THE RISE AND FALL OF THE PRO V1: THE $50 GOLF BALL TOP-FLITE PATENTED FIRST

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE PRO V1: THE $50 GOLF BALL TOP-FLITE PATENTED FIRST In the middle of the 1990s, a chemist in Chicopee, Massachusetts signed a patent application for a golf ball. It had a solid rubber core. Over the core went a hard inner jacket. Over the jacket went a soft skin of urethane. He did not work for Titleist. He worked for the company that made the Top-Flite. Five years later, a ball built in three pieces came out of a plain white box in Las Vegas. Forty-seven professionals put it in play that week. One of them won the tournament. Today a dozen of them cost more than fifty dollars. And the name on the side is not Top-Flite. In November 2008, a federal judge ordered the best-selling ball in golf off American shelves over four patents from the Top-Flite laboratory. Titleist had already admitted its ball matched them. Then a second jury threw the patents out, and the reason is the strangest part of the whole case. Not one dollar ever changed hands. If you played a Strata, or opened one of the first white boxes of Pro V1s in the winter of 2000, this one was made for you. Subscribe so these stories get remembered properly:    / @persimmonarchive   CHAPTERS (estimates, adjust after render) 0:00 The patent from the Top-Rock company 2:04 Three balls, one year: Rule 35, Tour Accuracy, Pro V1 6:05 The laboratory in Chicopee and the Strata 9:32 The vault: what Callaway bought at the bankruptcy auction 12:51 Two lawsuits: Bridgestone, then Callaway 17:45 The older patent that changed the verdict 20:20 No money changed hands 22:43 Where the idea was written down first FOR THE RECORD Acushnet (Titleist) won. The four Sullivan patents were found invalid in 2010 and 2011, and Callaway and Acushnet settled in 2012 with no money changing hands. The title refers to the fact that Spalding's Top-Flite laboratory patented the three-piece layered construction first, in 1984 and again in filings from the mid-1990s. IN THIS VIDEO Balls: Titleist Pro V1, Pro V1x, Titleist Professional, Top-Flite Strata, Top-Flite XL, Callaway Rule 35, Nike Tour Accuracy, Bridgestone, wound balata. People: Michael J. Sullivan, Dennis Nesbitt, Bob Molitor, Bill Morgan, Wally Uihlein, Mac Fritz, Billy Andrade, Phil Mickelson, Mark O'Meara, Tiger Woods, Rock Ishii, Ely Callaway, Chip Brewer, Joe Nauman, Judge Sue L. Robinson, Hisashi Kawano. Companies and places: Acushnet, Titleist, Spalding, Top-Flite Golf Company, Callaway Golf, Bridgestone Sports, Nike Golf, TaylorMade, Dick's Sporting Goods, Chicopee and New Bedford, Massachusetts, Las Vegas, Wilmington, Delaware. WATCH NEXT Top-Flite:    • The Rise and Fall of Top-Flite: The $600 M...   The Wound Golf Ball:    • The Rise and Fall of the Wound Golf Ball: ...   Titleist:    • THE RISE AND FALL OF TITLEIST. The $1.2 Bi...   Scotty Cameron:    • The Rise and Fall of Scotty Cameron: The $...   Callaway:    • The Rise and Fall of Callaway: The $1.4 Bi...   Nike Golf:    • The Rise and Fall of Nike Golf: The $500 M...   SOURCES Callaway Golf Co. v. Acushnet Co., Civ. No. 06-091-SLR (D. Del.), including the April 21, 2011 memorandum opinion; Callaway Golf Co. v. Acushnet Co., 576 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2009); U.S. Patents 4,431,193 (Nesbitt), 6,210,293, 6,503,156, 6,506,130 and 6,595,873 (Sullivan); Callaway Golf Form 8-K (April 13, 2012) and Form 10-Q (2012); Fortune Brands Form 10-K (2007); Acushnet Holdings 2025 annual report; Titleist "History of the Pro V1" and media center releases; Paul Hastings release on Bridgestone v. Acushnet (October 8, 2007); Bloomberg; ESPN; Golf Channel; Golfweek; Golf Digest; SGB Media; MyGolfSpy; LINKS Magazine; USGA and R&A statements (2023, 2026). #ProV1 #Titleist #TopFlite #GolfHistory #GolfDocumentary