A poster over at Golfwrx has spilled the beans on Nike’s new upcoming tour-level golf ball. It’s currently codenamed RZN (pronounced resin) and is the first solid core golf ball that has a core made of a material other than rubber. The core is made from a resin that Nike and DuPont have allegedly been working on for the past 4 years (I believe I read this in the golfwrx thread but I can’t find the post anymore – maybe it was deleted?).
The general idea is that the resin material is lighter than traditional rubber cores. This allows them to move more weight to the outside of the golf ball. Think of it as the golf ball version of perimeter weighted clubs. The benefits are reported to be less spin off the driver, more spin on wedge shots, higher ball speeds, and the highest MOI ever for a golf ball.
According to the poster on Golfwrx, the new ball spins 150rpm less on driver shots and 300rpm more on wedge shots as compared to the current Nike One Tour (already a high spinning ball). Average ball speed increase is said to be 3mph. And the increased MOI should result in more “forgiveness” and “tighter shot dispersion”. All things being equal, the increased ball speed alone should result in another 7 yards of carry.
The official name for the new ball will be announced in November with availability expected in February ’11. The big question is what this means for the current One Tour and One Tour D golf balls. They’re being sold just about everywhere for $30 per dozen – far less than other tour caliber balls which typically go for $40 or more. At one local pro shop here in town, you can get 2 dozen for $45. Will Nike keep these balls on the market at their current price point or will the RZN replace them (presumably at $40-45 per dozen)? Will they go to a single premium ball strategy ala Taylormade Penta or will there be multiple variations of the RZN?
As more info becomes available, we’ll be sure to post an update.
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