00

Bids: 4 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Summer 2020",
which ran from 7/8/2020 12:00 PM to
7/25/2020 8:00 PM



Pick either of these balls up, and you can tell that it is lighter than normal.  Put them in a dish of water and they float! which helps explain why they are so light. 

Floating golf balls were once a part of the game. The June 16, 1899 issue of Golf Illustrated shows Freddie Tait playing a ball from the middle of a green-side bunker full of casual water during the final match of the 1899 British Amateur.  The account tells of Tait wading in and skillfully blasting his shot up onto the green—which was made possible by his golf ball which can also be seen floating in the water. There was once a time that the Rules of golf made no allowance, no free drop, for casual water. Consequentially, a floating ball in a bunker full of casual water was better than a sunk ball. 

The white ball is made from gutta percha and the dark ball, which looks like gutta percha, is made from hard rubber. While these balls would float, one is left to wonder how well they would play on the course given their light weight. The wind and circumstances would need to be just right before employing these specialty balls. 

At the turn of the 19th century, just as there were no rules for casual water there were no rules for ball size. At roughly 1.53" in diameter, the white ball is even smaller than the 1.62-inch diameter that would become the minimum size for a British golf ball.

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