During this year's US Open from Pinehurst No. 2, Bryson DeChambeau made headlines when the already crazy golfer answered a question about his “salt balls” – a reference to his soaking golf balls in Epsom salt to test them.
Said DeChambeau at the time, “I put my golf balls in Epsom salts… actually, we float the golf balls in the solution to make sure the golf ball doesn't get out of balance. There was a big thing back in the day when golf balls were uneven, and it was due to the manufacturing process. There is always a mistake, especially if it is round and there are dimples on the edges. You can't get it right in the middle.
“So what I'm doing is finding out if it's out of balance, how much it's out. The heavy slide floats on the ground, and we mark the top with a dot to make sure it keeps rolling on itself. It works like a mortar. If there is too much weight on one side, you can put it at 90 degrees when you mud on the right or mud on the left. I use mud as a weight reference there. It will fly the other way and fly inconsistently.”
The discussion about “salty balls” is already bad. But after DeChambeau went on to win the US Open, the whole conversation took on a life of its own, and the soundbite became a viral sensation.
Although DeChambeau has long sported the “mad scientist” label — willing to go even without a golfer ahead of him to make a profit, the whole salt balls thing didn't actually start with him.
In the video above – from Peter Kostis and Gary McCord's “Off Their Rockers” podcast, a GOLF Production – the duo chatted with their producer and manager, Mike Abram, to discuss the origins of testing golf balls in Epsom salts, and how it really started out of necessity in the decades years ago.
“Peter and I were talking, and we had to do that back in the day with every golf ball we got – because you never knew what you were getting,” McCord said. “Details of [ball’s] construction then was not as straightforward as it is now. “
At that time, before the advent of modern golf ball technology, few of the average golf balls would be a “perfect” round.
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“I remember many times on Tour, I would find golf balls, and, on the way, I would fill the tub up. [to drop in a bunch at a time],” McCord added. “I think I'll get about one or three golf balls for every ten rounds.”
And that's not the only way golf ball technology has improved over the years.
“The players of the past would not play more than three holes with a golf ball,” said Kostis. “Because the elastic bands inside can break from impact, so it's unusable.”
So there you have it. Salty balls are not a bad idea, and they are not new.
To hear more from Kostis and McCord, you can listen to the entire episode below.
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