Super Balls

Robert Lowell
From the Print Edition:
Don Johnson, Mar/Apr 02

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"We'll keep testing balls outside, then enter those specifics into our indoor computer to come [up] with a ball's flight specifications," says the USGA's Rugge.

With the new facility may come a new club for Iron Byron. The old steel-shafted and wooden-headed driver may be replaced by a modern metal-headed club. Though the USGA intends to maintain the initial velocity rule of 255 feet per second, the overall distance standard may be pushed slightly higher to reflect the modern aerodynamic designs of golf balls and the properties of modern clubs.

While manufacturers keep improving the ball, marketers keep shoveling the hype about them. "What we sell is hope," says John Calabria, the vice president of research and development for the Dunlop Sports Group, which markets the high-performance Maxfli and Slazenger balls. "We will always come out with something that says, 'This can improve your game,' and we certainly hope it does."

Now, if this new three-piece wonder of aerodynamics can just get your 70 bucks back from Mike the Weasel, it will be well worth the 50 bucks you paid for a dozen.

Robert Lowell is a freelance writer based in New York

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