Bridgestone Golf Balls Interview from Golfwrx
GolfWRX is proud to present an interview with Bridgestone Golf Ball’s Marketing Managers, Brandon Sowell and Sunsuke Tayama.
00:00 - GolfWRX: Today we are here with Brandon Sowell and Shunsuke Tayama from Bridgestone Golf. Guys it is great to have you here. Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer all of our questions.
00:08 – Brandon Sowell: Most definitely thanks for having us. We certainly appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today and tell you a little bit more about the company.
00:16 – GolfWRX: Now I know we have a lot of big questions to ask you so before we get started we were hoping you could give us a little bit of background info about your histories in golf and the golf business in general.
00:30 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, starting with myself. I kind of grew up around the game of golf. So I was very passionate about the game, and started working at a local golf course growing up. I was able to get a lot of experience there and actually see the day in and day out operations of a golf course facility and pro shop and how things work. Definitely grew a passion for the game there. When I graduated college obviously I had an ideal world of what it is I wanted to pursue would be something in the golf world. And it just so happened when I graduated there was a company in town Dunlop and Maxfli – Slazenger, so I kind of pursued them a little bit and I was able to get my foot in the door and starting working in customer service and worked my way through marketing. Over the years saw opportunities obviously in other areas and an opportunity became available at Bridgestone. So I certainly jumped at that opportunity when it became available and came down to Bridgestone and the rest is history. I have been here now for over three years and now moved into the marketing manager role and the golf ball side of things for the company, involved in everything from product management, advertising and promotions, as well as merchandizing across the line of golf balls that we have with Precept and Bridgestone Golf.
1:51 – GolfWRX: Excellent, Tayama how about yourself?
1:53 – Shunsuke Tayama: Yes, my name is Tayama. I have been with the company about ten years. I’ve been working for the golf ball planning, product planning and also the product evaluation side of with R&D guys. I just moved here to the state three years ago. Start working with Brandon Sowell about the golf ball planning side. That is my back ground. My golf career, my first experience liking golf was the ‘95 British Open. I went to the St. Andrew’s to watch John Daly won and I was so impressed I come into this business.
2:39 – GolfWRX: Excellent, that is quite an introduction to golf, that is a special event so I think that is a great way to be introduced to this game. Now Bridgestone Golf kind of launched with a big splash in the skins game a few years ago when Fred Couples used the original B330. Why do you think Bridgestone’s market share in golf balls has grown so quickly?
3:02 – Brandon Sowell: First of all I would think that our product performance and the technology in our products certainly speak volumes to amateur golfers and skilled golfers of all levels. Definitely feel that is the forefront and beyond that certainly, as you mentioned, making a splash with Freddy at the skins game had a significant impact, as well, kind of hitting the market place with all feet running. Soon after that as well Stuart Appleby won the Mercedes championship twice in a row, so that was two great showings for the brand right out of the gate that helped not only from a tour perspective but from a skilled amateur level to validate the performance of the products we have in place. In addition to that, we think the company’s brand name recognition being that it’s Bridgestone, better players recognize that Bridgestone may have been a little bit of a brand name that has a background before with Precept, we’ve been involved in making golf balls for quite some time and Precept was the forefront brand as well then, but the Bridgestone name carried some kind of side line branding if you will in that packaging. So I think a lot of people realized we weren’t new to the sport and that we had been around and with all the stars aligning with the performance of Fred and Stuart kind of validate the technology of the product and performance characteristics of the product.
4:34 - GolfWRX: Now can you tell us a little bit about Bridgestone’s history in the golf ball business and with the solid core golf ball?
5:37 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, well Bridgestone has been making golf balls for quite a long time now. They actually produced our first golf ball back in 1935. So we’ve been around for quite some time. In terms of solid core golf ball advancements those really started to kind of pick up speed, if you will, in the ‘90s. That kind of got the ball rolling with great performances by Nick Price during that time period. He won the ’94 British and the ’94 PGA championship using a solid core golf ball, a solid core Precept golf ball. And beyond that we had some additional success with Nick Faldo who won the ’96 Masters, who was actually using a Precept Double Cover which was the world’s first four piece golf ball. So the technology has really started to advance and later in the ‘90s we had Lee Janzen who won the ’98 US Open with the Precept MC Double Cover so the success of the product was definitely getting validated. The technology behind it and the performance was validated by the tour success that we had. Then as we moved further on in the ‘90s, actually in 1999, we introduced the world’s first multi-layered three piece urethane covered golf ball, which was the Precept MC Tour Premium. So those advancements in solid core design were certainly key throughout those mid to late ‘90s working a lot with our Tour players, perfecting the design and to see the results of those Tour players and the success that they had was quite phenomenal for us and certainly again we thought that was a huge validation. Still obviously continue to perfect that design and to further advance it with things such as the Seamless Cover Technology which we introduced in 2001 to further enhance the flight characteristics of a golf ball for better consistency. Not only just in multilayered tour number golf balls, we have had great success, many golfers hopefully remember the Precept MC Lady which really took the golf world by storm back in 2001 with its very soft compression. While it was a two piece golf ball still for solid two piece golf ball it offered great performance characteristics for most recreational golfers. They kind of discovered, if you will, even though it had the lady name and was designed for ladies, that most recreational golfers found out that it worked very well for their swing speed and their game.
8:13 – GolfWRX: Perfect, now the Bridgestone Company is a huge, huge worldwide company, and I was wondering what advantage does being under their umbrella provide for Bridgestone Golf? How has it affected golf ball technology?
8:28 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, that is a good question and basically the response that we have is that we think it is a huge advantage for us obviously being an subsidiary of a 25 billion dollar company, the amount of resources that we have available to us it quite extensive, and the fact that being such a large company that the main product consumed and developed by the company is based in rubber materials, whether it be tires or golf balls and floors. So the amount of technological advancements and the advantage we have there we think is quite large and being able to utilize the R&D resources of not only our golf engineer division but as well our tire division. Now working together there is a lot of cross training, if you will, say a R&D tire engineer may come and work on the golf side or vice versa so with those crossovers definitely allows us to have everyone be in tune with the latest technologies and the potential applications to any individual project whether it be on the tire side or the golf side. You know in a way, the way a tire interacts with the road is very similar to the way a golf ball interacts with a club face, so there is definitely some synergies and some knowledge that our R&D team is able to utilize and bounce off each other in the development of both line ups of product. Beyond that it is really just the Bridgestone name itself offers us great resources from a promotion stand point and a branding stand point from a name recognition certainly whether it’s Bridgestone by itself or other activities we are able to do, such as the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational that we sponsor at Firestone Country Club, certainly is a huge benefit for us all the way to other activities that Bridgestone Tire does. They have recently announced a sponsorship of the upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show so we definitely feel things like that go a long way in helping us establish ourselves in the marketplace.
10:38 – GolfWRX: Fantastic, I know we’ll all be looking forward to that. I know a lot of people have been seeing the ads for the Bridgestone Golf Ball Challenge, and that is a really neat program that you guys have begun. How has it been working for you?
10:51 – Brandon Sowell: It has been going great. It’s definitely been a large initiative for us this year and we’ve been very excited about the results we’ve seen so far in the events and the fittings that we’ve conducted. I think as you know, and hopefully a lot of your readers and listeners know the premise behind the Bridgestone Challenge is that most players are using a golf ball that doesn’t necessarily fit their game. And we think, obviously, that the golf ball is a hugely important element to someone’s game, it is the only piece of equipment that a player uses on every shot so obviously it is quite important and really the ball fitting comes from trying to find the best optimal launch characteristics for the individual player. Very similar to the way the players get fit for golf clubs, kind of go through the same scenarios to get fit for clubs so applying those same launch characteristics and optimization for the golf ball. Further beyond that it’s really probably the least expensive change a player can make to enhance the performance of their game.
11:57 – GolfWRX: Great, what are the biggest mistakes that you guys have seen when people chose golf balls when they come to you guys at these fitting challenge programs?
12:07 – Brandon Sowell: That’s interesting. It’s funny how it seems like a lot of people are perhaps selecting a golf ball based off of ego instead of their playing ability or their desired performance needs. A lot of guys think that just because it is used out on Tour that it’s automatically the best ball for their game, it’s going to enhance their game the best when it’s not necessarily true. Definitely the most popular ball is not automatically the best fit for anyone’s individual game so kind of selecting off of ego seems to be biggest challenge that we’ve come across in doing the ball fitting. But certainly we are able to prove to the players once they go through the ball fitting challenge that is definitely not the way they need to be selecting their golf ball.
12:55 – GolfWRX: Interesting, that seems to be a common theme throughout most of golf so it’s nice to know it’s consistent. Will we be seeing the golf ball fitting program expanded in the future?
13:06 – Brandon Sowell: Yes, we will. Based off the results we’ve had this year, again we think it has been a very successful initiative for us and it’s something we want to expand going into next year so we do plan to further the amount of teams we have in place to be able to conduct more fittings around the country as well as we are looking at ways to further enhance our fitting experience and offer some more in-depth fitting options whether it be from the driver to the short irons all the way down to the green set performance.
13:40 – GolfWRX: Excellent, that will be great for a lot of people to experience. Now getting into some of the technical questions, how does a two piece golf ball differ from a three piece golf ball performance wise?
13:52 – Brandon Sowell: Well in terms of multilayered golf balls definitely having more pieces in the construction of the ball allows engineers to develop more specific performance characteristics. It depends on the target player of the golf ball very much in terms of the different pieces and how they are designed to work for the player. For instance if you take our E6+ versus our E5+, with the E6+ being a multi-layered golf ball and the E5+ being a two piece golf ball. The E6+ is designed for a player who has excess side spin, difficulty keeping the ball in the fairway, they either have a severe slice or hook and have trouble keeping the ball in play so with the E6+ actually the mantle in the E6+ was specifically designed to help reduce that spin, reduce that access spin to help the player keep the ball in play. Now the flip side the two piece E5+ through its construction it is very unique in the market place in the fact that it’s a two piece urethane cover golf ball. Generally urethane covered golf balls are generally used on Tour level balls, but with the E5+ its urethane cover has a higher spin rate then a Surlyn cover and that is when the recreational golfer hits that its going to generate more spin off the tee which is going to help them get the ball more up in the air. So that golf ball is targeted for the player who is obviously hitting a lower shot, who has trouble getting the ball up the spin generated by the urethane cover is going to allow them to get the ball increase their spin rate and find the optimal peak trajectory rate for an overall greater distance. So there are definitely performance differences as well as it goes back to the target player for a particular golf ball and how those constructions and materials used affect the overall performance for that target player.
16:13 – GolfWRX: Excellent, now the weather is getting a lot colder around the country, I know a lot of people have a trend to go to softer compression golf balls because they feel that it gives them more distance. How should golfers use compression numbers to help them decide what golf ball to play? Is compression still important today for golf balls?
16:32 – Brandon Sowell: Certainly, compression definitely is important among all golf balls. As you mentioned as the temperatures start to get colder, the compression of a ball in its natural state tends to rise so using a softer ball in the colder season months definitely would be a benefit for a lot of players, but beyond that, you know whether it’s through a ball fitting exercise or just getting someone’s swing analyzed at their local course, or off-course specialty shop. We think that it’s important for the recreational or amateur player to understand their swing speed and to get that evaluated, and that will help them in determining what type of compression golf ball that they should be using, whether it’s a lower compression or medium or firmer compression. Slower swingers should definitely look towards softer golf balls, while a faster swing speed player should look towards firmer balls. Basically the difference being the player with the faster swing speed is going to be able to deform a golf ball at impact, versus a slower swing speed who tees up a firm golf ball are not going to be able to deform the golf ball. If you’re not able to deform the golf ball an adequate amount you’re not really igniting the engine of the golf ball which is the core so you need to be able to kind of penetrate to the engine - down to the core of the golf ball, and again if you’re a slow swinger trying a firm golf ball you aren’t able to do that. So that is why a slow to moderate swing speed should gravitate more towards a lower compression golf ball.
22:00 – GolfWRX: Now that urethane golf balls are dominating the industry, can you foresee another material providing even greater performance benefits?
22:10 – Brandon Sowell: We certainly think the opportunity for performance benefits are there. Certainly, our R&D Department is always evaluating new materials. You have to keep an open mind, especially when you’re talking about technology, to any type of advancements that come along. So they’re always looking at new materials to see if there are ways to improve performance. Just as Bridgestone was actually the company who developed the first solid core multi-layer urethane golf ball, we definitely feel that a new material certainly could be a possibility. In fact, we currently have numerous materials we’re working with and studying that are currently being evaluated and tested in our lab to see if there’s any type of potential for performance attributes further down the road.
23:09 – GolfWRX: Excellent, I know we’ll be looking forward to hearing more about that. In the seaming debate, seamless versus seamed golfballs has been raging for a while. A lot of people say that no golf ball can be truly seamless, yet your injection molding technology produces a golf ball that’s constructed differently from others and you can pretty much see it in the cover. Can you clarify the seaming debate for us?
23:36 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, as you mentioned, our manufacturing process of urethane golf balls is an injection molded process versus a traditional casting process which is used by a lot of the other manufacturers to produce a urethane ball. Basically, the difference between the two processes is that injection is a one step process, where the cover is injected all at one time. Whereas casting is a two step process, as one half of the cover is formed the other half of the cover is formed and both of those are fused together to create the golf ball. Some of the benefits of injection molding over the cast process is that it’s a faster manufacturing process, it’s very time efficient. What that means is that we’re able to produce more balls with a fewer number of cavities resulting in a greater manufacturing consistency and quality. The cavities have been designed with the overall dimple pattern of the particular golf ball that’s being made and it’s quite an intricate and precise machining that’s done with those. Obviously the least amount of those you have to produce, the least amount of variances you will have in the cover. With that, it allows us more precise control of the dimple design, which obviously a significant amount of R&D time has gone into perfecting that. On the flip side, the more cavities you need, the greater chance for variances in production. I think that a good example of our quality and consistency in our production line is the fact that you can’t go out in the marketplace and find any Bridgestone B330 X Out’s anywhere. You’re not going to find – whether it’s B330 or B330S – they’re not going to be sitting on the shelves with other manufacturers. So we think that’s a great testament to the quality and manufacturing control we have over our balls. Another benefit of the process is the potential for discoloration of the urethane material is very limited when you do an injection molded process versus a cast. So we only need to put a clear coat on our golf ball versus a casting process which tends to discolor in the sun. The urethane tends to discolor and turn yellow, so as a result casting golf balls require a white coat of paint plus the clear coat. So that additional step in the manufacturing process tends to create variances and applying a coat of white paint, it is very difficult to maintain the thickness consistency over the entire ball surface. Obviously, if there is any type of inconsistencies in the painting with the dimple design, it could potentially affect the aerodynamics that dimple design was designed for and affect in-flight performance.
27:00 – GolfWRX: Now how does each layer of a golf ball contribute to the performance of the overall product?
27:06 – Brandon Sowell: Well, it depends on the particular golf ball construction and the materials used along with the target player the ball is developed for. For golf balls with multi-layers, we design different kinds of materials and assign specific performance functions for each layer, which enables us to produce a wide variety of ball designs. To put it in more of a general summation or analogy would say be a car where the cover of the golf ball is the steering wheel which provides the feel and control of the car and the core of the golf ball is the engine where all your power and speed comes from. Beyond that, say your mantle layer would be very much like a high performance sports car which has been designed for exceptional performance. Say it’s a faster car they’ve added a spoiler too or some other type of aerodynamic changes to the overall design of the car itself to better enhance performance of the ball. That’s kind of my analogy of the different performance characteristics of the golf ball and how each piece works differently.
28:37 – GolfWRX: That definitely helps. Can you talk a little bit about Gradational Compression and how it benefits golf ball performance? Is it in all your golf balls?
28:44 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, that’s a great question. This technology is very important technology to us and it’s something we’ve developed and think that it’s a huge benefit to golf ball performance and basically it is in the core where you have increased gradation of the compression from a very soft inner region of the core, it gradually gets firmer to the outer region of the core. Essentially with the gradation of the core, it is firmer on the outside so it reacts as a firm golf ball right after impact. This firmer outside region generates higher repulsion off the club face and is going to give the player longer distance. However, with the softer inner area of the core, it deforms as a softer ball in the middle of impact because of that softer area. The benefits of that are it deforms more than a non gradational golf ball and generates higher launch with less spin. So you’re basically combining the benefits of a firm core golf ball and a soft core golf ball all into one to get the overall greatest launch characteristics off the club face.
30:08 – GolfWRX: Now why is urethane the preferred material for covers of golf balls? Why is it preferred over Surlyn and other compounds?
30:16 – Brandon Sowell: Polyurethane features higher repulsion than an ionomer resin or Surlyn when it gets softer. As you know, generally Tour level golf balls, highly skilled players are looking for softer feel and spin around the greens. That would be the reason you primarily see urethane on Tour level balls is because it does get softer and offers higher repulsion which gives greater distance. In addition to that, as urethane gets softer, compared to Surlyn or an ionomer, it maintains better durability. Urethane is able to retain and help limit scuffs and abrasions at impact so that’s another benefit of urethane. So the durability as well as the soft feel are generally the reasons why you’re going to see it on Tour level golf balls which is generally what that player is looking for in performance.
31:32 – GolfWRX: That was a perfect segue into the next question which is about durability. I know that’s a big issue for consumers when they’re paying upwards of $3 sometimes $4 for a golf ball. What affects golf ball durability and how can you improve golf ball durability while still maintaining golf ball performance?
31:50 – Brandon Sowell: Definitely, as we talked about in the previous question, material type has a huge impact on the durability of the ball. Beyond that, the firmness of it or the softness of it in addition to the overall construction of the ball is going to affect the durability. Some of the ways cover durability can be improved is through various construction differences. Or even material improvements. In terms of construction, someone hitting a four iron shot with a urethane covered golf ball with a very firm core and firm compression, as the four iron makes contact with the ball, that very soft urethane cover is getting pinched very strongly between that firm core and the clubface so it’s obviously going to create some abrasions on that soft urethane cover. Ways around that are modifying it to help improve the durability would be such things as our technology with the gradational core where you’re combining the best of both worlds with a firm outer area of the core versus the softer inner area. As we mentioned before, that technology allows the golf ball to deform as a softer compression ball which helps eliminate the stress that’s put on the urethane covered ball at impact. Going back to our four iron analogy here, if it’s struck with a softer core golf ball, it’s going to help eliminate or reduce that abrasion at impact and potential for durability issues. In addition, there’s finding new ways of increasing the cross-linking agents that are used in the cover material itself in an effort to create a tighter molecular bond. That’s going to improve cover durability as well.
34:00 – GolfWRX: Interesting, now getting into the previous versions of the B330 and 330S, I know a lot of people had complaints about the durability, but the new version seems vastly improved. How was that product changed to improve the durability?
34:20 – Brandon Sowell: For the new version, it ties in with the previous question, the trick we made there was adding in 40% more cross-linking material which allowed for greater durability. In addition to that, obviously durability was a key focus but by adding more cross-linking agents it actually enabled us to make the cover materials actually softer than the original version which again is going to increase the benefit to the player for added feel and control around the greens.
35:04 – GolfWRX: Which golf ball is most popular among the Tour staff?
35:10 – Brandon Sowell: Among our players, the B330S is definitely a popular model among the staff we have. We have quite a few players playing that one whether it be Appleby, Snedeker, McKenzie and those guys have all played well. Then we’ve got Fred Couples and some power hitters if you will, Fred Couples and Scott Hend are guys who utilize the B330. Really it comes down to choice preference on feel. The B330 is a little bit firmer feeling golf ball than the B330S. So the B330 is for the guy who’s looking for a more solid feel and is really looking to hit a long ways but the soft cover has got the control and spin around the green versus the S. The S comes into play and signifies that it’s a little bit softer feel than the B330. So that type of finesse player who’s looking for great control and feel – a feel player and is looking for still long distance with the S, but the overall feel and control around the greens might be more appealing to the player who’s got a little it more of a feel oriented game.
36:36 – GolfWRX: I know you mentioned a little bit about the higher swing speed player fitting into the B330. I was wondering if you would talk a little bit about why higher swing speed players fit into the B330 and what advantages is has over other comparable golf balls on the market?
36:53 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, as you said, it’s designed for higher swing speed players. The B330 itself is designed generally for a very highly skilled player - a player that’s looking for really long distance but still maintaining spin control around the greens. So it’s definitely a high performance golf ball that requires a very skilled player. What we’ve found in terms of advantages of it over other golf balls on the market is very much related to our ball fitting program. We go out to our Bridgestone Golf Ball Challenge and invite consumers to participate and actually test their current golf ball, whatever that may be and put that up against a Bridgestone model. What we’ve found with the better players who have been fit into the B330 is that after they’ve been fit into a B330 versus a competitor’s product is that we’ve been able to increase their ball speed off the tee. We think that’s the result of our Gradational Compression technology and the benefits of enhancing their launch conditions and initial velocity off the club face. Beyond that, in terms of what we feel are advantages of the B330 over competitors: superior consistency in manufacturing and fight performance with our Seamless Cover technology is very consistent in how it performs even into the wind. I know we started our conversation with Fred Couples making a splash in 2004, that was certainly one of the big benefits he saw when he switched over to our product was how well the aerodynamics were and how well the ball performed even in windy conditions.
38:54 – GolfWRX: How about the B330S? Who would be a good fit for that and what advantages would it have over competitor’s offerings?
39:03 – Brandon Sowell: The B330S is designed for highly skilled tour professionals and better amateurs who have a moderate to higher swing speed. Those that are looking for tour caliber distance but want a soft feel, a finesse player. The benefits to that are very similar to the B330 in terms of the results we’ve seen to consumers in our Ball Fitting Challenge is an increase in ball speed which is part of our Gradational Compression technology and overall consistency and flight characteristics with Seamless Cover technology and our manufacturing as tight as it is produces day in and day out reliable performance players can have confidence in.
40:05 – GolfWRX: Now getting into the newly revamped E5+ and E6+. How was the E5+ improved over the previous version and what improvements in performance can users expect to see?
40:17 – Brandon Sowell: We just introduced the new E5+, it actually just started shipping last month and showing up at retail shelves. The new E5+ differs from the original in that we increased the core size slightly. In addition we modified the dimple pattern. The original had a 432 dimple design but the new E5+ has a seamless 330 dimple design. With those changes made, golfers should notice a higher initial velocity off the face giving them greater distance. With the modification to the dimple design, they can expect to see a little bit higher launch off the tee and a slightly higher trajectory as well. The target consumer for the E5+ is the player who needs to optimize their peak trajectory for added distance. Perhaps they’re not getting the ball up in the air quite as much and need to produce a little bit more spin rate to get that optimum peak trajectory. By doing that it’s going to able to increase their distance off the tee.
41:39 - GolfWRX: What is it about the E5+ that allows you to increase launch angle and spin?
41:45 – Brandon Sowell: With the E5+, a lot of it has to do with the very unique construction the golf ball has. It’s a two piece urethane cover design. We feel it’s the best of both worlds, a lot of people talk about two piece golf balls being the best distance golf balls. Generally, urethane covered golf balls are used more for their feel and control around the greens. So it is combining the best of both worlds there: having a great distance ball with superb spin and control around the greens with the urethane cover. With that unique construction, it works also off the tee as well. The large core and spin of the urethane cover will generate that higher launch. Again, with the spin-type urethane cover on there, it is going to produce a higher spin rate which is going to increase the tee height trajectory for the player to give them longer distance.
42:52 – GolfWRX: How about the E6+?
42:52 – Brandon Sowell: The E6+, just launched that one as well. It differs from the original mainly in the new inner layer material we developed, an anti-spin, extra velocity inner layer. The E6+ compared to the original also has a little bit softer compression. So with the anti-spin extra velocity inner layer (which we’ve shortened to ASEV inner layer), it reduces excess side and backspin which is going to generate extra velocity for longer and straighter shots. With the lower compression it’s going to provide a softer feel and more forgiveness for the player. So the combination of the lower compression and the new ASEV inner layer is going to overall reduce the results of slice or hook spin imparted by the player. With the softer compression, the target is the recreational golfer who doesn’t have a tour level high swing speed. So that softer compression is going to allow them to activate the core to enhance their speed velocity.
44:21 – GolfWRX: I know a lot of people are looking forward to trying that with the colder weather coming I think the E6 will be finding a place in a lot of people’s bags.
44:26 – Brandon Sowell: Definitely, that’s a great ball to use in the winter for sure.
44:32 – GolfWRX: Before we move on, I just want to congratulate you Paula Creamer’s first ever win on the LPGA Tour with a pink golf ball.
44:42 – Brandon Sowell: Absolutely. It was great to watch her run away with the Tournament of Champions event and to top it off using her trademark pink golf ball to make history was very nice for us. We certainly enjoyed watching that for sure.
44:56 – GolfWRX: Now I was wondering how Precept sits in the Bridgestone’s current lineup?
45:00 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, with the Precept models we currently have, we feel it rounds out our golf ball lineup. Again, we don’t feel there’s any one particular ball that fits all players. Coming back to the Bridgestone Challenge, the lineup we have going across the Bridgestone lineup to the Precept lineup, finding the appropriate ball that fits a individual’s swing is crucial. So, Precept, especially our iQ 180 lineup which we just introduced this year, we think it’s a great performance value for a game improver type player, a recreational type player that has a slow to moderate swing speed. The iQ 180 line, we have a ladies version and a men’s version. We have the Lady iQ180 and the Men’s iQ180. Both are designed for a slower to moderate swing speed player who needs a softer compression golf ball to help them deform the golf ball actively. With optimization being activating the core of a golf ball giving speed off the club face for longer distance. Both golf balls offer some of the same technologies we offer on our tour golf balls, both B330s and the E+ series. Both the iQ line offers Gradational Compression technology as well as Seamless Cover Technology. We think that lineup is exceptional value for the price. You can’t miss the ladies lineup with some of the color options we have there – pink and yellow. Obviously the pink used by Paula Creamer brings a fun alternative and we think that’s very fun as well.
47:07 – GolfWRX: We’ll get you out on this note. We realize this whole 45 minutes has been filled with fantastic reasons for why Bridgestone is the best golf ball on the market but if you had to sum up one take home message for why consumers should choose Bridgestone golf balls over all the other choices in a very crowded market, what would you say?
47:29 – Brandon Sowell: That’s a great question. We certainly feel first and foremost our technology is second to none. Technology has been the driving force behind the development of our product line all the way back from the very beginning. The firsts we have been able to bring to the market place, whether it is the first urethane multi-layered golf ball or the first to introduce a multi-layer ball with Seamless Cover technology when we did back in 2001. We think that others have followed those technologies we have introduced certainly validates our ability to develop very significant improvements in golf balls and come up with designs that enhance golf balls to give players an overall better game. Beyond that, that high level of product consistency we have and the quality control. Every one of our golf balls that comes off our production line is 100% hand inspected. It’s not just our tour level balls receiving special treatment, every single one of our balls is hand inspected. So, we think we have the best quality control in the industry. We’ve got a solid lineup from top to bottom, the B330 series, E+ series, iQ series. We’ve got a ball that can fit any golfer’s playing ability or their preference. The technologies we’ve applied to our models are not just in our high end and tour models. They go across our line whether it’s Seamless Cover technology or Gradational Compression technology, you’ll find that from our tour level models to our game improvement performance series. We definitely think we have a model for every player and we stand behind our product as well. We think that with our Bridgestone Golf Ball Challenge, consumers can come up and test their golf ball against ours. We’re not afraid, we think our product performance is superior and we’ll be able to improve the playing performance and enjoyment for any player.
49:47 – GolfWRX: Brandon and Tayama, we really appreciate your time today. We really appreciate you taking time out of your busy days to talk to us. Thanks a lot from all the gusy at GolfWRX.
50:00 – Brandon Sowell: Most definitely, we appreciate you having us and certainly enjoyed the time we had. If you ever have anything else feel free to give us a call and we’d love to join you again.
00:00 - GolfWRX: Today we are here with Brandon Sowell and Shunsuke Tayama from Bridgestone Golf. Guys it is great to have you here. Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer all of our questions.
00:08 – Brandon Sowell: Most definitely thanks for having us. We certainly appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today and tell you a little bit more about the company.
00:16 – GolfWRX: Now I know we have a lot of big questions to ask you so before we get started we were hoping you could give us a little bit of background info about your histories in golf and the golf business in general.
00:30 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, starting with myself. I kind of grew up around the game of golf. So I was very passionate about the game, and started working at a local golf course growing up. I was able to get a lot of experience there and actually see the day in and day out operations of a golf course facility and pro shop and how things work. Definitely grew a passion for the game there. When I graduated college obviously I had an ideal world of what it is I wanted to pursue would be something in the golf world. And it just so happened when I graduated there was a company in town Dunlop and Maxfli – Slazenger, so I kind of pursued them a little bit and I was able to get my foot in the door and starting working in customer service and worked my way through marketing. Over the years saw opportunities obviously in other areas and an opportunity became available at Bridgestone. So I certainly jumped at that opportunity when it became available and came down to Bridgestone and the rest is history. I have been here now for over three years and now moved into the marketing manager role and the golf ball side of things for the company, involved in everything from product management, advertising and promotions, as well as merchandizing across the line of golf balls that we have with Precept and Bridgestone Golf.
1:51 – GolfWRX: Excellent, Tayama how about yourself?
1:53 – Shunsuke Tayama: Yes, my name is Tayama. I have been with the company about ten years. I’ve been working for the golf ball planning, product planning and also the product evaluation side of with R&D guys. I just moved here to the state three years ago. Start working with Brandon Sowell about the golf ball planning side. That is my back ground. My golf career, my first experience liking golf was the ‘95 British Open. I went to the St. Andrew’s to watch John Daly won and I was so impressed I come into this business.
2:39 – GolfWRX: Excellent, that is quite an introduction to golf, that is a special event so I think that is a great way to be introduced to this game. Now Bridgestone Golf kind of launched with a big splash in the skins game a few years ago when Fred Couples used the original B330. Why do you think Bridgestone’s market share in golf balls has grown so quickly?
3:02 – Brandon Sowell: First of all I would think that our product performance and the technology in our products certainly speak volumes to amateur golfers and skilled golfers of all levels. Definitely feel that is the forefront and beyond that certainly, as you mentioned, making a splash with Freddy at the skins game had a significant impact, as well, kind of hitting the market place with all feet running. Soon after that as well Stuart Appleby won the Mercedes championship twice in a row, so that was two great showings for the brand right out of the gate that helped not only from a tour perspective but from a skilled amateur level to validate the performance of the products we have in place. In addition to that, we think the company’s brand name recognition being that it’s Bridgestone, better players recognize that Bridgestone may have been a little bit of a brand name that has a background before with Precept, we’ve been involved in making golf balls for quite some time and Precept was the forefront brand as well then, but the Bridgestone name carried some kind of side line branding if you will in that packaging. So I think a lot of people realized we weren’t new to the sport and that we had been around and with all the stars aligning with the performance of Fred and Stuart kind of validate the technology of the product and performance characteristics of the product.
4:34 - GolfWRX: Now can you tell us a little bit about Bridgestone’s history in the golf ball business and with the solid core golf ball?
5:37 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, well Bridgestone has been making golf balls for quite a long time now. They actually produced our first golf ball back in 1935. So we’ve been around for quite some time. In terms of solid core golf ball advancements those really started to kind of pick up speed, if you will, in the ‘90s. That kind of got the ball rolling with great performances by Nick Price during that time period. He won the ’94 British and the ’94 PGA championship using a solid core golf ball, a solid core Precept golf ball. And beyond that we had some additional success with Nick Faldo who won the ’96 Masters, who was actually using a Precept Double Cover which was the world’s first four piece golf ball. So the technology has really started to advance and later in the ‘90s we had Lee Janzen who won the ’98 US Open with the Precept MC Double Cover so the success of the product was definitely getting validated. The technology behind it and the performance was validated by the tour success that we had. Then as we moved further on in the ‘90s, actually in 1999, we introduced the world’s first multi-layered three piece urethane covered golf ball, which was the Precept MC Tour Premium. So those advancements in solid core design were certainly key throughout those mid to late ‘90s working a lot with our Tour players, perfecting the design and to see the results of those Tour players and the success that they had was quite phenomenal for us and certainly again we thought that was a huge validation. Still obviously continue to perfect that design and to further advance it with things such as the Seamless Cover Technology which we introduced in 2001 to further enhance the flight characteristics of a golf ball for better consistency. Not only just in multilayered tour number golf balls, we have had great success, many golfers hopefully remember the Precept MC Lady which really took the golf world by storm back in 2001 with its very soft compression. While it was a two piece golf ball still for solid two piece golf ball it offered great performance characteristics for most recreational golfers. They kind of discovered, if you will, even though it had the lady name and was designed for ladies, that most recreational golfers found out that it worked very well for their swing speed and their game.
8:13 – GolfWRX: Perfect, now the Bridgestone Company is a huge, huge worldwide company, and I was wondering what advantage does being under their umbrella provide for Bridgestone Golf? How has it affected golf ball technology?
8:28 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, that is a good question and basically the response that we have is that we think it is a huge advantage for us obviously being an subsidiary of a 25 billion dollar company, the amount of resources that we have available to us it quite extensive, and the fact that being such a large company that the main product consumed and developed by the company is based in rubber materials, whether it be tires or golf balls and floors. So the amount of technological advancements and the advantage we have there we think is quite large and being able to utilize the R&D resources of not only our golf engineer division but as well our tire division. Now working together there is a lot of cross training, if you will, say a R&D tire engineer may come and work on the golf side or vice versa so with those crossovers definitely allows us to have everyone be in tune with the latest technologies and the potential applications to any individual project whether it be on the tire side or the golf side. You know in a way, the way a tire interacts with the road is very similar to the way a golf ball interacts with a club face, so there is definitely some synergies and some knowledge that our R&D team is able to utilize and bounce off each other in the development of both line ups of product. Beyond that it is really just the Bridgestone name itself offers us great resources from a promotion stand point and a branding stand point from a name recognition certainly whether it’s Bridgestone by itself or other activities we are able to do, such as the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational that we sponsor at Firestone Country Club, certainly is a huge benefit for us all the way to other activities that Bridgestone Tire does. They have recently announced a sponsorship of the upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show so we definitely feel things like that go a long way in helping us establish ourselves in the marketplace.
10:38 – GolfWRX: Fantastic, I know we’ll all be looking forward to that. I know a lot of people have been seeing the ads for the Bridgestone Golf Ball Challenge, and that is a really neat program that you guys have begun. How has it been working for you?
10:51 – Brandon Sowell: It has been going great. It’s definitely been a large initiative for us this year and we’ve been very excited about the results we’ve seen so far in the events and the fittings that we’ve conducted. I think as you know, and hopefully a lot of your readers and listeners know the premise behind the Bridgestone Challenge is that most players are using a golf ball that doesn’t necessarily fit their game. And we think, obviously, that the golf ball is a hugely important element to someone’s game, it is the only piece of equipment that a player uses on every shot so obviously it is quite important and really the ball fitting comes from trying to find the best optimal launch characteristics for the individual player. Very similar to the way the players get fit for golf clubs, kind of go through the same scenarios to get fit for clubs so applying those same launch characteristics and optimization for the golf ball. Further beyond that it’s really probably the least expensive change a player can make to enhance the performance of their game.
11:57 – GolfWRX: Great, what are the biggest mistakes that you guys have seen when people chose golf balls when they come to you guys at these fitting challenge programs?
12:07 – Brandon Sowell: That’s interesting. It’s funny how it seems like a lot of people are perhaps selecting a golf ball based off of ego instead of their playing ability or their desired performance needs. A lot of guys think that just because it is used out on Tour that it’s automatically the best ball for their game, it’s going to enhance their game the best when it’s not necessarily true. Definitely the most popular ball is not automatically the best fit for anyone’s individual game so kind of selecting off of ego seems to be biggest challenge that we’ve come across in doing the ball fitting. But certainly we are able to prove to the players once they go through the ball fitting challenge that is definitely not the way they need to be selecting their golf ball.
12:55 – GolfWRX: Interesting, that seems to be a common theme throughout most of golf so it’s nice to know it’s consistent. Will we be seeing the golf ball fitting program expanded in the future?
13:06 – Brandon Sowell: Yes, we will. Based off the results we’ve had this year, again we think it has been a very successful initiative for us and it’s something we want to expand going into next year so we do plan to further the amount of teams we have in place to be able to conduct more fittings around the country as well as we are looking at ways to further enhance our fitting experience and offer some more in-depth fitting options whether it be from the driver to the short irons all the way down to the green set performance.
13:40 – GolfWRX: Excellent, that will be great for a lot of people to experience. Now getting into some of the technical questions, how does a two piece golf ball differ from a three piece golf ball performance wise?
13:52 – Brandon Sowell: Well in terms of multilayered golf balls definitely having more pieces in the construction of the ball allows engineers to develop more specific performance characteristics. It depends on the target player of the golf ball very much in terms of the different pieces and how they are designed to work for the player. For instance if you take our E6+ versus our E5+, with the E6+ being a multi-layered golf ball and the E5+ being a two piece golf ball. The E6+ is designed for a player who has excess side spin, difficulty keeping the ball in the fairway, they either have a severe slice or hook and have trouble keeping the ball in play so with the E6+ actually the mantle in the E6+ was specifically designed to help reduce that spin, reduce that access spin to help the player keep the ball in play. Now the flip side the two piece E5+ through its construction it is very unique in the market place in the fact that it’s a two piece urethane cover golf ball. Generally urethane covered golf balls are generally used on Tour level balls, but with the E5+ its urethane cover has a higher spin rate then a Surlyn cover and that is when the recreational golfer hits that its going to generate more spin off the tee which is going to help them get the ball more up in the air. So that golf ball is targeted for the player who is obviously hitting a lower shot, who has trouble getting the ball up the spin generated by the urethane cover is going to allow them to get the ball increase their spin rate and find the optimal peak trajectory rate for an overall greater distance. So there are definitely performance differences as well as it goes back to the target player for a particular golf ball and how those constructions and materials used affect the overall performance for that target player.
16:13 – GolfWRX: Excellent, now the weather is getting a lot colder around the country, I know a lot of people have a trend to go to softer compression golf balls because they feel that it gives them more distance. How should golfers use compression numbers to help them decide what golf ball to play? Is compression still important today for golf balls?
16:32 – Brandon Sowell: Certainly, compression definitely is important among all golf balls. As you mentioned as the temperatures start to get colder, the compression of a ball in its natural state tends to rise so using a softer ball in the colder season months definitely would be a benefit for a lot of players, but beyond that, you know whether it’s through a ball fitting exercise or just getting someone’s swing analyzed at their local course, or off-course specialty shop. We think that it’s important for the recreational or amateur player to understand their swing speed and to get that evaluated, and that will help them in determining what type of compression golf ball that they should be using, whether it’s a lower compression or medium or firmer compression. Slower swingers should definitely look towards softer golf balls, while a faster swing speed player should look towards firmer balls. Basically the difference being the player with the faster swing speed is going to be able to deform a golf ball at impact, versus a slower swing speed who tees up a firm golf ball are not going to be able to deform the golf ball. If you’re not able to deform the golf ball an adequate amount you’re not really igniting the engine of the golf ball which is the core so you need to be able to kind of penetrate to the engine - down to the core of the golf ball, and again if you’re a slow swinger trying a firm golf ball you aren’t able to do that. So that is why a slow to moderate swing speed should gravitate more towards a lower compression golf ball.
22:00 – GolfWRX: Now that urethane golf balls are dominating the industry, can you foresee another material providing even greater performance benefits?
22:10 – Brandon Sowell: We certainly think the opportunity for performance benefits are there. Certainly, our R&D Department is always evaluating new materials. You have to keep an open mind, especially when you’re talking about technology, to any type of advancements that come along. So they’re always looking at new materials to see if there are ways to improve performance. Just as Bridgestone was actually the company who developed the first solid core multi-layer urethane golf ball, we definitely feel that a new material certainly could be a possibility. In fact, we currently have numerous materials we’re working with and studying that are currently being evaluated and tested in our lab to see if there’s any type of potential for performance attributes further down the road.
23:09 – GolfWRX: Excellent, I know we’ll be looking forward to hearing more about that. In the seaming debate, seamless versus seamed golfballs has been raging for a while. A lot of people say that no golf ball can be truly seamless, yet your injection molding technology produces a golf ball that’s constructed differently from others and you can pretty much see it in the cover. Can you clarify the seaming debate for us?
23:36 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, as you mentioned, our manufacturing process of urethane golf balls is an injection molded process versus a traditional casting process which is used by a lot of the other manufacturers to produce a urethane ball. Basically, the difference between the two processes is that injection is a one step process, where the cover is injected all at one time. Whereas casting is a two step process, as one half of the cover is formed the other half of the cover is formed and both of those are fused together to create the golf ball. Some of the benefits of injection molding over the cast process is that it’s a faster manufacturing process, it’s very time efficient. What that means is that we’re able to produce more balls with a fewer number of cavities resulting in a greater manufacturing consistency and quality. The cavities have been designed with the overall dimple pattern of the particular golf ball that’s being made and it’s quite an intricate and precise machining that’s done with those. Obviously the least amount of those you have to produce, the least amount of variances you will have in the cover. With that, it allows us more precise control of the dimple design, which obviously a significant amount of R&D time has gone into perfecting that. On the flip side, the more cavities you need, the greater chance for variances in production. I think that a good example of our quality and consistency in our production line is the fact that you can’t go out in the marketplace and find any Bridgestone B330 X Out’s anywhere. You’re not going to find – whether it’s B330 or B330S – they’re not going to be sitting on the shelves with other manufacturers. So we think that’s a great testament to the quality and manufacturing control we have over our balls. Another benefit of the process is the potential for discoloration of the urethane material is very limited when you do an injection molded process versus a cast. So we only need to put a clear coat on our golf ball versus a casting process which tends to discolor in the sun. The urethane tends to discolor and turn yellow, so as a result casting golf balls require a white coat of paint plus the clear coat. So that additional step in the manufacturing process tends to create variances and applying a coat of white paint, it is very difficult to maintain the thickness consistency over the entire ball surface. Obviously, if there is any type of inconsistencies in the painting with the dimple design, it could potentially affect the aerodynamics that dimple design was designed for and affect in-flight performance.
27:00 – GolfWRX: Now how does each layer of a golf ball contribute to the performance of the overall product?
27:06 – Brandon Sowell: Well, it depends on the particular golf ball construction and the materials used along with the target player the ball is developed for. For golf balls with multi-layers, we design different kinds of materials and assign specific performance functions for each layer, which enables us to produce a wide variety of ball designs. To put it in more of a general summation or analogy would say be a car where the cover of the golf ball is the steering wheel which provides the feel and control of the car and the core of the golf ball is the engine where all your power and speed comes from. Beyond that, say your mantle layer would be very much like a high performance sports car which has been designed for exceptional performance. Say it’s a faster car they’ve added a spoiler too or some other type of aerodynamic changes to the overall design of the car itself to better enhance performance of the ball. That’s kind of my analogy of the different performance characteristics of the golf ball and how each piece works differently.
28:37 – GolfWRX: That definitely helps. Can you talk a little bit about Gradational Compression and how it benefits golf ball performance? Is it in all your golf balls?
28:44 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, that’s a great question. This technology is very important technology to us and it’s something we’ve developed and think that it’s a huge benefit to golf ball performance and basically it is in the core where you have increased gradation of the compression from a very soft inner region of the core, it gradually gets firmer to the outer region of the core. Essentially with the gradation of the core, it is firmer on the outside so it reacts as a firm golf ball right after impact. This firmer outside region generates higher repulsion off the club face and is going to give the player longer distance. However, with the softer inner area of the core, it deforms as a softer ball in the middle of impact because of that softer area. The benefits of that are it deforms more than a non gradational golf ball and generates higher launch with less spin. So you’re basically combining the benefits of a firm core golf ball and a soft core golf ball all into one to get the overall greatest launch characteristics off the club face.
30:08 – GolfWRX: Now why is urethane the preferred material for covers of golf balls? Why is it preferred over Surlyn and other compounds?
30:16 – Brandon Sowell: Polyurethane features higher repulsion than an ionomer resin or Surlyn when it gets softer. As you know, generally Tour level golf balls, highly skilled players are looking for softer feel and spin around the greens. That would be the reason you primarily see urethane on Tour level balls is because it does get softer and offers higher repulsion which gives greater distance. In addition to that, as urethane gets softer, compared to Surlyn or an ionomer, it maintains better durability. Urethane is able to retain and help limit scuffs and abrasions at impact so that’s another benefit of urethane. So the durability as well as the soft feel are generally the reasons why you’re going to see it on Tour level golf balls which is generally what that player is looking for in performance.
31:32 – GolfWRX: That was a perfect segue into the next question which is about durability. I know that’s a big issue for consumers when they’re paying upwards of $3 sometimes $4 for a golf ball. What affects golf ball durability and how can you improve golf ball durability while still maintaining golf ball performance?
31:50 – Brandon Sowell: Definitely, as we talked about in the previous question, material type has a huge impact on the durability of the ball. Beyond that, the firmness of it or the softness of it in addition to the overall construction of the ball is going to affect the durability. Some of the ways cover durability can be improved is through various construction differences. Or even material improvements. In terms of construction, someone hitting a four iron shot with a urethane covered golf ball with a very firm core and firm compression, as the four iron makes contact with the ball, that very soft urethane cover is getting pinched very strongly between that firm core and the clubface so it’s obviously going to create some abrasions on that soft urethane cover. Ways around that are modifying it to help improve the durability would be such things as our technology with the gradational core where you’re combining the best of both worlds with a firm outer area of the core versus the softer inner area. As we mentioned before, that technology allows the golf ball to deform as a softer compression ball which helps eliminate the stress that’s put on the urethane covered ball at impact. Going back to our four iron analogy here, if it’s struck with a softer core golf ball, it’s going to help eliminate or reduce that abrasion at impact and potential for durability issues. In addition, there’s finding new ways of increasing the cross-linking agents that are used in the cover material itself in an effort to create a tighter molecular bond. That’s going to improve cover durability as well.
34:00 – GolfWRX: Interesting, now getting into the previous versions of the B330 and 330S, I know a lot of people had complaints about the durability, but the new version seems vastly improved. How was that product changed to improve the durability?
34:20 – Brandon Sowell: For the new version, it ties in with the previous question, the trick we made there was adding in 40% more cross-linking material which allowed for greater durability. In addition to that, obviously durability was a key focus but by adding more cross-linking agents it actually enabled us to make the cover materials actually softer than the original version which again is going to increase the benefit to the player for added feel and control around the greens.
35:04 – GolfWRX: Which golf ball is most popular among the Tour staff?
35:10 – Brandon Sowell: Among our players, the B330S is definitely a popular model among the staff we have. We have quite a few players playing that one whether it be Appleby, Snedeker, McKenzie and those guys have all played well. Then we’ve got Fred Couples and some power hitters if you will, Fred Couples and Scott Hend are guys who utilize the B330. Really it comes down to choice preference on feel. The B330 is a little bit firmer feeling golf ball than the B330S. So the B330 is for the guy who’s looking for a more solid feel and is really looking to hit a long ways but the soft cover has got the control and spin around the green versus the S. The S comes into play and signifies that it’s a little bit softer feel than the B330. So that type of finesse player who’s looking for great control and feel – a feel player and is looking for still long distance with the S, but the overall feel and control around the greens might be more appealing to the player who’s got a little it more of a feel oriented game.
36:36 – GolfWRX: I know you mentioned a little bit about the higher swing speed player fitting into the B330. I was wondering if you would talk a little bit about why higher swing speed players fit into the B330 and what advantages is has over other comparable golf balls on the market?
36:53 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, as you said, it’s designed for higher swing speed players. The B330 itself is designed generally for a very highly skilled player - a player that’s looking for really long distance but still maintaining spin control around the greens. So it’s definitely a high performance golf ball that requires a very skilled player. What we’ve found in terms of advantages of it over other golf balls on the market is very much related to our ball fitting program. We go out to our Bridgestone Golf Ball Challenge and invite consumers to participate and actually test their current golf ball, whatever that may be and put that up against a Bridgestone model. What we’ve found with the better players who have been fit into the B330 is that after they’ve been fit into a B330 versus a competitor’s product is that we’ve been able to increase their ball speed off the tee. We think that’s the result of our Gradational Compression technology and the benefits of enhancing their launch conditions and initial velocity off the club face. Beyond that, in terms of what we feel are advantages of the B330 over competitors: superior consistency in manufacturing and fight performance with our Seamless Cover technology is very consistent in how it performs even into the wind. I know we started our conversation with Fred Couples making a splash in 2004, that was certainly one of the big benefits he saw when he switched over to our product was how well the aerodynamics were and how well the ball performed even in windy conditions.
38:54 – GolfWRX: How about the B330S? Who would be a good fit for that and what advantages would it have over competitor’s offerings?
39:03 – Brandon Sowell: The B330S is designed for highly skilled tour professionals and better amateurs who have a moderate to higher swing speed. Those that are looking for tour caliber distance but want a soft feel, a finesse player. The benefits to that are very similar to the B330 in terms of the results we’ve seen to consumers in our Ball Fitting Challenge is an increase in ball speed which is part of our Gradational Compression technology and overall consistency and flight characteristics with Seamless Cover technology and our manufacturing as tight as it is produces day in and day out reliable performance players can have confidence in.
40:05 – GolfWRX: Now getting into the newly revamped E5+ and E6+. How was the E5+ improved over the previous version and what improvements in performance can users expect to see?
40:17 – Brandon Sowell: We just introduced the new E5+, it actually just started shipping last month and showing up at retail shelves. The new E5+ differs from the original in that we increased the core size slightly. In addition we modified the dimple pattern. The original had a 432 dimple design but the new E5+ has a seamless 330 dimple design. With those changes made, golfers should notice a higher initial velocity off the face giving them greater distance. With the modification to the dimple design, they can expect to see a little bit higher launch off the tee and a slightly higher trajectory as well. The target consumer for the E5+ is the player who needs to optimize their peak trajectory for added distance. Perhaps they’re not getting the ball up in the air quite as much and need to produce a little bit more spin rate to get that optimum peak trajectory. By doing that it’s going to able to increase their distance off the tee.
41:39 - GolfWRX: What is it about the E5+ that allows you to increase launch angle and spin?
41:45 – Brandon Sowell: With the E5+, a lot of it has to do with the very unique construction the golf ball has. It’s a two piece urethane cover design. We feel it’s the best of both worlds, a lot of people talk about two piece golf balls being the best distance golf balls. Generally, urethane covered golf balls are used more for their feel and control around the greens. So it is combining the best of both worlds there: having a great distance ball with superb spin and control around the greens with the urethane cover. With that unique construction, it works also off the tee as well. The large core and spin of the urethane cover will generate that higher launch. Again, with the spin-type urethane cover on there, it is going to produce a higher spin rate which is going to increase the tee height trajectory for the player to give them longer distance.
42:52 – GolfWRX: How about the E6+?
42:52 – Brandon Sowell: The E6+, just launched that one as well. It differs from the original mainly in the new inner layer material we developed, an anti-spin, extra velocity inner layer. The E6+ compared to the original also has a little bit softer compression. So with the anti-spin extra velocity inner layer (which we’ve shortened to ASEV inner layer), it reduces excess side and backspin which is going to generate extra velocity for longer and straighter shots. With the lower compression it’s going to provide a softer feel and more forgiveness for the player. So the combination of the lower compression and the new ASEV inner layer is going to overall reduce the results of slice or hook spin imparted by the player. With the softer compression, the target is the recreational golfer who doesn’t have a tour level high swing speed. So that softer compression is going to allow them to activate the core to enhance their speed velocity.
44:21 – GolfWRX: I know a lot of people are looking forward to trying that with the colder weather coming I think the E6 will be finding a place in a lot of people’s bags.
44:26 – Brandon Sowell: Definitely, that’s a great ball to use in the winter for sure.
44:32 – GolfWRX: Before we move on, I just want to congratulate you Paula Creamer’s first ever win on the LPGA Tour with a pink golf ball.
44:42 – Brandon Sowell: Absolutely. It was great to watch her run away with the Tournament of Champions event and to top it off using her trademark pink golf ball to make history was very nice for us. We certainly enjoyed watching that for sure.
44:56 – GolfWRX: Now I was wondering how Precept sits in the Bridgestone’s current lineup?
45:00 – Brandon Sowell: Sure, with the Precept models we currently have, we feel it rounds out our golf ball lineup. Again, we don’t feel there’s any one particular ball that fits all players. Coming back to the Bridgestone Challenge, the lineup we have going across the Bridgestone lineup to the Precept lineup, finding the appropriate ball that fits a individual’s swing is crucial. So, Precept, especially our iQ 180 lineup which we just introduced this year, we think it’s a great performance value for a game improver type player, a recreational type player that has a slow to moderate swing speed. The iQ 180 line, we have a ladies version and a men’s version. We have the Lady iQ180 and the Men’s iQ180. Both are designed for a slower to moderate swing speed player who needs a softer compression golf ball to help them deform the golf ball actively. With optimization being activating the core of a golf ball giving speed off the club face for longer distance. Both golf balls offer some of the same technologies we offer on our tour golf balls, both B330s and the E+ series. Both the iQ line offers Gradational Compression technology as well as Seamless Cover Technology. We think that lineup is exceptional value for the price. You can’t miss the ladies lineup with some of the color options we have there – pink and yellow. Obviously the pink used by Paula Creamer brings a fun alternative and we think that’s very fun as well.
47:07 – GolfWRX: We’ll get you out on this note. We realize this whole 45 minutes has been filled with fantastic reasons for why Bridgestone is the best golf ball on the market but if you had to sum up one take home message for why consumers should choose Bridgestone golf balls over all the other choices in a very crowded market, what would you say?
47:29 – Brandon Sowell: That’s a great question. We certainly feel first and foremost our technology is second to none. Technology has been the driving force behind the development of our product line all the way back from the very beginning. The firsts we have been able to bring to the market place, whether it is the first urethane multi-layered golf ball or the first to introduce a multi-layer ball with Seamless Cover technology when we did back in 2001. We think that others have followed those technologies we have introduced certainly validates our ability to develop very significant improvements in golf balls and come up with designs that enhance golf balls to give players an overall better game. Beyond that, that high level of product consistency we have and the quality control. Every one of our golf balls that comes off our production line is 100% hand inspected. It’s not just our tour level balls receiving special treatment, every single one of our balls is hand inspected. So, we think we have the best quality control in the industry. We’ve got a solid lineup from top to bottom, the B330 series, E+ series, iQ series. We’ve got a ball that can fit any golfer’s playing ability or their preference. The technologies we’ve applied to our models are not just in our high end and tour models. They go across our line whether it’s Seamless Cover technology or Gradational Compression technology, you’ll find that from our tour level models to our game improvement performance series. We definitely think we have a model for every player and we stand behind our product as well. We think that with our Bridgestone Golf Ball Challenge, consumers can come up and test their golf ball against ours. We’re not afraid, we think our product performance is superior and we’ll be able to improve the playing performance and enjoyment for any player.
49:47 – GolfWRX: Brandon and Tayama, we really appreciate your time today. We really appreciate you taking time out of your busy days to talk to us. Thanks a lot from all the gusy at GolfWRX.
50:00 – Brandon Sowell: Most definitely, we appreciate you having us and certainly enjoyed the time we had. If you ever have anything else feel free to give us a call and we’d love to join you again.
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