Offered here is a rare P-F-W-F dimple golf ball. Covered under an 1897 British patent, The PFWF ball was the first to include dimples in its surface, a historically important innovation if ever there was!

According to Kevin McGimpsey in his Collectible Golf Balls Folio 2, the initials on this ball are believed to be those of Peter Fernie and Willie Fernie.  There are two PFWF balls, one with various sized "isolated indentations" (dimples) patented in 1897 and produced shortly thereafter with what is often called a lunar pattern on the cover.  The second PFWF ball is the one offered here, produced in the early 1910s, and has a more uniform pattern of dimples. 

The PFWF ball became part of a notable British court case in 1915. According to the Liverpool Daily Post, of January 27, 1915, the judge in this case revoked the Spalding-owned patent for dimples on a golf ball, ruling that Spalding's patent was too vague, and Spalding's ball provided nothing that was not found on the Fernie ball.

No strike marks – a great ball.

(The auctioneer would like to thank Tom for sharing the above article from the Liverpool Daily Post.)