Polara Golf

Polara Golf is brand for a line of golf balls that correct hooks and slices, based on their design. Aero-X Golf is the manufacturer that created the Polara Ultimate Straight and Polara Ultimate Straight XS golf balls featuring "self-correcting technology" that reduces hooks and slices by up to 75%.[1][2] David L. Felker, the CEO and Head of Technology of Aero-X Golf, co-invented the Polara Ultimate Straight golf balls, along with Douglas C. Winfield. The newer Polara Ultimate Straight golf balls represent a large performance improvement over the original Polara golf ball which was first sold in 1977, was released August 2010. The ball has shallow truncated dimples around its equator and has deep spherical and small spherical dimples on each of the ball's poles.

In January 2012, Polara added two additional products to its line of self-correcting golf balls: Polara XD and Polara XDS. "XD" stands for "Extra Distance" and "XDS" stands for "Extra Distance and Spin". The "Ultimate Straight" Polara golf balls are designed for the golfer whose primary need is slice or hook correction. The "XD" and "XDS" correct only 50% (as opposed to 75% correction for the "Ultimate Straight") and have a slightly higher trajectory, which for many golfers will provide additional distance, but not as much slice & hook correction as the "Ultimate Straight" balls.

Officially sanctioned balls are designed to be as symmetrical as possible. This symmetry is the result of a dispute that stemmed from the original Polara, that had six rows of normal dimples on its equator but very shallow dimples elsewhere. This asymmetrical design helped the ball self-adjust its spin-axis during the flight. Over 300,000 balls were sold.[3] The United States Golf Association refused to sanction it for tournament play and, in 1981, changed the rules to ban aerodynamic asymmetrical balls. Polara's producer sued the USGA and the association paid US$1.375 million in a 1985 out-of-court settlement.[4]

Market research performed by Golf Datatech found that roughly 28% of frequent golfers would be interested in playing a ball with benefits, even if it was nonconforming.[2] According to Gary De Bay, Polara Golf CEO, about 40% of golfers who tried the ball at a demo day said they would buy it.[5]

An article in The New York Times in May 2011 sparked a media blitz, including a segment on CNBC.[5][6][7] The great demand "crashed Polara Golf’s computer servers for hours."[3]

There was backlash against the "illegal" ball.[8][9] Ken Hambleton backtracked after interviewing Felker, writing "The problem with the latest version of Polara ... is that it works."[10]

In January 2012, Polara announced its new XD and XDS balls, which have higher ball flight and extra distance.[11]

References
  1. Buy Self Correcting Long Distance Golf Balls For Sale Online. Polara Golf. Retrieved on 2011-05-18.
  2. Pennington, Bill (10 May 2011). "One for the Duffers: A Golf Ball That Won't Slice". The New York Times.
  3. Van Natta Jr., Don (14 May 2011), "Teeing Up a Duffer Debate", The New York Times, retrieved 16 May 2011
  4. SCOUTING – SCOUTING – Duffer's Dream Finally Over. The New York Times (1986-01-08). Retrieved on 2011-05-18.
  5. A Golf Ball That Guarantees a Straight Drive – CNBC. Video.cnbc.com (10 May 2011). Retrieved on 2011-05-18.
  6. Booker, Robert (12 May 2011), "Self-Correcting Golf Ball Rocks The Media World", Golf, Kinetic News, retrieved 18 May 2011
  7. Pennington, Bill (22 May 2011). "Don't Tread on Golfers' Right to Hit Ball Poorly". The New York Times.
  8. Neuman, Jeff (19 May 2011), Cheater's Ball Gets Too Much Pub, RealClearSports, retrieved 24 May 2011
  9. Hambleton, Ken (1 June 2011), Ken Hambleton: New ball brings ethics questions, JournalStar.com, retrieved 6 June 2011
  10. Hambleton, Ken (9 June 2011), Ken Hambleton: The problem with new Polara golf ball? It works, JournalStar.com, retrieved 13 June 2011
  11. Polara Golf's new XD™ (Extra Distance) and XDS™ (Extra Distance & Spin) Self-Correcting Golf Balls Fly High at 2012 PGA Merchandise Show
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