I recently cut open a golf ball to show my nephew Jason the rubber band wrapper and liquid-filled rubber ball in the center that I remembered from my childhood. Imagine my disappointment to discover a solid white interior made of who knows what, with no rubber bands and no secret center. There was nothing to do but reminisce. I remember as a kid it was common knowledge that the liquid in the center of the golf ball was a deadly poison and should never touch the lips. As an adult, however, I’m wondering…could we have been wrong? Did we miss anything, was it the kids who tasted the stuff that went on to Yale? I must know! –Dave, via AOL
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When I was a kid I heard two stories. One was that the center of a golf ball was filled with compressed air and if you tried to cut it open it would explode. The other was that the center contained a deadly poison. Either way I figured golf was a mighty exciting game. Well, it’s not that exciting. I have now established that (1) the compressed air thing was total BS; (2) you can still get liquid-filled golf balls, although the solid-core ones dominate the market; but (3) the liquid isn’t and wasn’t poison. Titleist, the leading maker of liquid-filled balls, says it has always used a nontoxic solution of salt water and corn syrup. I suppose it’s possible some fly-by-night outfit in the dim past might have used something less innocuous. But I’m betting they didn’t. Apart from being safe, salt water and corn syrup have the big advantage of being cheap.
QUESTIONS WE’RE STILL THINKING ABOUT
–Cade Milam, Shreveport, Louisiana
