Bridgestone is suing Titleist for patent infringement. More details to come… but for now, here are the statements.
Details are just starting to roll in, but we’ve got a breaking lead on a lawsuit being filed by Bridgestone against Acushnet (Titleist) in the United States for patent infringement. Bridgestone is the leading ball manufacturer in Japan and, by a wide margin, Titleist is the leader in the United States.
Commentary follows the statements of each company in the extended entry.
The Nike ONE Black is now available in… black.
Golfers asked for it, and now they’ve got it: a black Nike One Black. Says a Nike press release:
Due to incredible demand for the black Nike One Black, Nike Golf will offer a limited number of two-ball sleeves of the black Nike One Black with the purchase of a dozen Nike One Black or Nike One Gold golf balls at participating golf shops and golf specialty stores.
Golfers looking for the unique black ball need to ask their local shop or specialty store to take part in the program that Nike Golf is making available to store owners. The black One Black two-ball sleeves are expected to begin shipping by the end of February and will only be available while supplies last.
Only pro shops and golf courses that ask to take part in the program are going to have the black Nike One Black, so if you’ve got a hankering for the dark side, give your shop a call.
Photo Credits: © Nike Golf.
The ball is going too long, right? There may be more to this than you think…
The long ball enthralls us all, regardless of the sport. In baseball, Barry Bonds is the current king, but the McGwire/Sosa race remains fresh in our minds. In football, it’s the hail mary. And in golf, it’s the 350-yard drive. The drive that makes 550-yard par fives reachable with 6-irons and renders long par fours defenseless against an onslaught of high-arcing short irons and wedges.
But the ball, many say, has simply gone too far this time.
Just how good is Maxfli’s BlackMAX ball? Is it good enough to knock-off the king of golf balls – Titleist’s Pro V1?
In 2001, Titliest Introduced the Pro V1 line of golf balls which quickly became the most played ball on the PGA Tour due to their low spin off the driver and high spin around the greens. Titleist is the number one ball of choice on every professional golf tour and perennially leads in number of wins. Even players like Mike Weir, Sergio Garcia, and Vijay Singh who have signed equipment contracts with other companies choose to play Titleist golf balls. However, the recent introduction of Bridgestone’s B330, and the new HX Tour from Callaway, which has been earning notoriety behind a hot Phil Mickelson, has proved that there is still room for competitors in the high-end golf ball market.
Earlier this week, we introduced you to Maxfli’s BlackMAX golf ball, the newest entry into the high-end golf ball market. Is the BlackMAX good enough to compete? As promised, we’ve played this ball on course and experimented on the launch monitor, here’s what we found.
Titleist is like Wal-Mart… without the low low prices. Think another ball maker can ever challenge Titleist’s crown? Think again.
The golf equipment business is competitive and cutthroat. Take a look at the leaders in woods and irons over the last few decades. The dominant brands of the 1950s and 60s were MacGregor and Wilson, who were usurped in the 70s and 80s by Ping and Tommy Armour. Then came the boom of Big Bertha in the early 1990s, which catapulted Callaway to the top for a decade. Now TaylorMade stands poised to take the title of top woods and irons brand from Callaway.
But through all those changes over the years, there’s essentially been one ball on top: Titleist. No other brand comes close at retail or on tour. How long can they keep it up?
The Maxfli BlackMAX is the newest challenger to Titleist’s dominating Pro V1/V1x. Sporting a unique dimple pattern, the ball should be available March 15, 2005.
Maxfli‘s got a new ball, and they say it’s got the distance of the Pro V1x and the feel of the Pro V1. Scheduled for a March 15, 2005 release, the Maxfli BlackMAX should MSRP for about the same as the Pro V1, and players can expect a street price of $39.95.
The BlackMAX is currently being played on every major tour, though it may be some time before big-name players switch to the new ball. This includes TaylorMade/Adidas staff player Sergio Garcia, who continues to play Titleist’s Pro V1x (second source) last year despite Sergio’s 2002 deal with TaylorMade/Adidas (second source). Most professional golfers prefer to switch balls only at the beginning of the off-season, and the Black MAX missed that window by a month or two.
Nike wanted players to use all-black golf balls at the Sony Open. How’d it turn out?
Last month we mentioned that Nike would be asking its staff players to use an all-black golf ball at the Sony Open to promote the Nike ONE Black.
Turns out the whole thing was a miserable failure.
John Cook played an all-black golf ball. He used it on one hole: the par-3 17th. “We weren’t quite sure how it would look in the rough,” Cook said. “It looked like a bird going up in the air.”
The ball was approved by the USGA prior to tournament and no other Nike staff players report having needed the money as badly as Cook. Errr, ummm, we mean no other Nike staff players report having used a black ball during the tournament.
Nike may be asking its staff players to use black balls during the Sony Open in Hawaii.
According to GolfWorld, Nike is asking their staff players to use an all-black golf ball at the Sony Open to promote the Nike ONE Black.
This comes on heels of the rumor that all Nike golf balls – from the ONE to the Mojo and TA lines – will be packaged differently in 2005. The rumor says that Nike golf ball 12-packs will ship with 11 regular white balls and one differently colored ball. In the Mojo line, the ball may be orange (see below) and called the “Karma” ball. In the ONE Black line, it will be black.
Here’s to hoping that Nike never develops the Nike ONE Blue, because, well, that’d just be unfortunate.
Bridgestonge Golf introduces a new line of golf balls and clubs early in 2005 starting with its high end Tour B330 ball.
Bridgestone Golf has already grown to become one of the most dominant golf companies in Japan. The company now has its eyes set on the American market and is ready to unveil a new line of golf clubs and balls early in 2005. First to roll off the Bridgestone line is a new top of the line golf ball, the Tour B330. The ball will compete against Titleist’s Pro V1 and V1X golf balls targeted at professionals and better amateurs. Bridgestone claims the ball, “will provide unparalleled distance and accuracy to better players and is less affected by wind than its competitors but does not sacrifice distance and feel.” The Tour B330 has already seen action on tour, Fred Couples used it to win the 2004 Skins Game and has signed on with the company as a pitch man. Couples has agreed to use both the Tour B330 and the company’s soon-to-be introduced J irons.
