The full story behind Mark Wahlberg and Sergio Garcia's luxury golf ball society

New golf ball manufacturers do crop up from time to time, but most tend to focus on making well-made golf balls cheaper, not more exclusive.

That, however, is not the strategy of The Underground: a new golf ball company unveiled this week with LIV's Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia and Hollywood icon (and very keen golfer) Mark Wahlberg unveiled as its public faces. 

The direction of this new, ultra-premium ball brand is decidedly different: not only are the balls ultra-pricey, they're also only available to a distinct selection of pre-approved members. The aim, effectively, is to create a private golf ball society where membership is as valuable as the balls themselves. 

The Underground is the brainchild of Wahlberg and retail magnate Doug Meijer, who owns a sizeable chain of grocery stores across the US Midwest. Entrepreneur Garry Singer is also in on the deal, according to Forbes, having attempted to start his own luxury golf ball brand, Clear, back in 2016.

As one of Hollywood's most prolific golfers and entrepreneurs, another move into the burgeoning golf space feels very natural. The actor already owns a majority stake in activewear and golf apparel brand Municipal.

Garcia, as the society's first player ambassador, is seemingly content enough with the balls themselves to put them into play, having tested unbranded versions in the late stages of last year's LIV Golf series and put a branded Underground ball into play for the first event of the 2026 season in Riyadh. 

Exactly how and when new memberships will be coming available remains to be seen, as The Underground's website appears fairly vague for now. Just what you get from becoming a member, aside from access to the balls of course, is also yet to be laid out. 

It's equally unclear what makes the new balls particularly special. Is there some new groundbreaking tech only The Underground have access to? Who knows? Hopefully we'll get more details in the months to come.

Member's only golf brands can, of course, do rather well when executed right. Redan, a luxury members only apparel brand started by designer and entrepreneur Jon Buscemi, has a long waiting list of presumptive members. Whether The Underground can replicate this success remains to be seen.