Callaway launches graphene-enhanced golf balls
30/01/2018
The new products, the Chrome Soft and Chrome Soft X, feature nano-particles of graphene in their outer core. The properties of graphene mean the outer core of the ball is now thinner and stronger, allowing for a larger, softer inner core.
Callaway said this has allowed its research and development teams to explore the limits of compression between the inner and outer cores. It explained that the soft inner core of the ball now deforms more under larger forces, so when hit with a driver, fairway wood or long iron it suppresses spin. This translates into “explosive speed and longer distance”, according to Callaway.
For shorter shots, the firm graphene-infused outer core allows the ball to better retain its shape, generating better spin.
“Using graphene as a reinforcing agent in the outer core transforms what we can do with performance,” said Dr Alan Hocknell, vice president of research and development at Callaway. “To the naked eye, graphene looks like a fine powder but when it is dispersed in our rubber core matrix it significantly reinforces the inner structure of the golf ball allowing us to enhance launch dynamics, optimise distance and increase and decrease spin where required.”
Graphene was first isolated by researchers at the University of Manchester in the UK in 2004. It is the thinnest material on earth, just one-atom thick, but is 200 times stronger than steel. The scientists responsible for isolating it were awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 2010.
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