Top Flight XL golf balls were irradiated with the 10 MeV electron beam from the Industrial-10MeV- 1KW (I-10-1) accelerator at the Whiteshell Laboratories. They were mainly produced as a promotional item for the laboratories to familiarize the public with irradiated items in society. Irradiation does have some small effect on the materials in the ball and there are claims that the ball does in fact bounce somewhat higher. As the accompanying handout from the Public Affairs group at the laboratories state “the atomic golf ball will certainly take nothing away from your game”. Claims to improvement of the game remain to be proven.
