People who know me as a newspaper man know I'm not one to endorse any product. And people who know me personally know I have about as much patience for environmental causes as I do a buried lie, which is to say very little.
But I had an experience one day last week that pushes my boundaries of each idea.
Oval Jaynes, the Jacksonville State athletics director, knows how much I enjoy the game of golf. He put a ball in my hands and asked my opinion about hitting it. Pleasantly surprised is an understatement.
The logo wasn't familiar to me, but the Dixon Earth ball, billed as the first eco-friendly ball on the market, played as well for me as any of the premium balls out there. It flew as far off the tee and felt as soft. Posting one of my best rounds with it was an added bonus.
But it wasn't just me. I let one of my regular playing partners hit it, and he had the same experience.
What makes it eco-friendly? It doesn't break down after a year in the woods or the pond - and, yes, it still goes there if you hit it there - but it's free of the heavy metals contained in the other balls and the manufacturer offers trade-in credit for used balls that might otherwise clutter up the biosphere.
Those balls are recycled into useable materials like field turf and playground material. Those that can't be recycled are sold off to refinishers.
"The timing on doing this is perfect because everything else has gone green, and we're bringing this to the (golf ) industry," said Cac Hoyle, a Dixon Earth sales rep from North Carolina and Jaynes' cousin. "Once somebody plays it, they're almost to the point (of saying) this is pretty amazing."
The Arizona-based company has two offerings - the high-performance Earth ball and a distance ball, endorsed by three-time World Long Drive champion Sean Fister. It expects to launch a Wind ball in November and a Fire ball in January.
According to the Web site, the balls can be found locally in the pro shop at Pine Hill.
* BUDDY TRIBUTE: A field of 80-plus players will be on hand this weekend at Anniston Municipal Golf Course to pay tribute to the pro who taught many of the players in the tournament to play.
The Buddy Moore TwoMan Scramble goes off with two shotgun starts Saturday and Sunday.
Proceeds from the event will go to defray expenses as the long-time Hill pro continues his recovery from a January car wreck.
"I'm looking forward to seeing him and I know a bunch of people are, as well," said 2003 County Seniors champion Pat O'Brien, one of the event organizers. "Buddy has been, good gosh, for the lack of a better word, a hero in this golf community for 40-50 years.
"His injury was devastating to his family and all his friends, and we just felt we wanted to do something special for him. This is a long time overdue."
Moore has been the pro at The Hill since 1969, right after he lost the County Championship in a playoff to Chris Banister.
"He taught most of us how to play what little we can play," O'Brien said. "I've told people he taught me how to play, and I've disliked him ever since.
"When we didn't have money to play, he let us play, and now that we all have money to play anywhere we want, we're still faithful (to the Hill) even though Buddy's not there."
* CLUB CHAMP: Nathan Bennett shot rounds of 69 and 71 and won the Indian Oaks Golf Club men's club championship by six shots. Ted Towns finished second and Alex Harper was third.
Cole McNeal (161) won the first flight by three shots over Dalton Chandler. Ferris Crow (159) won the senior flight by a shot over Jerry Eaton.
Madison Williams (146) ran away with the girls division after setting the ladies course record with an evenpar 72 in Saturday's opening round. She had birdies on Nos. 2, 9 and 17.
* ACE IN THE CROWD: James Beavers scored his first hole-in-one on Monday when he aced the 175-yard, 16th hole at Pine Hill Country Club with a 6-iron. Ray Easley and Derrick Foster witnessed the shot.
Al Muskewitz covers golf for The Star. He can be reached at 235-3577. |