The Secret Lives... and Surprising Metaphorical Possibilities... of Golf Balls

Golf Ball Guts                                        Illustration: Golf Girl Media

Golf balls have been getting a bit of a bad rap lately.

No less an authority than Jack Nicklaus recently stated that he felt golf balls were largely to blame for slow play.  That's problematic when you consider that slow play... for many golfers and golf fans... is the scourge of the game.  Or at least the scourge du jour.

The tiny, dimpled orbs have also taken some flak due to environmental concerns. Probably because it takes hundreds of years for a golf ball to decompose naturally... and because some 300 million of them are lost in the US each year. There are however, some innovative solutions to that problem.

Then there are all the stories about the errant golf balls that make calamitous contact with people and possessions.  Certainly those anecdotes do nothing to enhance the reputation of that much maligned white sphere we chase around our verdant courses.

Leave it to a non-golfing artist to show us the golf ball's gorgeous side... or inside as it were... and allow us to appreciate the unique multi-chromatic beauty hidden within.  The hero is photographer James Friedman, who had the ingenious idea of simply splitting a bunch of golf balls down the middle, presumably with some kind of saw. What was revealed, and artfully presented by Mr. Friedman, was something quite stunning... and rather delightful.

The story's been all over the place these past few days, allowing the humble golf ball to transcend the sport into the realms of tech and design, with Mashable gushing about the golf ball's gorgeous guts, while Gizmodo compared one bisected ball's close-up to... a pint of dragon fire ice cream. I'm not sure, but I think that's a very flattering comparison.

The photographer said it best when he wrote, "To my surprise, what I found inside inspired me to consider that I could discover, in the unlikeliest of places, elegant formal qualities and surprising metaphorical possibilities."

* You can admire each of James Friedman's sexy golf ball portraits (and his other amazing projects) at his website jamesfriedmanphotographer.com

Rory McIlroy's Sudden Secession & Our Passion for Ever Younger Players

Rory McIlroy                   photo credit: mirsasha via photopin cc

I think it's interesting that we push for - and then idolize - ever more youthful champions. 

In fact, we're so quick to abandon our "teen phenoms" for "pre-teen phenoms" and discard our "young guns" for "younger guns" that a number of today's top players are still shy of the quarter century mark... and most have been competing relentlessly since they were tiny tots.  

It's exhilarating to watch a winning player who seems fearless.  Youth, by its very nature, will often beget fearlessness.  So our passion for these precocious pros is rather easily understood ...and it only adds to the impressiveness factor when poise and maturity are tacked on to the fearlessness.  The young player possessing that particular triad of qualities is sure to become an immediate star.

With that kind of stardom, however, comes corresponding (and often unrealistic) expectations; we feel we've finally found a very young person who'll consistently offer us a winning game and exemplary behavior, and when the expectations are not met, we'll likely forget about our lapsed savior's extreme youth... or the fact that he may have had to miss out on a life-lesson or two in his singular quest to become so good, so fast. 

For the wow factor, we want our athletes to be ever younger, but the reality is that lack of life experience will often result in questionable decisions, so should Rory McIlroy's sudden secession halfway through Friday's second round at the Honda Classic be as shocking as some are making it out to be?  After all young people make questionable decisions all the time and neuroscientists now agree that the human brain is not fully mature until at least age 25. 

Jack Nicklaus deftly distilled the current "Rory Story" this way: "I think he's a little frustrated, and he's frustrated at himself right now," later adding, " ...if he had waited five more minutes he wouldn't have done that."  I agree but I think that if we want our sports stars to attain lofty heights at increasingly younger ages we've got to figure that... on occasion... they won't want to wait that five more minutes. 

2013 US Open at Merion - A Historic Course & Red Basket Golf Swag

2013 US Open Apparel & Accessories      presentation by GolfGirl via Polyvore

"I love Merion... and I don't even know her last name." ~ Lee Trevino

The quote is an amusing ode to the Golden Age golf course where, in 1971, Trevino won his second US Open in an 18-hole playoff over Jack Nicklaus.  

Nicklaus himself has admitted to a longstanding love affair with the Pennsylvania beauty, as have countless players, writers and fans. 

However over the past few decades, the beloved Merion, has come perilously close to becoming a victim of her historical layout. 

Some felt it could no longer stand up to the demands of a US Open; that modern equipment... and increasingly athletic golfers... had made the 135 acre course obsolete. Others cited the logistics of a 21st century tournament, with massive merchandise tents and huge corporate hospitality installations.

However Merion's magnetism... combined with the determination and creativity of it's members... ultimately won the day. Holes were lengthened, bunkers added and fairways narrowed down... and innovative solutions were put into place to handle logistics. In less than five months the US Open will again be contested on the fairways and greens of Merion's East course.

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