I’ve turned into a tennis junkie this week and have been addicted to the great play at the U.S. Open. It’s been fun watching Serena, Caroline, Novak and crew smash that yellow ball around.
As ESPN makes a habit of showing the players coaches during the matches I was intrigued by a shot of Andy Murray’s coach, the great Ivan Lendl who watches each match with a face that borders on boredom.
I noticed his hat and jacket were carrying a logo I was unfamiliar with, Clear. I thought it may be his tennis camp or school but I was wrong. I accidentally stumbled onto an article that gives us the lowdown on Clear Sports and its a company that makes golf balls…$80 a dozen golf balls.
And not just expensive balls…but exclusive balls. Yes, much like Augusta National and Pine Valley are out of our reach these are exclusive balls not available to the public but only to a very select few that the company, Clear decides who they’ll let play them. Sounds odd? You bet it is.
From Erik Matuszewski’s article in Forbes. Anybody can play the Titleist Pro-V1, which is the most popular golf ball in the world and a mainstay on the PGA Tour. But you’ll need an invitation to play the balls from Clear Sports LLC. Among the celebrities and former professional athletes who pay to use Clear’s golf balls are Sean Connery, Paul O’Neill, Jeremy Roenick and Ivan Lendl.
The company was formed by two friends, Garry Singer and Mitchell Slater, who had been highly successful in previous business ventures and wanted to create the world’s best premium golf ball.
No doubt it’s a quirky approach within the golf industry. The affable Singer acknowledges as much, saying he realizes it sounds a bit like an episode of “Seinfeld.” He wouldn’t discuss how many members Clear has for its golf ball club, but said that everybody pays, from Connery to Lendl.
Clear produces two different kinds of premium Urethane golf balls: the Clear Red, which is a softer 3-piece ball, and the Clear Black, a firmer 4-piece ball.
Those invited to be members receive a case of 12 dozen golf balls for $950 along with a hat and pullover bearing the Clear logo. So the balls aren’t cheap. At close to $80 a dozen, they’re considerably more expensive than the Pro-V1 ($48 and up for a box of 12).
But you’re paying for privilege as well as performance.
In fact, Clear actually limits the number of members from each club, with that max currently set at two. Using a hypothetical example, let’s say two members from Shinnecock on Long Island sign on to play Clear balls; that might be it for the club. There are exceptions, with five current Pine Valley members playing Clear balls.
Singer says several of the world’s top pros have also tried out Clear’s golf balls, but that their endorsement deals prevent them from using them in tournaments. But that’s fine by the folks at Clear. They plan to have their tennis racquets and golf club shafts in the hands of the pros, but the balls are a bit more of a secret. And that’s by design.
“We want to have it for our members and that’s it. Our guys love it,” Singer said. “It’s not too big, it’s not a mass produced thing. It’s been incredibly good.”
So a bunch of guys get together to form a company…more like a club that produces sporting equipment and the one product that could give them a steady, recurring revenue sream (we all lose golf balls) is kept on the down low, available only to members who know the secret handshake. Hmmm it sounds crazy.
These guys must be golfers.