There have been so many thrills and accomplishments in Bob Thomas' 25-year career with the Southern California Golf Association, it would take hours to reminisce about them after his retirement this month. The regrets? Few, although he certainly would have liked to pare his handicap. Working for the organization that tallies every golfer's handicap in Southern California, Thomas can't fudge when you ask him about it, and his index number right now: a hearty 24.3. "One of my retirement goals is to get a little bit better, which would imply actually playing and practicing," Thomas joked. It's a truism in the golf industry. The higher you rise in the business, the less time you have to play, and seldom has a golf index number been more irrelevant when measuring a person's contributions to the game. For the past quarter century, Thomas, 63, has been an instrumental part of the SCGA as its director of communications and publisher and editor of FORE Magazine. As the longest standing employee, he has been a roll-up-your-sleeves participant in the enormous changes that have come to the game and the SCGA.

As well as antique golf balls there are ranges of golf balls from logo golf balls to unusual designs that can be highly sought after. Manufacturing golf balls Golf balls have evolved from the feathery balls of the 1800s to become mass produced objects. And as a result of the commercially driven golf industry, golf balls have evolved with the consumer. For the straight-forward players who want to improve their game, there are golf balls available that can give them more distance and spin manufacturing golf balls is now quite a science. Branded golf balls But the manufacture of golf balls has gone one step further with the logo golf balls'. Logos on golf balls are used by many golf clubs and businesses as kind of mini billboards advertising their brands. Branding golf balls however did begin early on when the makers would brand their balls with their name, and later brands were launched such as the Haskell ball in the 1900s. Logo golf balls Now in America about a quarter of all golf balls produced annually are logo golf balls selling roughly 150 million a year.