Nike Golf introduces 20XI franchise

• By Golf Channel Digital
• Feb 17, 2011 8:40 PM ET

Nike Golf has unveiled its new 20XI (pronounced: twenty-X-I) premium golf ball franchise, featuring innovative golf ball technology the company claims has never before seen in the golf industry – the result of four years of collaborative research and development between Nike Golf's golf ball engineers and a team of material and science experts at Dupont.

The biggest technology change with the 20XI comes from replacing the conventional rubber core with a radical new resin material. Resin is a highly neutralized polymer that’s faster and lighter material engineered to produce longer distance and more controlled shots.

Nike also says, through internal testing with its tour players, an average of 2-3 mph increase in ball speed has been seen with the new ball. This could theoretically translate up to an added nine yards of carry distance.

The Nike 20XI franchise will launch two versions of the ball – the 20XI-X (tour-level distance) and 20XI-S (tour-level spin). The 20XI-X is optimized to reduce excess driver spin to maximize distance. The 20XI-S incorporates a softer cover for enhanced greenside spin and control.

Both 20XI balls will be available April 29th at an MSRP of $58.00.

To date, Nike athletes Stephen Ames, Stewart Cink, Richard Finch, Lucas Glover, Matt Haines, Anthony Kim, Kevin Kisner, Justin Leonard, Jamie Lovemark, Pablo Martin, Francesco Molinari, James Morrison and Carl Pettersson have switched to a version of the 20XI.