Ever Cut a Golf Ball in Half?

When I was a teenager, I found a golf ball with a cracked and torn outer white shell. I picked at it and tore the shell away to reveal what seemed like a million thin rubber bands wound tightly around a little rubber ball.

Wondering if that is how they still make golf balls, today we cut one in half.

We found a golf ball in my golf bag, I'm not really sure how old it was because I don't golf that often. My guess is that it was from the 1990s.


Today's Cutting Tool of Choice

The golf ball's dimpled white outer shell seemed very hard, so I cut into it with a fine tooth mortise and tenon woodworking saw. The saw's very fine teeth removed a little bit of material at a time, and was stable when we cut.


Cutting it in Half

golf ball cut in half




golf ball cut in half

First, we cut a thin saw line around the circumference of the ball. We were careful to only cut through the outer white layer. Then we cut around half the ball at a 90 degree angle to the first cut. This gave us a corner to pry up.



golf ball cut in half

Once we peeled the outer layer off it revealed a hard, rubber-like composite center. Very dense, but still a little spongy. If you look closely at the multi-colored specs, you can see that it is made up of tiny little particles of different material all compressed together.


baseball cut in half

If you're noticing that the core is a lighter blue, you're right. This is a second golf ball we cut apart the same evening. I thought it was a bit older, and was hoping it had the cool rubber bands inside—no luck.

Anyway, we cut this one open too, all the way to the center. As you can see, the blue rubber composite material goes all the way through. It's like the manufacturer started with a hard rubber ball and wrapped it with an even harder white plastic shell.