Bestselling Srixon balls engineered by 'Dr. Golf ball'

Bestselling Srixon balls engineered by 'Dr. Golf ball'. February. 10, 2017 07:23. by Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com. Park In-bi, Lee Bo-mi, Jeon In-ji, Kim Hyo-joo, and Matsuyama Hideki. These are the male and female professional golfers recently roaming the global golf clubs who all use Srixon golf balls manufactured by the Japanese Dunlop Sports. The “Z-Star” series golf balls have won a total of 472 championships since its launch in 2008.

“(Thanks to its marvelous achievements,) I enjoy a great sense of pride, just as if I myself won those tournaments,” said Dr. Kim Hyeong-cheol, golf ball researcher who has been working for over 10 years at the Japanese Sumitomo Rubber Industries – the parent company of Dunlop Sports. The comment came during an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo when he briefly came back to Korea at the time for the launch of Srixon’s 2017 “New Z-Star” and “Z-Star XV.”

Dr. Kim is currently working at a research center located in Kobe, Japan, while the rest of his family lives in Korea. After earning his degree in mechanical engineering at Chonbuk National University, he continued his studies and got his master’s and doctorate degrees at Tohoku University in Japan as a scholarship student of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology.

“I studied rocket science during my Master’s course, and then chose the aviation of golf balls for my doctorate research subject," he said. "Park Se-ri was sweeping the tournaments with flying colors at that time, which influenced my area of interest.”

Since joining Dunlop Sports in 2006, Dr. Kim focused on a single area; the aerodynamics of golf balls. It is a well-known fact that the pockmarked golf balls fly further thanks to the dimple effect. Here, dimple reduces drags, which slows down the ball, and increases the lifting force. “To expand driving distance, the ball must maintain its uniformity with the right number and size of dimples. The more you study balls, the more difficult it gets. Still, but that’s the charm of it.”

“The new features can be summarized into three advancements; E.G.G. core technology which gives softer center and a firmer outer region, 338 dimples optimized for the best aerodynamics, and 13 percent softer spin skin coating," he talked on the new golf balls. "These balls boast the best spin controls not only at long drives, but also at short games.”

Dr. Kim also gave useful tips to weekend golfers. “Golf balls tend to deteriorate when left in hot and humid, or very cold places," he explained. "So it is wise not to leave your balls unused for a long time inside car trunk. What’s more, golf balls also become out of date, and some balls show lower performance after two years.”

Dr. Kim is proud at work, as Korean players are recording outstanding results in recent days. His favorite player is Park In-bi. At the recent unveiling event, Dr. Kim was full with a delightful smile as Park introduced his golf balls, saying, “Srixon balls have been my one and only choice for the past six years. I like how it staves off from the wind and gives that stable and heavy feeling when hit.”