Look out for eco-friendly golf balls!
Dixon Golf launches 'green' Earth balls
In these times of needing to be seen as 'green' and to re-cycle our rubbish, US "We could see the green movement happening several years ago, and we wanted to raise awareness of what it is to be eco-conscious and protect the environment," says the company's Dane Platt. With many balls containing cobalt, tungsten and lead in the paint, it makes them difficult and dangerous to re-cycle as synthetic materials. But Dixon claims it has found a re-cyclable polymer and now the challenge has been to ensure the ball performs as well, if not better than other balls. "It's a great idea to make a recycleable golf ball but what if it doesn't play as well as other, similar golf balls on the market? So we tested it with the driver and 8-iron to make sure the new ball was playable then gave it to lower handicappers to get their feedback on how it played. "And the feedback we got from pros and scatch golfers has been incredible," he says. "It exceeded our expectations." Even the packaging is environmentally friendly and made from recycled materials. "Everyone wants flashy packaging that can't be recycled, let alone be made of recycled materials," says Platt. "Ours is nice but a little more subdued because we're looking at what we can do with recycled materials to make it look decent without going overboard." Each pack of Earth balls offers the chance to return balls that wear out or scuff for recycling, each gaining a a one dollar credit on the next purchase of a dozen balls for around $40. The Dixon ball made its debut into the golf market at last week's PGA Exhibition in Las Vegas and the company is now looking for UK and Europe distributors. For further information visit |
