NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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Alignment lines have been included on most golf balls for nearly two decades. For example, the Titleist ProV1 did not feature a line when it debuted in 2000 but when the next edition came out in 2003 it had two small arrows on either side of the ProV1 stamp. By 2007, that turned into a full-blown line. It’s stayed there ever since with minor tweaks in style along the way.
Using these lines to square up a putt is now ubiquitous in the professional game. It’s common for a player to get over his or her ball in their address position, back off behind the ball and then readjust the line until they feel confident.
This process could take on new meaning in 2022, as the days of detailed greens books will be officially finished by year’s end. Reading a green will be purely a player and caddie exercise based more on intuition, and without the greens-book crutch to lean on players may rely even more on their own alignment tools.
What that could mean is that not everyone will want a single line stamped on his or her golf ball. While it won’t be every player’s cup of Arnold Palmer, the Callaway Chrome Soft Triple Track and the TaylorMade TP5 Pix balls are offering a different version of alignment that many players are interested in trying.
Phil Mickelson used the Triple Track both off the tee and on the green during his victory at the PGA Championship. The balls have one red line and two blue lines running parallel to each other to take advantage of a visual acuity trick that suggests it is easier to discern misalignment between multiple lines instead of one.
In any given week, about 20 percent of Callaway staffers are using the ball with three distinct lines. It will be worth monitoring whether that goes up next year.
There already is one recent example of a high-profile player being unsatisfied with alignment, prompting a switch. Tommy Fleetwood went to a TP5x Pix ball as a practice tool because he felt he wasn’t properly aimed on a consistent basis, but the ball eventually made its way into competitive play last month at the CJ Cup.
The Pix has a series of triangles that create a visual path as the ball rolls end over end, something TaylorMade refers to as ClearPath alignment. Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff also use a Pix ball. It initially raised eyebrows at the sight of the soccer ball-like sphere tumbling towards the hole, but it’s becoming more common and could be fancied by some players.
Of course, every company still offers traditional alignment aids for those who prefer a cleaner look. But don’t be surprised if brands continue to think outside the box and players continue to experiment with different ways of lining up with more precision.
Sean Fairholm