Nike Golf's Black One Black Sparks Bidding War

Press Release

Posted 2005-03-15

Two-ball sleeves of Nike Golf's limited edition black Nike One Black golf balls are beginning to ship to participating golf shops and golf specialty stores as early as this week, but that has not stopped golfers from paying extraordinary amounts of money to be the first on their block to own a piece of golf history.

Golfers will receive a two-ball pack of the black Nike One Black golf balls with the purchase of a dozen Nike One Black or Nike One Gold golf balls (SRP: $54 per dozen) at participating locations while supplies last.

Call it impatience, call it impulse, call it a little whacky, but some golfers have paid as much as $215 for a single black One Black through the auction website eBay. A bidder paid $645 for a three-ball sleeve that was posted this past week, while someone else paid $162.50 for a single ball that was reportedly used by Nike Golf's KJ Choi at the FBR Open. It begs the question, would someone actually pay $2,580 for a dozen of the black pearls? Some purists thought that $200 was a lot to pay for a dozen of another manufacturer's leading golf ball on eBay before they were first available at retail about two years ago.

While the black Nike One Black has garnered a majority share of the golf ball buzz to begin the 2005 golf season thanks to Rory Sabbatini, Stewart Cink, John Cook, Justin Leonard and Choi teeing it up on the PGA Tour, the true magic that golfers seek is in the Nike One Black, the longest golf ball Nike Golf has ever introduced. It is the ball of choice for more than 30 professionals on the PGA and LPGA Tours.

Introduced late in 2004, the Nike One Black was in play as a prototype when Cink captured the MCI Heritage and when Trevor Immelman won the Deutsche Bank. Craig Stadler switched mid-tournament to the One Black at the Jeld-Wen Tradition on the Champions Tour, won that Major and the next two tournaments, all the while leading the field in distance.

In the weeks that followed, Grace Park won on the LPGA Tour and Chris Nallen and D.J. Trahan won on the Nationwide Tour, all using the Nike One Black. Leonard got the ball rolling in 2005 with his first victory as a Nike Golf Tour Staff player using the One Black to win Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Initial velocity, the speed of the ball coming off the clubface, is what separates a "long drive" from one that makes your heart jump and your buddies wonder if you've been working out again.

In an independent test, the initial velocity and distance of the One Black is greater than any other Tour level ball tested. An average mechanized club head speed of 110 mph generated an initial velocity of 163.5 mph from the One Black. It will give golfers a new perspective on the game by taking them to places in the fairway they have only dreamed of reaching.

The One Black is designed for maximum distance and reduced excess spin while the One Black player places a premium on low-spin and high launch conditions, and prefers a crisp feel with more penetrating trajectory.

The One Black is a three-piece/two-cover golf ball with an oversized Nd catalyzed polybutadiene core, a high repulsion dynaron ionomer inner cover and a high-velocity injected TPU outer cover. The penetrating mid-trajectory of the One Black comes from Nike's exclusive 408 Seamless dimple pattern.