The sounds of golf are an integral part of the allure of the sport.
You’ll want to turn the sound right up to watch this video or grab a pair of headphones to take in all the exquisite auditory sensations.
Emerging golfer Sophia Macias hitting a driver off the deck in wet conditions provides the source of these amazingly crisp sounds.
The sound gives you a real sense of being on the course, from the apparent wind that Macias is hitting into down to the squelching off the wet turf under her golf shoes.
Of course, the pièce de résistance of the piece is the final swing and strike off the ball which many will agree is among the best sounds you can hear.
Of course, the sound of a well-struck driver has actually changed quite a lot down the years, stemming back to the massive equipment revolution that started in the late 1970s.
As the game went through that revolution it soon became apparent that the sound could be engineered into the clubs to some extent.
Performance has usually been at the forefront of manufacturers minds but more and more attention has been paid to sound because of how important it is to golfers.
Tom Mase, who teaches mechanical engineering at California Polytechnic State University, explains: ” I think they care because that’s part of the sound of golf and knowing that they hit it really well. They want it to go the 300 yards. That’s the most important thing. But it’s important to hear that sound, and it’s also important from manufacturers’ point of view at a point of sale.
“You know, back in 1979, Gary Adams came up with the Pittsburgh Persimmon Metal driver, and they tried to make it sound like wood for most of the ’80s. And then there was a transition where they said, hey, let’s not put in this urethane foam. Let’s make it sound – instead of the thwack, let’s make it a bing.
“I think the people liked it and enjoyed it more and more until the point that drivers got bigger and bigger and eventually they hit a sound that was not good. And so they put a lot of work into finite element analysis, for stress analysis but also for sound. So they’re looking to get certain frequencies of the vibration. And actually some manufacturers can reproduce the sound before a product is even made.”
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