system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Eli5: Why do dimpled golf balls go farther than smooth?

I remember hearing that golf balls used to be smooth and people would actually play with old beat up balls because they would fly further than the new smooth ones. Why is this? What makes dimpled balls go further?
gpt
The dimples trip up the air, and create turbulence in the air flow around the golf ball.  Turbulent flow causes less drag on a golf ball than "laminar" (the air is in smooth layers around the ball) flow.  The turbulent, mixing flow reduces the vacuum behind the golf ball compared to a ball where the airflow was smooth.