question: Why are golf balls shaped the way they are and not perfect spheres?
comment: The dimples actually improve the aerodynamics and flight characteristics. I know that seems counter intuitive, but their's hard science behind it. The dimples create very small air currents near the surface of the ball. The balanced cushion of air stabilizes the ball as it flies (hopefully) to the putting green.
passages: Officially sanctioned balls are designed to be as symmetrical as possible. This symmetry is the result of a dispute that stemmed from the Polara, a ball sold in the late 1970s that had six rows of normal dimples on its equator but very shallow dimples elsewhere. This asymmetrical design helped the ball self-adjust its spin axis during the flight. The USGA refused to sanction it for tournament play and, in 1981, changed the rules to ban aerodynamic asymmetrical balls. Polara's producer sued the USGA and the association paid US$1.375 million in a 1985 out-of-court settlement. Polara Golf now manufactures balls with “Self-Correcting Technology” for non-tournament play.
   One-piece balls are made of a single kind of plastic resin, shaped into a sphere and hardened. They are the most durable kind of ball but their performance is limited by the properties of the resin. These balls are also the cheapest and often available as rentals at park golf courses.
   To keep the aerodynamics optimal, the golf ball needs to be clean, including all dimples. Thus, it is advisable that golfers wash their balls whenever permissible by the rules of golf. Golfers can wash their balls manually using a wet towel or using a ball washer of some type.
  
  Section::::Design.
   The durable plastic resin balls are bright-coloured so they can be easily distinguished from a distance. They come in many colours but are all 60 mm in diameter and less than 100 grams. Balls may be made of a single or multiple components and individual manufactures' balls all perform slightly differently. It is not unusual to see players with several balls for use in different conditions.
  
  Section::::Equipment.:Ball carriers.
   The Rules of Golf, jointly governed by the R&A and the USGA, state in Appendix III that the diameter of a "conforming" golf ball cannot be any smaller than , and the weight of the ball may not exceed . The ball must also have the basic properties of a spherically symmetrical ball, generally meaning that the ball itself must be spherical and must have a symmetrical arrangement of dimples on its surface. Additional rules direct players and manufacturers to other technical documents published by the R&A and USGA with additional restrictions, such as radius and depth of dimples, maximum launch speed from test apparatus (generally defining the coefficient of restitution) and maximum total distance when launched from the test equipment.
   Officially sanctioned balls are designed to be as symmetrical as possible. This symmetry is the result of a dispute that stemmed from the original Polara, that had six rows of normal dimples on its equator but very shallow dimples elsewhere. This asymmetrical design helped the ball self-adjust its spin-axis during the flight. Over 300,000 balls were sold. The United States Golf Association refused to sanction it for tournament play and, in 1981, changed the rules to ban aerodynamic asymmetrical balls. Polara's producer sued the USGA and the association paid US$1.375 million in a 1985 out-of-court settlement.
   In 1967, Spalding purchased a patent for a solid golf ball from Jim Bartsch. The original patent proposed a ball void of the former layered approach seen in earlier designs, but Bartsch's patent lacked the chemical properties needed in its manufacturing. Under Spalding, and its chemical engineering team, the development of a chemical resin eliminated the need for the former layered components entirely. Since this time, the majority of non-professional golfers have transitioned to using solid core (or "2-piece") golf balls.
   Until 1990, it was permissible to use balls of less than 1.68 inches in diameter in tournaments under the jurisdiction of the R&A, which differed in its ball specifications rules from those of the USGA. This ball was commonly called a "British" ball, while the golf ball approved by the USGA was simply the "American ball". The smaller diameter gave the player a distance advantage, especially in high winds, as the smaller ball created a similarly smaller "wake" behind it.
  
  Section::::Aerodynamics.
   Dimples first became a feature of golf balls when English engineer and manufacturer William Taylor, co-founder of the Taylor-Hobson company, registered a patent for a dimple design in 1905. William Taylor had realized that golf players were trying to make irregularities on their balls, noticing that used balls were going further than new ones. Hence he decided to make systematic tests to determine what surface formation would give the best flight. He then developed a pattern consisting of regularly spaced indentations over the entire surface, and later tools to help producing such balls in series
   Phillip E. "Skipper" Young, a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founded Titleist in 1932. When playing a round of golf with his dentist, Young missed a sure putt that seemed to be caused by the weight of the ball. He then asked his dentist friend to X-ray the ball and the film showed that the rubber core was off-center. After this initial discovery, Young took X-rays of more golf balls and found that most were poorly constructed with off-center cores and prone to erratic shots. This inspired Young to produce his own line of golf balls, which would become known as Titleist.
   Originally, golf balls were made of a hardwood, such as beech. Beginning between the 14th and 16th centuries, more expensive golf balls were made of a leather skin stuffed with down feathers; these were called "featheries". Around the mid-1800s, a new material called gutta-percha, made from the latex of the East Asian sapodilla tree, started to be used to create more inexpensive golf balls nicknamed "gutties", which had similar flight characteristics as featheries. These then progressed to "brambles" in the later 1800s, using a raised dimple pattern and resembling bramble fruit, and then to "meshies" beginning in the early 1900s, where ball manufacturers started experimenting with latex rubber cores and wound mesh skins that created recessed patterns over the ball's surface. Recessed circular dimples were patented in 1910, but didn't become popular until the 1940s after the patents expired.
   "The first test of the Penfold production was held on a Sunday prior to a British Open Championship on a course near St. Andrews. When the selected Driver hit the first Penfold designed ball it carried far beyond the furthermost markers. Other Penfold balls gave identical results. Examination followed the demonstration, and the Penfold test ball was found to conform to the letter of the restricting specification."
   Shortly after its introduction the Titleist Pro V1 became the most played ball on the PGA Tour and has been for the past 20 odd years, picking up the most worldwide wins from both direct brand ambassadors (meaning they play titleist equipment) and players who are not directly under contract and considered brand ambassadors from Titleist., and three years after Titleist's initial breakthrough with the Pro V1 came the Pro V1x, a ball with 60 fewer dimples. The combination of a larger firmer core, a thinner cover, and 60 fewer dimples resulted in a ball that retained the same soft feel of the Pro V1 while reducing spin and increasing distance.
   Though manufacturer literature often specifies "track flare"—exhibited by successive tracks of oil in a "bowtie" pattern and caused by RG differential—the USBC ball motion study showed flare's influence to be small, assuming that a minimal threshold of flare exists to present a "dry" surface for successive ball revolutions. Similarly, though manufacturer literature often describes specific core shapes, differently-shaped cores can make exactly the same contribution to ball motion if they have the same overall RG characteristics.
   In the early 1900s, it was found that dimpling the ball provided even more control of the ball's trajectory, flight, and spin. David Stanley Froy, James McHardy, and Peter G. Fernie received a patent in 1897 for a ball with indentations; Froy played in the Open in 1900 at the Old Course at St. Andrews with the first prototype. Players were able to put additional backspin on the new wound, dimpled balls when using more lofted clubs, thus inducing the ball to stop more quickly on the green. Manufacturers soon began selling various types of golf balls with various dimple patterns to improve the length, trajectory, spin, and overall "feel" characteristics of the new wound golf balls. Wound, balata-covered golf balls were used into the late twentieth century.
   The Royal and Ancient had a ball made which they believed would set a limit to the distance potentialities of all golf balls. Penfold and other ball manufacturers were called in and shown the specifications of the new ball which was supposed to be the perfect 'restrictor.' During the inspection Penfold startled the assembly making the quiet statement that he could build a ball to those very specifications that would out drive any ball then made.
   Liquid cores were commonly used in golf balls as early as 1917. The liquid cores in many of the early balls contained a caustic liquid, typically an alkali, causing eye injuries to children who happened to dissect a golf ball out of curiosity. By the 1920s, golf ball manufacturers had stopped using caustic liquids, but into the 1970s and 1980s golf balls were still at times exploding when dissected and were causing injuries due to the presence of crushed crystalline material present in the liquid cores.
   There are many types of golf balls on the market, and customers often face a difficult decision. Golf balls are divided into two categories: recreational and advanced balls. Recreational balls are oriented toward the ordinary golfer, who generally have low swing speeds ( or lower) and lose golf balls on the course easily. These balls are made of two layers, with the cover firmer than the core. Their low compression and side spin reduction characteristics suit the lower swing speeds of average golfers quite well. Furthermore, they generally have lower prices than the advanced balls, lessening the financial impact of losing a ball to a hazard or out of bounds.
   Many competitions require golfers to use a specification ball for the tournament. The specific design characteristics of this ball include a dimple design that helps to maintain lower spin rates and a ball compression of 110. The average ball compression in golf varies from the mid-70s to the upper 80s.
  
  Section::::Notable long drivers.
  
  BULLET::::- David Mobley, World Long Drive Champion – 2004 – Ranked #1 in the World by Long Drivers of America in 2003, 2004, and 2005
  
  BULLET::::- Bubba Watson, 424 yd. drive (lost Long Drive contest to Jamie Sadlowski)
   Balls used in urban golf vary relative to each organization and context. Although real golf balls are used in some circumstances where risk from injury is low, other balls used are Tennis Balls, Squash Balls, (used by Urban Golf associations throughout Belgium and the United States), Air Flow Balls, Cayman Balls and many types of adapted or customized balls. Shoreditch Golf Club produces and manufactures its own design of ball specifically for this game. Since the implementation of the European Urban Golf Cup (EUGC) in 2013, the Almostgolf ball has become the standard ball of play in organized streetgolf in Europe.
   Section::::Patents and golf club designs.
  
  One of Willie's first American patents (though it appears to have been applied for but never finally granted) was his "indestructible driver". Its head was a wood block encased in an aluminium shell, the wood being exposed at the face and on top.
   Polara Golf is brand for a line of golf balls that correct hooks and slices, based on their design. Aero-X Golf, Inc is the manufacturer that created the Polara Ultimate Straight and Polara Ultimate Straight XS golf balls featuring “Self-Correcting Technology” that reduces hooks and slices by up to 75%. David L. Felker, PhD, Chairman of the Board, CEO, Head of Technology of Aero-X Golf, Inc. and former Callaway Golf Company founding member and Vice President of Research and Development, coinvented the Polara Ultimate Straight golf balls, along with Douglas C. Winfield PhD, formerly of Maxfli and Titleist. The new Polara Ultimate Straight golf balls represent a large performance improvement over the original Polara golf ball which was first sold in 1977. The new design, released August 2010, utilizes state-of-the-art aerodynamics and a principal axis of inertia. The ball has shallow truncated dimples around its equator and has deep spherical and small spherical dimples on each of the ball's poles.
   These two rules are used as the basis for most of the more specific rules of Appendix II, including that no club may have a concave face (1931) and various rules defining what is "traditional" about the shapes of specific clubs, while allowing for the progression of technology. The "traditional and customary" rule was originally used to ban the introduction of steel club shafts (patented in 1910), as that material was not traditional for shafts; that specific ban was rescinded in 1924 by the USGA (the R&A would continue to ban steel shafts until 1929), and steel would become universal until the development of graphite shafts whose introduction was less controversial. The "plain in shape" rule was more recently bent to allow for non-traditional driver club head shapes, such as squares, as a compromise to club-makers after imposing and enforcing a 460cc volume limit on these same club heads.
   Ball washer
  
  A ball washer or ball shagger is a piece of equipment for cleaning dirty golf balls. Because golf balls have a dimpled surface to improve their aerodynamic properties, increasing both distance and control, and are used primarily on grassy surfaces, they tend to collect dirt and grass easily, which can adversely affect their aerodynamic characteristics. Ball washers are typically found on golf courses; on some courses, there is one at every hole. To maintain these aerodynamic properties balls are usually inspected for dirt before play, and washed if required.
   Other types of patterned covers were in use at about the same time, including one called a "mesh" and another named the "bramble", but the dimple became the dominant design due to "the superiority of the dimpled cover in flight".
  
  Most golf balls on sale today have about 250–450 dimples, though there have been balls with more than 1000 dimples. The record holder was a ball with 1,070 dimples—414 larger ones (in four different sizes) and 656 pinhead-sized ones.
  