King James I was advised in 1424 to ban football because its popularity was interfering with archery practice, an activity vital to Scotland’s defence. By 1457 James II had to ban not only football but also golf in order to safeguard the nation's interest such was the growing popularity of the new sport. Imagine what anarchy would follow were this forced upon us today?
Since the game’s early days, there have been big changes to its basic components, notably the ball, the club, the rules and the design of courses. But it is the first which has governed the entire development of the sport. Before 1800, most ball makers shoemakers as they had the skills needed to cut, shape, and stitch, intricate leather goods. Balls were stuffed tightly with goose or hen feathers softened in a mixture of alum and water. This delicate job was hugely time consuming and a skilled maker could only produce between three and six balls per day, and at 1/9d they were inordinately expensive. Golf was therefore a game for the well-heeled only. Such players belonged to golfing societies soon to become private clubs, and distinguished themselves by wearing smart red jackets out on the links.
Beautifully carved, concave-faced woods were used during the 19th century. The best timber was sought to make these quality clubs, the finest being apple, pear or hawthorn, (although even beech was used before 1800) all of which are light in weight and highly resilient. It was a skilful business striking the ball - the club had to be employed in a sweeping motion, rather than the striking movement deployed in our approach today. A well executed action could propel a feather ball some 180 yards, but a poorly struck shot might easily damage the ball, particularly the stitching. On-course repairs were often needed, as the rules of golf, drawn up in 1774 by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, stated: "You are not to change the ball that you strike off the tee".
Players generally had five or six wooden clubs and only two irons, usually a ‘cleek’ and ‘rut-iron’ (equivalent to a wedge). But iron-headed clubs were used only in lies where a wooden club could not be effective. The problem with irons was that they could severely damage the valuable feather balls.
However, in 1846, the game underwent its first major change with the arrival of the ‘gutta-percha’ ball. The prototype was made by John Paterson, of St Andrews, who found that by warming the rubbery sap from the Palaquium tree which grew in South-east Asia, he could mould the substance into a strong, durable ball. These balls could be made in reasonable quantities by using hand-made moulds. This opened up the game to a broader public and it was from this point that golf really began to take off.
By 1877, a derivation of the gutta ball, known as a ‘gutty’ was launched by William Currie, of Caledonian Rubber Works in Edinburgh. This pale, yellow-coloured ball, made from Indian rubber mixed with cork and leather, was a considerable advance on the earlier gutta. The cork made this ‘composite’ ball more resilient and pliable than its predecessor but players found that it somewhat bouncy.
A modification was soon made by the Silvertown Company, who produced an even more effective composite ball, flattering the new breed of weekend golfers with its ability to rise into the air more quickly and travel further than any before. By 1895 there were more than 40 golf ball manufacturers, the best of whom included Allan Robertson, Tom Morris, John C Gourlay, David Cressick and Willie Dunn. However, these balls were harder than the guttas and now it was the clubmakers and repairers who were kept busy up to the end of the century when a more modern club evolved. The game was about to enter a new era.
