"Featherie" Golf Ball From 1835 May Fetch $50,000 At Auction

Golf Ball May Fetch $50,000

June 25, 2008

A featherie golf ball dating to the “Old” Tom Morris era is expected to fetch as much as $50,000 at a UK Auction in July

Featheries were hand sewn leather balls stuffed with goose feathers. To make one, a pile of goose feathers large enough to fill a top hat were boiled and packed into a boiled, hand sewn cowhide cover. As the ball cooled, the cow hide would shrink, while the feathers would expand. This created a very taut and ball. They may also have been painted.

The balls were expensive at the time, because each represented a half day’s work for a ball maker. In current dollars, they would cost as much as $400 each.

Feathers came into vogue in the 1600s, and lasted until the mid-1800s, when they were replaced by the gutta percha ball.