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Can packaging improve one's golf game?

An innovative plastic 'sleeve' keeps golf balls fresh while providing an excellent barrier to distance-robbing moisture.

Taylor Made?s Moisture Block? sleeve is said to protect golf balls from absorbing moisture, which causes velocity loss in the b
Taylor Made?s Moisture Block? sleeve is said to protect golf balls from absorbing moisture, which causes velocity loss in the b

Golf balls made with a solid core and soft cover can absorb moisture that will affect ball performance, says Dean Snell, golf ball development manager for Taylor Made Golf. So when the Carlsbad, CA-based company sought a package for its new Inergel(TM) golf balls, it wanted a barrier container.

Called airtight, this first-of-its-kind plastic sleeve, developed by Taylor Made and consultant The Baxter Group (Sherman, CT), keeps the new balls fresh and dry. Blow-molded from a blend of high-density/low-density polyethylene, the HDPE keeps moisture out while the LDPE provides flexibility. The sleeve, which received a patent in March, is called Moisture Block(TM).

"The phenomenon of velocity loss over time has been downplayed by competitors over the last few years," says Snell. "But I can guarantee it's true." He claims that moisture absorbed by balls packed in conventional paperboard folding cartons over one year can shorten a drive by 12 to 14 yards. The plastic sleeve exhibits an MVTR of below 0.4 g/100 sq"/24 hr.

Moisture Block is extrusion blow-molded by Progressive Plastics (Cleveland, OH) using shuttle equipment. Molds emboss the Taylor Made logo on each of the two flat sides, which permit stacking. Progressive also applies labels to each of the curved panels of the container. The pressure-sensitive labels are 2.5-mil polypropylene, screen-printed and hot-stamped with foil by CCL Label (Rosemont, IL).

Once loaded with three golf balls, the sleeve is sealed with a cap that is custom injection-molded by ScottEk Manufacturing (New Milford, CT) of the same blended material as the container. The cap is screen-printed by ScottEk and by Permanent Label (Clifton, NJ).

The one-of-a-kind machine for filling and capping the sleeves was custom built by The Baxter Group in about five months. "The basic concept was modeled after any standard packaging line, but in this case there were certain needs that required special applications," says Dave Cistone, technical director at The Baxter Group.

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