This
mesh-pattern solid gutty ball is not your normal mesh pattern ball. It
is actually a far more rare line-cut ball! Such balls were a major step
in the evolution of the golf ball, replacing the hand-hammered ball.
A line-cut ball was originally molded in a smooth gutty mold and then
removed and placed into a small cutting lathe designed to score the
surface of gutta percha golf balls. The ballmaker would turn the
lathe's handle and that caused the machine to rotate the ball, cutting
lines into its surface. After the ballmaker cut one set of lines around
the circumference of the ball, he would remove the ball, turned it 90
degrees, and then cut in a second set of lines. Typically, the
resulting mesh pattern would be reasonably symmetrical, often times
making it hard to distinguish a line cut ball from a molded mesh ball.
On this ball, the mesh-pattern lines are clearly not
symmetrical, as the ball maker did not cut the second set of lines at a
right angle to the first set of lines. In addition the lines on the ball are of various depths and you can see how the lines themselves are crooked in places. Both of these elements are the result of the inconsistencies of scoring a ball on a ball lathe and turning the handle by hand.
These inconsistencies create not only an
interesting look, but they provide proof that this ball is a genuine
line-cut ball, made after ballmakers stopped hand-hammering balls but
before they used molds engraved with the mesh pattern found on line cut
balls. This would have been for a period of time roughly between the
1870s and 1890.
A brilliant, historical ball in mint condition.
TCA2 V2 p 763-764
This ball is shown 2nd from the right in the bottom row in the accompanying large group image, and to the the far right in the accompany image of 6 balls.