The Featherie Ball

Product Description

Harbouring its roots on the Eastern Coast in Scotland, the first golf balls were made of wood. In 1618 a new type of golf ball was created by handcrafting a cowhide sphere stuffed with goose feathers. The ‘Featherie’ golf ball was invented. The balls were manufactured while the leather and feathers were wet.

As the leather dried the feathers expanded to create a hardened, compact ball. Once coated with paint, these balls were sold, often for more than the price of a club. The time-consuming processes involved in creating a Featherie ball ensured that the price was out of reach of the masses.

Though expensive, this type of ball had great flight characteristics and made the wooden ball obsolete almost immediately. For over two centuries the Featherie was the standard, The leather was cut in two, three or four lobes then fanned out like petals of a flower, three of the sides would be then be sewn together by hand on the inside edge, then boiled goose feathers would be pushed into the open end and finally sewn together.

This ball closely resembles the authentic Featherie ball and can be hit. Due to worldwide constraints on exporting bird feathers there is a different material inside but with very similar characteristics.