Bubba Flies His Colors

In the last couple months of 2016, Titleist and Footjoy owner Acushnet went public; the USGA proposed changes to the permitted length of a driver shaft; the Wilson Triton won the Golf Channel Series Driver vs Driver before two of its three lofts were deemed non-conforming (reports, however indicate all three now conform); and Tiger Woods signed a multiyear contract to play Bridgestone golf balls.

The equipment stories continued apace as we entered the new year with plenty of big-money player moves, new products, and company reports. We heard that to begin 2017, Rory McIlroy will wield a mix of Callaway woods and irons, Titleist wedges and golf balls, and an Odyssey putter. Lydia Ko became PXG’s latest signing, moving from Callaway. The Ben Hogan Company’s significant downsizing and restructuring came as something of a shock to those who believed the quality of its products had ensured them a secure place at the OEM table for the foreseeable future. But it was a big relief to people who had heard false reports the company had actually ceased operations altogether.

Jason Day signed what is rumored to be a $10m/year deal to wear Nike hats, shirts, and shoes (the Lunar Control Vapor); and Callaway, besides signing up and coming talents Daniel Berger and Patrick Rodgers, launched what are perhaps its most exciting drivers in years—the GBB Epic and Epic Sub-Zero— which we’ll be featuring next week.

This week though, we wanted to explore another story that really caught our attention.

Bubba Watson Signs with Volvik

South Korean golf ball manufacturer Volvik was founded in 1980 and has, for the most part, been known as a brand for women golfers. Though technologically sound, the company’s three-piece Crystal ball and range of colored golf balls have long been regarded almost as novelty items that never really interested serious male players.

Still, the company enjoyed enormous success in both Korea and Japan during the 1990s, when it effectively became the third biggest ball manufacturer in Asia, according to Jon Claffey, National Director of Sales and Marketing for Volvik USA, a separate entity which began trading in 2012. And there were a handful of signings, events and, indeed, victories on the LPGA, Symetra, and LET Tours. But it was still a rare thing to see a man tee up a Volvik, especially a male professional.

Things began to change in 2013 when Volvik was the official ball of the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, and also signed Web.com player Erik Flores and World Golf Hall of Fame member Larry Nelson. At the start of 2014, it signed its first PGA Tour player, Tim Petrovic, and a couple of months later it added former Masters champion Craig Stadler, who plays a white ball on the Champions Tour but a green ball during the Masters Par 3 tournament.

In Oklahoma in October last year, Volvik was the official golf ball of the World Long Drive Championship and several contestants hit colored Volvik balls. Bubba Watson was in the crowd and saw how far some of these colored balls were flying.

“It definitely got his attention,” says Claffey. “I think he saw how far these guys were hitting our colored balls and thought, ‘Hey that could be me. I’m the color guy’.”

Watson had spoken with Stadler about Volvik at Augusta earlier in the year and, with his ball contract about to expire, had become curious. “We had let it be known on the PGA Tour that we were ‘shopping for talent,’” says Claffey. “Bubba’s team bought some Volvik balls for him to test at home and he was obviously impressed, with the S4 especially. He wouldn’t have changed if he felt our ball was inferior to his previous ball, but he found the Volvik did everything he wanted it to. His agent then approached us and we began talking.”

The deal was signed on New Year’s Day and Watson debuted a pink S4 at last week’s SBS Tournament of Champions in Hawaii where he finished down the pack in a tie for 25^th. He also played the white version, which Volvik actually calls Blue Pearl, as it has an azure tint. And Watson is currently talking to the company about the possibility of making camouflage and two-tone golf balls—anything to attract attention and help grow the game, he says.

The S4 was actually launched in Orlando at the start of 2015, but has been revised a little since then, says Claffey. “To be honest, it wasn’t selling terribly well at first, so we softened it a little which made a world of difference. It’s still absolutely designed for faster swing speeds, but has better feel now. This version has only been available for nine months, and Bubba loves it.”

The S4, Claffey continues, features the company’s ‘Inside-out Technology’. “Our competitors’ products tend to have softer inner cores and harder outer layers, whereas the S4 has a solid inner and softer outer core,” he says. “We believe that helps transfer energy better.”

Thirty-five years after their first, rather short-lived, appearance on the PGA Tour, could Bubba Watson be about to spearhead the return of colored golf balls?

S4 – $45/dozen
volvik.com

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