Published: May 24, 2023
By Andrew Tursky
Source: GolfWRX
Five years ago, GolfWRX.com published a story about OnCore’s Genius golf balls that were in development. As reported, the company raised $110,000 for the development of a golf ball that has a GPS tracking device inside its hollow-core construction. The concept was that the tracking device would pair with a phone app to help find the golf ball, plus provide data such as ball velocity, spin rate, spin direction, carry, and more. OnCore even brought out one of the prototype golf balls to the 2018 PGA Show.
Although the smart golf ball still hasn’t made it to the retail market, OnCore may have reached a new plateau with its latest prototypes, and is preparing to hit the market in 2023.
On Wednesday at the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge, multiple PGA Tour players were spotted testing the golf balls on the Colonial Country Club putting green. For now, the new Genius “G50” prototype – meaning “under 50 yards” – is only for putting, and along with the app, it records data points such as spin, skid launch and velocity.
OnCore golf balls are already played on the PGA Tour by staffer Erik Compton, who uses the VERO X2 golf ball. With the Genius ball, though, OnCore has loftier goals than getting in play on the PGA Tour – its looking to bring the golf ball market, instruction, game improvement, and game enjoyment into the future.
Although the company is still making tweaks to the golf ball’s construction, one top-50 PGA Tour player told me after testing the ball at Colonial, “This is going to be huge.” When I asked him if there’s any wobble on the putts, and if the golf ball felt weird, he said, “Not at all, it feels great.”
OnCore Chairman/CEO Keith Blakely was personally on-site at the Charles Schwab Challenge conducting testing with players to receive feedback. I caught up with Blakely afterwards to get a better understanding of what the golf ball is, what it does, and what the future plans are for the technology…
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