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December 25 2011

Some five years ago Jimmy Lowe from memory gave us some good facts on golf ball manufacturing at Heathhall. –Now thanks to Albert Rose we have a fascinating glimpse of the work done by NBR/Uniroyal marketing departments to try to break into the golf ball market with the arrival of the ‘Plus-6’ golf ball. Some of our viewers might be fascinated by the detail of what actually happened as well as the impact on the market

Uniroyal’s introduction of the ‘Plus-6’ 
broke the the Dunlop Company’s stranglehold on the market 
and changed the face of the golf ball business for ever
 by Albert Rose

North British had a long tradition in the golf ball market with their brands Pin Hi and Hi Spot.

These were well regarded and we sponsored many Pros locally as well as the European champion Flory van Donck. Stocks were retained in London and were delivered to prestige stores like Harrods. and Lillywhites in a splendid, chocolate and cream, cabriolet bodied Rolls Royce, a great talking point.

However, we only made balls and overshoes and it was difficult to make headway into the market controlled by Dunlop who had nearly seventy percent with their ‘65 as well as a full range of products and accessories.

Later, we made an arrangement with Wilson Sporting Goods to produce their ball range as a private brand. These were separately promoted by Wilson and supported by several top Pros including Billy Casper. The brands were Wilson Staff, Billy Casper, Blue Ridge and Hole Hi.

Meanwhile we contracted Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer as well as several local Pros to help bolster our brands. Even so, such was the dominance of Dunlop, we still could not get above about eight percent market share with all of our brands.

We needed some kind of seismic event to make a deeper impression.

At this time the USPGA used a 1.68” diameter ball whereas the English Golf Union still supported the 1.62 ball. The reason for the difference was that many of the American courses were set up with ‘Bermuda’ grass. This was much harder wearing and scorch resistant in hot climates but, it was a tough broad bladed grass into which the 1.62 ball settled too deeply for accurate striking.

During The Open Championship and other tournaments in Europe Nicklaus for example would play the bigger ball down wind and the smaller ball into the wind. Nicklaus told me it was crazy to use the big ball on our windy links if you had a choice. Thus a golf ball ‘war’ was developing and although the EGU at the Royal and Ancient fought a rearguard action and delayed the changeover for a couple of years the USPGA prevailed and the 1.68 became the specified ball for all golf unions around the World.

At about this time (but before the changeover to 1.68)  Uniroyal USA commissioned Professor Nickolides a ballistics expert at NASA to see whether the standard ball could be improved. Nickolides came up with the hexagonal dimpled ball at the same time reconfiguring the common regular dimple arrangement by placing the dimples on the sphere in the form of an icosahedron. This significantly reduced drag and gave much better lift. There were fewer dimples.

This was the ‘seismic’ opportunity for which we were waiting.

However, because of our minimal recognition in the market we needed a very special launch platform. I did not think the market would be very impressed with Professor Nickolides from America coupled with Nicklaus, it just looked too gimmicky. Also because of the different behaviour in the air of the 1.62 v 1.68 it seemed prudent to check that the same performance parameters applied to both sizes. So I went to the Imperial College of Science and Technology where I met Professors Harvey and Bearman who were in charge of aeronautics studies and already recognised for their work on Grand Prix and with Lotus cars.

They said their calculations indicated the possibility the work was sound but were not prepared to publicly say so without physical testing. Unfortunately the wind tunnels at Imperial were not suitable for testing such a small object. Therefore I (unofficially) agreed to spend a significant portion of the advertising budget on this further research. This was used primarily to make a large hexagonal dimpled ball into which a motor had to be fitted so that relevant backspin could be generated, in other words to exactly replicate a ball in flight. The results fully justified the theory and they were prepared to say so.

Thus we had an independent and World recognised University in support. We set up full page ads which showed a standard golf ball on a tee being overshadowed by the hexagonal ball and photographed to look just like a solar eclipse. In fact the headline declared

  “The Eclipse of the conventional golf ball - Uniroyal +6 goes further”

  It was very dramatic. These were scheduled to be released after a press launch at the Savoy Hotel in London at which all of the golfing press as well as most of the National press were in attendance. Not only that but the TV science editor Peter Fairlie was there. This gives some indication of the importance golfers put on distance.

Anyway, the professors did a great job for us , which most importantly appeared to be completely independent. Best of all on ‘News at‘10’ that night we got a slot on the science section. The clip showed the ball in the wind tunnel. It had been branded to duplicate the logo and, because the ball was about 45cms in diameter, viewers could read the name Uniroyal.

The result was that we were inundated with people telephoning in with orders the very next day. Golf ball pricing was set by the market leader and prices had not changed for years. A first grade ball was 30 pence. With the launch of Plus6 we lifted the price by fifteen percent and it stuck. We also stopped individual wrapping and offered instead 3-ball packs.

  Dunlop went crazy. They sued us for infringing their Surlyn cover technology and threatened to sue for damages if we persisted in our claim for further distance. They said their tests showed that our ball did not always go six yards further than their ‘65’. I suggested it would be risky if they did go to court and had to admit we did have length advantage but not always six yards. They quickly withdrew that threat.

  The Surlyn cover threat was more dangerous. The market had moved away from balata because it cut so easily whereas the Surlyn ball just did not cut. This meant if Dunlop took out an interlocutory injunction they could stop our production. I went to see Dunlop to discuss a licence and amazingly they agreed to allow us to make under licence. This was a huge blunder because by agreeing we could make under licence they could not subsequently take out an injunction. They could though, continue to pursue us for damages.

Therefore we set up an accrual to put aside cash should the need arise. As it transpired, we were able to prove it was not possible to use the Dunlop patent to make a Surlyn covered ball which was playable without it cracking. The chemist responsible had deliberately left out an essential ingredient ‘in order to protect Dunlop’. Poor soul had thus rendered the patent invalid.

By this time the respective golf governing bodies had agreed to move entirely to the 1.68 ball. We were extremely fortunate because our product stemmed from Uniroyal USA know- how in producing the bigger ball. This proved crucial. The reason is because, irrespective of dimple configuration, the behaviour of the two sizes was different in the air and on the ground, where roll was affected. The British competitors just assumed it was only necessary to make bigger moulds and then just scale up the ball to match. By just doing this the radius of gyration was altered which had an adverse affect on flight, spin and roll. In other words they had to learn how to make a bigger ball work, whereas we were already there.

This caused something of a vacuum in the market. Uniroyal private brand sales rocketed and at one stage we were producing (in addition to our own brands) Dunlop Red, Slazenger B51, Spalding Dot, McGregor and Penfold. We also retained all of the Wilson Sporting Goods business (although there was a blazing row because we refused to give them an hexagonal dimpled ball).

  Sadly, we could not raise funds to rapidly expand production because of demands for money from much more profitable centres such as PowerGrip and Tredaire. Therefore, the way was opened for large imports to fill the vacuum, mainly from America. Uniroyal UK., had not been successful in establishing a golfing products range with the facilities available (which comprised a manager and three salespeople). They were unwilling to establish a sporting goods division and since it was considered impracticable to continue to operate a ‘ball only’ facility, production was run down.

  However it is important to understand the affect of the ‘Plus6’ In this period, competitors who had originally denigrated Uniroyal’s enterprise in launching the new technology, changed their profiles and within a year or so all manufacturers (without exception) changed dimple configuration. Dunlop never recovered and became a bit player in the market, which at that time became dominated by, Spalding’s ‘Topflite’ and Acushnet’s ‘Titleist’

Thus, Uniroyal broke the market domination of it’s largest competitor. Also, it had forced all producers to follow suit and thus had a major impact on the market. It is probably not too strong to claim this was the start of the most significant product change in the history of the game.

A group of Senior Uniroyal Executives at the company Exhibition held at Moor Park Golf Club--
Left to Right: Al Webber, Vic Wallis, DK, John Stuart, Foster Stewart,
Ken Lewis, Jimmy Lowe Oliver Kirrane
The Editor would appreciate help in identifying the last DK

The date of the exhibition was  1975

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