Show No Depression Can Be Seen in Golf Business By Art Krenz NE NEA Golf Goll Writer NEW YORK March 5 5 The The new golf season swinging northward probably probably probably ably will find John Q puffer Duller slightly warped by a depression but eager cager as ever to take advantage of ot his share of ot the that is invested Inthe in inthe inthe the game There are two and a quarter quartel million mil lion golfers to whom about are added each summer There is a anew anew anew new ball baU to be played which must be manufactured in quantities of 20 20 From this you may gather that business in golf cannot be described described de de- de- de scribed as poor 18 MILLION PER PERIt It is generally conceded that golf goll gollnow now no exceeds baseball in popularity This can be cre credited to the manufacture manufacture ture of ot good balls at reasonable rates The golf golt ball baU makers do a business of approximately a year But did you know that 74 operations opera opera- lions and 18 days clays are arc required in the making of or a golf gol ball Lets Let's go back to the beginning The first step is the washing of the crude rubber All foreign substances must be eliminated and the rubber dried To the dried rubber a powdered sulphur is added before it is rolled into sheets almost as thin as paper It is then rolled on drums and boiled in vats at a high temperature When the rubber comes out of or this treat treat- tT ment t it ft is alive and elastic and ready teady for th the ball These sheets next are arc cut into fine strips of standard length Do you drive yards Well Welt that's the length one of these strips is supposed to stretch Three kinds of cores are popularly used One is a piece of solid rubber about the size of a marble Another is a soft core of rubber bands closely bun bunched hed together The liquid core is a small hollow sphere of rubber filled with a thick liquid which must be frozen before winding operations begin Machines spin the core and md wind the thin bands of or rubber around it iL TREMENDOUS PRESSURE The covers are hollow shapes When the ball Is wound to the proper prop prop- er size and weight two of these hollow hollow hol hol- low shapes are placed over it and md subjected to a pressure of pounds under heat Markings of mesh or dimple arc are stamped into the ball by this pressure The balls move on to the thc painters who put on three to four coats of ot enamel Between each coat the ball spends 24 hours in ill a drier wh where re an even temperature is maintained Before you ou set the ball on a tee trade and beauty marks are arc painted on it by hands as the final stage Here is good news for the thc divot digger The game will be cheaper this year Manufacturers have reduced prices on balls tees clubs and other equipment equip equip- ment Fee courses have slashed the price per round Even caddies have been exposed to wage age cuts |