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Did you know that the early
rubber golf ball has roots in
Ohio? Because Akron, Ohio
became the center of the
rubber tire business in the early
1900’s, it makes sense that the
rubber golf ball was invented
and produced here in Ohio.
The
Worthington
Manufacturing
Company
based in Elyria, Ohio acquired
the patents on the first three-
piece wound rubber golf ball,
when it purchased the Hunt
Manufacturing Company in
1903. The ball had first been
developed by a Cleveland
native, Coburn Haskell
in collaboration with B.F.
Goodrich engineer, Bertram
Work, in Akron in 1898.
The ball featured a solid
core wrapped with hundreds
of tightly wound rubber
threads and covered with
a layer of gutta-percha. The
ball was named “Bounding
Billie” and was a significant
improvement over the gutta-
percha ball that had been
previously used prior to the
rubber ball.
The duo received a patent
on the ball in 1899 and it
became popular after the
famed, Walter Travis won
two U.S. Amateurs and Sandy
Herd won a British Open
with the new design in the
early 1900’s.
Bobby Jones once said, the
rubber golf ball was the most
important development in
golf in his lifetime.
TheWorthingtonBallCompany
founded by George Cushing
Worthington in 1904 perfected
mass production of golf balls
and became the single largest
golf ball manufacturer in the
world at the time.
After WorldWar I, vulcanized
rubber replaced the gutta-
perchacover andWorthington
continued to enjoy success as
the leading golf ball maker.
Two Worthington executives
decided that Elyria needed a
golf course to promote the golf
ball business and even though
very few Elyria residents were
familiar with golf in 1904,
the Elyria Country Club came
into existence.
Renowned designer, William
S Flynn of Philadelphia was
contracted to build the new
course. Flynn also designed
Shinnecock and Merion, two
of his more famous creations.
This is one more example of
the historical significance of
Ohio in golf’s history and its
close ties to the growth of golf
in the early days.
Ohio manufacturing and
ingenuity brought a better
golf ball to Golfaholics and
improved the game forever.
Early Rubber Golf Ball Was Made in Ohio
By
Fred Altvater
NWO Golf Links