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Once upon a time, every golfer sank birdies. The game's first ball was made of a stout leather cover packed with boiled chicken or goose feathers and laced shut. The feathery, as it was nicknamed, was surprisingly heavy, never precisely round, and quite unreliable.
Six centuries later, the feathery's descendants might be the most highly engineered balls around. Last year, 27 million U.S. golfers spent $763 million on golf balls that can travel farther, roll longer, and fly straighter than ever before. Precisely engineered dimple patterns on the ball's surface allow manufacturers to alter the ball's trajectory. (For more on golf-ball parts and the difference they ...