O-Range: an idea transformed into reality by the Oldrati Group which, together with the best professionals in the sector, designed and produced the first golf ball for use in the driving range (rangeball) built in Italy with high-tech technologies and performance comparable to the best game balls.
It all started a few years ago when professionals contacted the Oldrati family and launched the challenge of developing an innovative product that cross-golf did not yet exist in Italy, a ball for “off road” golf. From this experience, the Oldrati Group begins to think and focus also on the production of highly innovative golf balls.
Although a golf ball may seem like a simple and banal sphere, it actually contains very complex technological solutions within it. The Oldrati Group takes up the challenge and gets to work to create a ball of high-tech materials completely “made in Italy”.
Right from the start, the R&D department of the Oldrati Group studies the different technologies available on the market, the materials and the processes. After the very thorough initial study phase, the Oldrati laboratories develop different specific production processes as well as different compounds, each of which with unique physical and chemical properties. All with the ultimate goal of obtaining the best results on the pitch.
As the R&D department developed the different compounds and defined the most suitable production technologies, the Oldrati team created batches of balls to have them tested in the driving range. For this purpose, during the trial phase, Oldrati developed collaborations with the best specialists on a national basis and TrackMan© was also used, a monitoring tool that evaluates and measures the different parameters of the shot. Among the various aspects evaluated, the working group focused on the analysis of the typical indicators of flight of the ball (for example shot length, rotation speed, exit angles, smash factor, …) and swing (for example club speed, impact speed, characteristic angles, …), but also on the player’s feeling during the impact as well as on the visibility of the ball. These evaluations were carried out by comparing all the different technologies tested, in total eight cycles of development in the laboratory, production and field tests were carried out. For each cycle, 3 further compound versions were developed and evaluated. The commitment was important, in fact each work cycle is equivalent to about four months of work by a multidisciplinary team.
The test phase was not based only on the comparison between the various technological solutions generated internally by the Oldrati Group, but also on the analysis and comparison with the offer on the market in terms of ball technology. The working group has in fact compared the O-range both with other range balls but also with game balls, so as to have more complete performance parameters.
The results showed that this innovative golf ball, the result of innovative materials and with a very thorough applied research on production processes, is able to offer professionals and golf lovers the opportunity to train on the driving range with a innovative ball “made in Italy” with performance and feel comparable to game balls.
“We like challenges and are proud to be able to make our know-how available to introduce innovation in sectors that need our technological skills. Working in synergy, collaborating with end users, in this case players and golf instructors, is an approach we believe in and which has so far allowed us to introduce innovative and highly technological solutions to the market that really meet the needs of our customers.
Thanks to this experience, I can also add that we have started a collaboration with an innovative startup that will soon be launching balls on the market with completely new solutions and that will allow innovative experiences for golf players! ” – declared Manuel Oldrati, CEO of the Oldrati Group.
Oldrati Group Press Office
CHILIPR
Simone Contini – s.contini@chilipr.it
+39 348 4845980
Chiara Dini Ciacci – c.diniciacci@chilipr.it
+39 335 8387253
Villongo (Bergamo), 05 June 2020
