Thriving in the Ultra-Competitive Golf Ball Market: The OnCore Way
Who doesn’t love rooting for the underdog? Heck, we nearly had a story for the ages during this year’s major in Rochester, NY—a head pro at a daily-fee course was THIS close to etching his name in the annals of golf.
There’s another feel-good story emanating from Western New York these days. In downtown Buffalo, tucked away on the fifth floor of a renovated factory building, you’ll find a direct-to-consumer golf ball company fashioning its own super innovative, rags-to-riches narrative.
OnCore Golf set up shop near the banks of Lake Erie 10 years ago. It’s not your typical locale for a burgeoning golf equipment company. From the get-go, the firm embraced its David versus Goliath situation.
“We battled the USGA [in the early 2010s] because we had a real innovative technology we knew would enhance golf ball performance,” said Bret Blakely, Co-Founder, OnCore Golf. The model in question featured a hollow metal core that removed mass from the center. The perimeter-weighted design was used to reduce sidespin, tighten shot dispersion and could, potentially, lead to longer carry. The only problem was the ball was ruled as “non-traditional in form and make” by golf’s official governing body.
A lengthy appeals process followed but, eventually, the golf association revised The Rules of Golf and deemed the ball conforming.
Since then, the challenger brand continues to take the road less traveled. Rather than competing head-on with the golf-ball establishment for space on pro shop shelves, OnCore chose to complement the unconventional-ball story with a non-traditional business model — sell direct to consumers through the e-commerce site, oncoregolf.com.
The approach is paying off.
The privately-held firm doesn’t disclose specific sales figures. However, according to company executives, OnCore’s sales doubled each year since 2019.
Central to the growth is ball quality and performance, the result of its extraordinary research-and-development team that in the past designed golf balls for the biggest brands in the land. It’s a big reason OnCore’s Vero X1 and Vero X2, in independent tests, outperform other tour balls in distance, accuracy, spin and other shot effects. Like the challenger Avis compared to Hertz, the little engine that could in Buffalo tries harder and, based on rave golfer reviews, smarter.
To continue the momentum, OnCore plans to release an innovative GENiUS ball with built-in sensors including accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer in the near future. When synced to an app, the GENiUS ball gives players valuable information in real time based on actual shots on the course. “It's another point of completely disruptive technology that we're bringing to golf,” Blakely said. “We think it’ll be a game changer when it comes to training and even the way people wager on golf.”
The company plans to roll out the GENiUS ball in three phases — the “G50” ball and app will be designed for capturing data from putting, chipping, and shots of 50 yards or less; the “G200” will be geared to cover shots up to 200 yards like those at a par 3 course; and the “G Infinity” is being designed to handle the long game. Some of the detailed info players can expect: launch angle, spin axis and skid distance (putting), shot apex, carry distance and descent angle (irons), as well as ball velocity, sidespin and roll (driver). Initially, the GENiUS balls will be available with the G50 and G200 applications (the G Infinity is expected to go live in 2024). Pricing will be announced shortly.
There’s more brewing, though. Over the years, the company modified its mass-market golf-ball designs to maintain the perimeter weighting without the hollow metal core. For 2024, the popular Vero X2, which is played by touring professionals, is being updated with a faster core.
“We're seeing three to four miles per hour increase in ball speed, which translates to 5 to 15 more yards,” Blakely said. Players can expect a refresh next year to the 2-piece Avant 55 ball as well. And, let’s not forget the enhancements made last year to the 3-piece ELIXR. With a new rubber core and firmer thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) cover, the Tour-quality ball is significantly faster than its predecessor. Plus, the metal-infused Surlyn mantle layer decreases sidespin for tighter shot dispersion.
As a direct-to-consumer business, OnCore Golf sells balls for less than comparable offerings from the major brands. That’s a nice little bonus considering the products perform so well. In the past year, several players used the balls to capture professional tournaments, including two State Open Championships, an assistant golf pro championship and a Philadelphia section event.
Blakely summed it up this way: “Just because we’re not in a golf mecca doesn't mean we can't take on the big guys and do something special.” Sounds like an underdog worth backing.
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