DuPont and Nike tee up latest golf ball advance

The next major shift in golf ball design and technology is powered by a patented thermoplastic. Nike Golf's 20XI (pronounced: twenty-X-I) golf ball has replaced the industry standard thermoset rubber core with a specially developed DuPont HPF advanced ionomer technology, with the resulting reduction in the core's weight allowing an average increase in ball speed of 2-3 miles/hr, with each mile increase equating to 2 to 3 more yards of carrying distance.

DuPont's Surlyn ionomer is at the core of Nike's new golf ball.

Jon Kemp, global marketing leader for DuPont's golf ball segment, told PlasticsToday that his company began work on the new ball with Nike four years ago. "Every 10 years there's been a major technology shift in golf balls," Kemp said. "We're going back from wound rubber cores to solid-rubber cores, and the last major transition really happened in 2000-2001. I think we were all really looking for what is going to be that next major shift in golf ball technology that would allow for enhanced performance."

James de Garavilla, global technology leader for DuPont's golf ball segment, said that not quite 10 years ago, DuPont scientists developed a modification to the company's current Surlyn monomer technology that allowed "unprecedented" levels of ionic crosslinking within the monomer. The result was a thermoplastic material that had the kind of bounce, resiliency, and energy recovery on impact typically seen in a rubber, while also having the softness of a rubber.

Rock Ishii, Nike Golf's product development director for golf balls, said DuPont's advance allows golf ball development to shift focus. "We believe that there wasn't really any where else to go as far as technology advancement in [number of layers], and felt that the next window of opportunity was in the exploration of various materials for the core."

de Garavilla also noted that the new Surlyn material has the additional benefit being homogenuous and not requiring the post curing needed for rubber, which can have uneven results. "It's kind of like cooking a roast," de Garavilla said. "You cook it from the outside in, and there's differential rates of curing throughout. With the thermoplastic material you can push the limits of USGA envelope. Get closer to the speed limit without going over."

Nike's 20XI balls will be available April 29.

For DuPont, whose work with the golf industry goes back to the early 1960's, this product launch could be the first of many. "I think this ball is the first in beginning to open up the next wave of innovation," de Garavilla  said. "We continue to work closely with Nike to develop and continue to exploit the technology in newer and more innovative ball designs."

"We see this as the first of several possible innovations leveraging this same technology," Kemp noted.