No white after Labor Day? Not in golf.

Labor Day signifies the unofficial end of the summer, the start of school, and traditionally, the end of wearing white. The tradition of not wearing white after Labor Day is a whole different story, but it got us to thinking about white things in golf and that led us to the question, “Why are golf balls white?”

The first “real” golf ball, the Feathery, was invented in the 17^th century and was created by filling a small leather sack with boiled goose feathers, stitching it up and painting it white. They were expensive to produce, and the white paint helped make them more visible in the grass and less likely to be lost.

Why white paint? In the 17th century, white paint was readily available from using chalk or lead as a pigment, so it was simpler to use the white color. It was also a bright color that was a good alternative compared to the natural brown color of the feathery balls.

Even though white balls were easier to see than the original brown feathery balls, they were often hard to spot in certain conditions such as low light or when it was overcast. 

In the 1970s, the Spalding company introduced the first yellow golf ball. It never really took off, because it was seen as a novelty rather than a serious golf ball. In 1984, Titleist introduced the Titleist Professional 90, which was the first yellow golf ball that was a serious contender in the market.

In the past 20 years, a wide range of high-visibility colors and finishes have been introduced by numerous manufacturers and are offered on state-of-the-art golf balls. However, even though using colored balls has become more popular when players compete socially or for leisure, most golf professionals still tend to prefer using white balls.

Now that we know the answer to the burning question of why golf balls are white, we can talk about another more recent Labor Day tradition – Labor Day sales.

Labor Day is a great time to take advantage of sales and stock up on new golf equipment and gear.

In honor of Labor Day, Bloodline Golf is offering the Bloodline Vale putter plus a dozen Srixon balls for the special price of $199. No code needed.

This offer is available for a short time only. It starts today, September 1^st and goes through to the end of day on September 4^th. Click here to take advantage of this offer now.

One final thing we would like to do this weekend is wish good luck to Kyra Ly on her LPGA debut at the LPGA Portland Classic at Columbia Edgewater Macan Course!