NY Times: Non-conforming Ball Selling Well

Bill Pennington follows up on his story from last year about Polara's non-conforming ball and in his latest story reports that sales have been solid for the dreaded pill that could finally convince manufacturers that there is a market for non-conforming equipment.

About 70 percent of these same driving range golfers also said they would not use the ball. Summoning a kind of hacker moral code, they said it was against the rules. Interestingly, nearly every golfer wanted a handful of the balls anyway. As one duffer said: “Just to test out.”

Since then, the Polara golf ball has generated close to $3 million in sales, which represents more than 1.2 million nonconforming golf balls in the market. The Polara, which had modest beginnings, now is available in about 750 stores nationwide as well as online at Polaragolf.com.

Edwin Watts carries the ball in 60 of their 86 stores

Steve Claude, an Edwin Watts purchasing agent who participated in the decision to place Polara balls next to the displays of traditional, established golf balls, said the Polara ball was the only nonconforming item sold in the chain. But he said the company hoped more nonconforming equipment found its way into mainstream golf.

“Anything that gets more people playing,” Claude said. “We need to welcome everybody and grow the game. If that gets people out there, then I’m not worried about what they’re using. If they learn to love the game, in time they’ll want to try other kinds of equipment, too.”

Of course, USGA and R&A rules do not forbid anyone from making or selling non-conforming equipment.