MESA, AZ - How green is golf? Yes, that's a trick question.
Dixon, a Mesa-based company, is trying to make it greener, in the environmental sense. It's a long story as to how they got here, but CEO and COO William Carey and Dane Platt, respectively, were in the golf ball making business for the other guys when they decided to go out on their own. Then they decided to do something even riskier. They made a green ball.
First they investigated biodegradable balls. But they felt those were not practical. "They're only good for hitting off cruise ships, melting into fish food, but they're not good for golf," says Carey.
So they went another route. They decided to make the balls recyclable, saying, "unless it was a high performing golf ball, no one cares how eco-friendly it is." They took a normal golf ball which is made of a rubber core with some metals, (like tungsten cobalt or lead) to weigh it down and then a plastic type cover. Dixon stuck close to that combination but took out those sometimes harmful metal types and used a filler that's as safe as table salt.
So they changed the insides a bit and then they developed a recycle program for the balls. That work is sourced out but those companies then crush the balls and turn them into playground equipment and turf. Dixon is working on making their own putter out of the material.
They initially launched that ball about a year and a half ago in the corporate market. They felt that arena would be more receptive to the new concept.
Bringing a new golf ball to market is not easy. There are big names in the business. Callaway and Nike just to name a few. So they needed to strategize differently to distinguish themselves. They started sponsoring events and the idea took off.
"Instead of going through the front door and competing with big names and campaigns for advertising, we spend our money branding names with local markets," says President Pace Jordan, "Helping people raise money for schools, churches, boy and girls clubs ... I could go on." He could. Right now they're working with 100 charities raising money through golf.
Their marketing strategy falls in line with their company mission. The sponsorships help the greater good as it gets the Dixon name in the hearts and minds of consumers. "We're looking by the end of 2010 to being a household name through our fundraising mechanism," says Jordan.
They're also working on launching other eco-products to add to their line, like clothes and hats. But for now it's all about the balls.
"That's what's nice... we can talk about how great it (being green) is but when people golf with it and say 'I don't care about all that stuff. I just like fact it was fantastic golf ball'... that makes us feel good because that means we're doing things right," says Carey.
The balls, they believe, are some of the best in the business. Remember these were ball guys first. Balls guys who became green.
