Golf Asia — January 2018

46 GOLF ASIA

GOLFING

GEARGUIDE

drag on your long shots and high spin

inside 100 yards. With less layers, if you

add spin to your wedges you will add

spin to your longer clubs. Due to our layer

advantage from the competitors we have

tested, we are yet to see anyone make a

tour ball longer and or better from inside

100 yards than the TP5/TP5x.”

CUSTOM MADE

Vice Golf began life in 2009 by mixing

a team of physicists, chemists and

aerospace experts with people from the

golfing industry. The central idea was to

cut costs by selling golf balls directly to

the end consumer – an innovation in a

market still dominated by pro shop sales

and big sports retail chains.

“We knew that we only had one

shot to gain the trust of the sceptical,

traditional golfers” said Helge Meyer,

Head of Marketing. “So the product had

to be not only more affordable but also

of the highest quality. Combined with

other USPs, such as easy customisation

of the golf balls starting from one

dozen, a cool, outstanding design and

short delivery times, we gave it a shot

in 2011 and are still on the market

• a good accomplishment in this
  competitive market.
  “The founders of Vice are former
  lawyers who wanted to start a business

and by chance got into a project with a

golf ball manufacturer and learned about

the complexity in the value chain and

how everybody made their margin. They

wanted to make golf more affordable and

more attractive to the wider public. But

staying competitive in this market is only

possible if you grow well and have the

opportunity to work with the world’s best

ball producers.”

The argument for customised club

fitting is a strong message that has

extended to the golf ball. “More and more

golfers are customising their equipment

and looking to match a golf ball to their

game,” says Nigel Freemantle, Managing

Director of Brand Fusion International,

distributors of the Volvik range in the

UK and Ireland. “They’re prepared to try

different options in terms of compression,

layers and colour to find the ball that

performs best for them. Volvik is the first

brand to supply vibrant coloured balls

that perform as well as any other and they

are gaining in popularity by the day.”

BLAME IT ON THE BALL

The story of the Pro V1 is the story of

golf’s relationship with technology – a

debate that sees little sign of coming to

an end. When historic courses are being

lengthened to accommodate 400-yard

tee shots, the ball debate is aired by

A TIMELINE

OF MARKET

DOMINANCE

Phil Young

develops a

machine that

uniformly winds

rubber string

around a rubber

core. He names

it Titleist.

The Titleist R&D

team is formed

to better study

golf ball

aerodynamics.

Titleist

conducts wind

tunnel testing

and computer

analysis to

evaluate dimple

shapes.

Numbered balls

appear as

Titleist installs

the first

automatic

mould press.

Titleist is the

number one

played ball at

the US Open for

the first time.

Titleist Pro

Trajectory ball is

launched with

new

aerodynamics

for high speed,

high spin

players.

Titleist

Trajectory

System is

introduced and

advances

Titleist’s golf

ball fitting

capabilities.

Titleist develops

the industry’s

first mechanical

golfer to test ball

flight.

Titleist is the

first company in

the industry to

develop its own

dimple moulds.

Titleist

introduces a

“icosahedron”

dimple design,

which divides

the ball into 20

triangular

regions.

Titleist converts

its own

nameplate on

the golf ball

without

including

Acushnet.

Major paint

process

improvements

are made to

significantly

enhance golf

ball quality and

durability.

1930 1935 1945 1949 1952 1958 1964 1965 1968 1973 1975 1979

How Titleist has spearheaded golf

ball innovation since 1930