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All told, Titleist has more than 75 associates working in its golf ball research and development department, and that team includes chemical engineers and mathematicians as well as materials scientists and aerodynamics physicists. But the equipment maker also relies on people who are not on its payroll for help in developing and ultimately bringing to market new products. Those folks are everyday golfers who are connected with the company through the digital “My Titleist” program.
Those golfers now are evaluating the EXP•01, an experimental golf ball that recently was released in limited quantities.
Officials describe the EXP•01 as a multilayer product with a high-performance urethane cover designed to enhance short-game spin. A high-speed core and specialized casing layer are made to deliver low spin on longer shots for better distance and tighter dispersion, while a proprietary 346-dimple design is employed in an effort to improve aerodynamics.
According to Michael Mahoney, the vice president of marketing for Titleist golf balls, the EXP•01 is being rolled out as part of a broader effort called the Titleist EXP Project. The idea behind that is to give golfers the chance to experience new golf ball technologies still in experimental phases – and then prompt said players to weigh in on how the products perform.
“The EXP Project invited golfers into the early stages of our R&D process and allows us to broadly test experimental materials, constructions and processes that could be integrated into any segment of our golf ball line,” Mahoney says. “EXP•01 is truly an exploratory product, and there’s no better way to evaluate our progress than getting it into the hands of dedicated golfers.”
The EXP•01 is available for a limited time in golf shops in the United States and Canada, and also through My Titleist on the company’s website. The product sells for $39.99 a dozen.