Rubber Jonny

A new “Super golf ball” is being developed at the University of Maryland by professor Elias Balaras and his team. It should allow average golfers to hit 300 yard drives regularly.

Golf is big business and with an estimated £1bn spent on golf balls each year by its 60 million players, you can see why a new ball design could change the game completely. It’s already well known that improving the aerodynamics of a golf ball lies within the design of dimples. They were originally designed through trial and error and were first introduced in the 19th century when players realised that balls with rough surfaces flew further than those with smooth surfaces.

“Up to now, dimple design has been more of an art than a science,” said professor Balaras, who created the mathematical equations and software to work out the science behind the dimples and the flight of a golf ball.

The team of researchers used a set of supercomputers, each one thousands of times more powerful than the standard PC, to study the exact flow of air around the ball in flight and its dimples for over 300 hours.

An average golf ball hit by an average golfer will apparently reach around 260 kilometres per hour (160 mph), spins backwards up to 3,000 times a minute and can travel around 228 metres (250 yds). Tiger Woods commonly drives around 274 metres (300 yards).

Backspin keeps the ball in the air but also causes excessive turbulence if it spins too fast. The dimples help to reduce this effect hugely. The scientists’ findings are due to be outlined at a meeting of the American Physical Society’s fluid dynamics division.

The results could revolutionise the game and change it completely for Britain’s 4 million golfers. While it is exciting news, it does leave me with a few questions. With the advances in club technology in the last few years, the game has got easier and easier to play and the pros are regularly score 8 or 10 under par in one round.

Courses are having to be made longer and longer to accommodate these changes and lots of clubs just can’t do that. If we all start hitting 300 yard drives then how far will the pros be able to hit it? 400 yards plus? At what point do you stop and say ok, the game is long enough.

Supposed super-long 400 yard golf balls are available already but they’re banned by the R&A. This will probably happen with whatever new design the profs come up with too.

Surely the likes of Callaway, Titleist etc etc have looked into this? It’s their living. You’d think that with all the money at their disposal, they’d have teams of people doing nothing more than figuring out how to make golf balls go 400 yards with a dimple design change.

Whatever the outcome, I’m sure it will be exciting…let’s just hope they send me a pack!