There were three generations of Gourlay who made feathery or featherie golf balls up to 1850 when the gutty replaced the feathery. The Honorable Company now hosts a spring.
An Allan Roberston Stamped Feather Golf Ball Circa 1840s Golf History Golf Events Vintage Golf
Genuine feathery golf balls are very solidie they do not have any give when squeezed in the hand.

Feathery golf ball. Commonly known as a Feathery. 1 Genuine feather gold balls are made of three pieces of leathercircular top circular bottom and rectangular middle Fig. Feathery Golf Balls Feather Stuffed Leather Covered Golf Balls The first real golf ball was known as a featherygolf ball.
2 Stitching is hidden in genuine feather balls. Buy online and shop worldwide. The casing was then turned inside out and feathers - a gentlemans top hat full by measure - were boiled and softened then tediously stuffed.
If a ball has fewer or more pieces it cannot be a genuine feather ball. Several pieces of substantial leather were tightly stitched leaving a small opening. And by numbers I mean like 3-4 a day from a leatherworker craftsman.
Here are the key features that identify a genuine feather golf ball. Many fakes are way to light. People made it from horsehide and cow and stuffed it with feathers generally with goose feathers.
The cost and very limited lifespan of the feathery golf ball is what is believed to have led to the disappearance of it in the 1850s in favour of the new harder and cheaper golf balls made from Gutta Percha a dried sap from the Sapodilla tree. The earliest real golf balls that were produced in larger numbers were feathery golf balls. After all they were constructed with the intention of compressing only when struck with a clubhead moving at close to 100 mph.
And a fall event each year both of which have included a featherie match since 2016. Feathery golf balls were expensive to make easily damaged and only the privileged few could afford to use them. Genuine feathery golf balls weigh almost exactly the same as a modern ball.
14 December 2015. Mailing only via 1st class insured mail bubblewrapped in a small box. Prior to featheries the singular is also frequently spelled featherie people playing golf or its antecedents used wooden spheres.
Antique Golf Ball Feathery Golf Ball c1840 Genuine featherygolfball - This is a genuine feathery golf ball dating circa 1840. Feathery Golf Balls. The balls needed several methods and techniques to get into their preferred shape which we will discuss later.
Because of the age and the craftsmanship put into these balls they are among the ones that have the highest price tag of collectible golf balls. Ad Good Price on Golf Ball Supplier Trusted Audited China Suppliers. The feathery was the first purpose-built golf ball.
Douglas Gourlay Senior was followed by his son William Gourlay Senior and later by his. There is a reference in the Edinburgh Testaments vol xlvii 123b to fyve scoir twell flok goiff ballis 112 flok golf balls in a will in 1612. Item is guaranteed as described refunds less all shipping.
But such wooden balls were also used in other stick-and-ball games. The same balls in other words were used by people to play different games. Authentic hand crafted feathery golf balls made with real goose feather and down in the original featherie style from Scotland.
Golf as we know it was first played with a leather-covered ball stuffed with goose or chicken feathers. The return of an old friend. Modern hand made feather filled leather golf ball.
Ad Good Price on Golf Ball Supplier Trusted Audited China Suppliers. Until the mid-19th century feathery was the standard ball for golf. Very few genuine featheries exist.
As most of our outings were pre-1900s we decided to dive deeper into the history of the featherie balls and make them ourselves. With friends we founded The Honorable Company of Hickory Golfers in Illinois in 2013. The feathery or featherie is the most famous of all golf balls though it is not definitively known when or where it was developed.
A Gourlay was a byword for a quality featherie golf ball in the first half of the 19th century. This ball has never been hit. This ball came from an old golf club in Scotland.
I am not sure but I believe this was made by Phil Mason and was supposed to be playable. Basically the feathery was a leather sack filled with boiled goose feathers then stitched up and painted. A skilled ballmaker could made a couple a day and they were very expensive to buyhence golf was a game for the rich.
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