| The other day I golfed on a course with a | | | | about 25,000 miles. The weight of all these |
| spectacular 18th hole. A narrow fairway, cut | | | | balls is about 80,000 tons, about the size of |
| into a river bank, with a steep down slope on | | | | an aircraft carrier or similar large |
| the river side of the fairway, and the dense | | | | ship.Anyone who is familiar with math, or |
| brush of the natural riverbank on the up | | | | anyone who has read the “DaVinci |
| slope side provided a very challenging par 4. | | | | Code”, will notice that the numbers |
| I was playing the white tees and on this | | | | that measure a golf ball, 1.62 for both mass |
| hole, the white tee box is on a small | | | | and size, are suspiciously close to 1.618, |
| plateau, at least 75 yards or so from the | | | | the number referred to in math as PHI, the |
| blue tee.Play was slow, so while waiting to | | | | “divine proportion” or the |
| drive, I took a quick look in the brush | | | | “golden section”. This number is |
| beside the tee box. Just as I suspected, | | | | found frequently in nature as a ratio and has |
| there were quite a few balls in there, and I | | | | been used in architecture and art since the |
| pulled out about a dozen good ones in a few | | | | pyramids and the Parthenon. There is an |
| minutes. Spots like this often have some | | | | explanation of the number in the DaVinci Code |
| lost balls because the guys (probably guys) | | | | because Leonardo DaVinci used the ratio in |
| who duff their shots from the blue tee are | | | | his art and his inventions. This led me to |
| probably a bit embarrassed about looking for | | | | speculate on whether or not the numbers were |
| their ball in the proximity of the white and | | | | used intentionally by the inventor of the |
| red tees.Unfortunately, I paid dearly for my | | | | golf ball.I was not able to find the answer, |
| find with an itchy skin irritation from some | | | | but the inventor of the precursor to the |
| sort of noxious weed that must have been in | | | | modern ball, a rubber ball, was Rev. Dr. |
| that patch of rough. I had trouble getting to | | | | Robert Adams, who may have also gone by the |
| sleep that night – hard to scratch and | | | | name of Robert Adam Paterson, who golfed at |
| sleep at the same time – so I had a bit | | | | Carnoustie, Scotland, a course that has |
| of time to ruminate on the irresistible | | | | hosted the British Open. An educated Scot |
| obsession many golfers have with looking for | | | | like Adams could very likely have been a |
| lost balls. I have a five- gallon pail full | | | | Mason and well aware of the phenomenon of |
| of used balls in my garage, so why was I so | | | | PHI.I then wondered if the choice was made |
| pleased to find a dozen more?My middle of the | | | | because the width of the ball has something |
| night contemplation led to some speculation | | | | to do with the length of the course. If you |
| about how many lost balls there are in the | | | | take 1.62 inches and multiply it by a nice |
| world at any given time. So the next day I | | | | round number like 100,000, you get 162,000 |
| got on the Internet and found that I was not | | | | inches. Convert the inches resulting from |
| the only one asking this question. In fact, | | | | that equation to yards, the result is 7290 |
| in 2001, a golf magazine actually did some | | | | yards, about the length of many courses, |
| more or less scientific research on the | | | | depending on which tee you hit from. Was |
| subject and came up with the estimate of | | | | course length determined by the width of the |
| about 2.56 billion golf balls that are lost | | | | ball or was the width of the ball determined |
| each year around the world.To put this number | | | | by course length?Fortunately, my rash lasted |
| in perspective, I found out that the | | | | only a day or so, but the itch to learn more |
| regulation golf ball weighs 1.62 ounces and | | | | about the relationship of the divine |
| is 1.68 inches in diameter in the U.S. and | | | | proportion to golf has not gone away. Could |
| 1.62 inches in Britain. If put end to end, | | | | there be a relationship to why golf is the |
| the lost golf balls in the world would equal | | | | perfect game but so hard to perfect? |
| the distance around the world at the equator, | | | | |