High Point, N.C – On May 10th, Polara Golf’s (www.polaragolf.com) Ultimate Straight golf ball was featured on the front page of the New York Times and it created a media blitz that rocked the golf industry. Major newspapers and TV stations all over the world immediately began writing stories about the new “miracle” golf ball designed for recreational golfers that corrects severe slices and hooks by up to 75%. These articles generated so much interest in Polara’s Self-Correcting Technology that it prompted requests for TV and Radio interviews from media outlets like ABC, NBC, BBC Radio in London, CNBC and Bloomberg News.
This media blitz has spurred an inclusive dialogue among pure recreational golfers versus serious tournament golfers worldwide about the use of non-conforming equipment for the recreational player. According to the National Golf Foundation (NGF), golf rounds have been declining for the past decade, and more and more golfers are leaving the game due to the difficulty of the game and the slow speed of play. “It’s apparent that the golf industry needs to find a simple, low cost way to keep recreational players in the game and attract new players to the game. Getting former golfers back on the course would more than double the participation level of the sport,” noted Gary De Bay, CEO/CMO for Aero-X Golf, Inc, the Golf Ball R&D Company behind the Polara Ultimate Straight golf ball launch.
It’s clear that serious tournament golfers feel the need to level the playing field using only USGA or R&A conforming clubs and equipment for competitive play. But for the 85% of the market that are recreational golfers, there is serious interest in non-conforming products that can improve their accuracy and distance, and enhance their playing enjoyment.
“We’re not trying to remove the skill from the game,” said Dr. Dave Felker, PhD, inventor of the new and improved Polara Ultimate Straight golf ball and Head of Technology for Aero-X Golf, “we’re just trying to reduce the frustration and embarrassment for those recreational golfers with severe slice and hook problems, and help them play more from the fairway.”
Apparently Dr. Felker is not alone in his endeavor to find new ways to make the game of golf more fun. On May 30th, for example, Golf Channel broadcasted a LIVE pro tournament using a new two-flags-per-green, nine-hole format called PowerPlay. Before you weigh-in on this “alternative format”, consider the fact that the event was held at the site of last year’s Ryder Cup, Celtic Manor in Wales, and that the competitors included the reigning U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open champions, Graeme McDowell and Paula Creamer, as well as PGA Tour Pro’s Paul Casey, Ian Poulter, Gary Player and Ian Woosnam.
In PowerPlay, scoring birdie or better to the harder of the two pin locations (intentions must be declared on the tee before hitting) earns extra points. On the final hole, bogey or worse takes points away. This alternative format is designed for quick play and certainly appeals to serious tournament golfers who are interested in a new 9-hole scramble format.
According to an article written by John Paul Newport in the Wall Street Journal on May 21st, the PGA of America and the U.S.G.A. (United States Golf Association) are joining forces and considering more radical solutions to introduce new players to the game as well. This week they are kicking off a television publicity campaign, where participating courses across the country will, for two weeks, strongly encourage, although not force, golfers to move up a set of tees or two. Again, in an effort to speed up play and help higher handicap golfers score better and enjoy the game more.
As the official keepers of the rules of golf, you would think the U.S.G.A. would be appalled at the idea of any alternative rules, which represent non-conforming, illegal play formats. Not so. “Our job is to protect the traditional game as people know it,” according to Mike Davis, the USGA’s new executive director. “But if people come up with different kinds of games that relate to golf, we are fine with that.” The scramble format commonly used in outings is not USGA-legal, he pointed out. Neither are gimmes or mulligans. But all are part of the fabric of golf as it is actually played.
The PGA of America is apparently OK with alternative visions as well. “I’m delighted with any effort to get more people and families out on our courses having fun with golf,” said Joe Steranka, the PGA’s chief executive. Next week, in fact, a PGA-supported instructional program will be releasing a set of 18 “guiltless ways to make golf more fun while learning,” for teachers to share with their students. They include alternative, illegal practices by USGA standards, like teeing up the ball in the fairway and tossing the ball out of the bunker after one failed shot.
Others have jumped on the alternative bandwagon as well. A golf course in Rotonda, Fla., on the Gulf Coast, has been using extra-big 6-inch holes since February (normal holes are 4¼ inches wide). Jack Nicklaus, the Golden Bear himself, this week told a newspaper in Tennessee that his Muirfield Village Course in Ohio and Bear’s Club Course in Florida have printed up 12-hole scorecards to accommodate members who want to play shorter rounds.
When asked if he considered the use of his self-correcting golf ball “cheating or illegal” Dave Felker of Polara Golf had this to say, “For recreational play, our golf ball is perfectly legal…along with other recreational golfer practices like mulligans, gimmie putts, winter rules and other shot concessions or scramble play formats. You just can’t use the Polara Ultimate Straight ball in USGA sanctioned tournament play at the professional or amateur handicap championship level. It’s designed for the 85% of golfers who are recreational golfers, the ones who just want to play golf and have fun doing it. The Polara Ultimate Straight is all about hitting more fairways off the tee. If you play the ball as it lies in the fairway, the Polara Ultimate Straight flies like a normal golf ball. If you are playing winter rules based on course conditions or recreational skill level, you can lift, clean and place the ball with the arrow facing the target, and get the full benefits of a 75% straighter ball flight. For beginning or returning golfers with severe slice and hook problems off the tee, and mid to high handicap recreational golfers, it’s advanced game technology for pure game enjoyment, faster rounds, and less lost balls. Less than 10% of golfers worldwide have an established amateur handicap. Less than 5% of rounds played worldwide are USGA or R&A sanctioned tournament play. So the Polara Ultimate Straight golf ball is course legal for 95% of recreational golfer rounds worldwide.”
About Polara Golf, the Recreational Golf Division of Aero-X Technologies
Aero-X Golf uses the best available design technologies to create demonstrably better products for recreational golfers under the Polara Ultimate Straight brand. Our products for the recreational golfer are designed to significantly reduce severe slices and hooks, speed up play and to reduce player expenses related to lost golf balls. Our goal is respect the rules of the game while providing game enjoyment technologies to help grow the game of golf. We take advanced golf ball R&D very seriously, but we play golf for fun.
Contact:
Joe Wieczorek
The Media Group, Inc.
(847) 956-9090
E-mail: joe@themediagroupinc.com
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