|
Bridgestone and golf…
Although most famous for its tyres, the Bridgestone Corporation does make a
number of other high performance products, including golf balls.
As well as hosting the third round of the 2010 Formula One season, won by
Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel, Malaysia is one of several
locations for Bridgestone golf ball production.
 In
the build up to the Grand Prix, Bridgestone Motorsport supported Bridgestone
Tyre Sales Malaysia to celebrate its tenth anniversary, by combining golf
and Formula One in the MD Cup Anniversary Challenge ‘Drive for Charity’ golf
event.
[further details of this event can be found at:
http://www.bridgestonemotorsport.com/Bridgestone/en-gb/Championships/Formula1/News/Monkey+business+on+the+golf+course.htm.]
Formula One drivers Rubens Barrichello, Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen
attended, as well as Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, Hiroshi Yasukawa.
As a keen golfer, Mr Yasukawa was able to draw parallels between
Bridgestone’s golf and motorsport activities.
“Bridgestone has a long history in golf and has been producing golf balls
for almost as long as we have been making tyres. Our founder, Shojiro
Ishibashi, had a great passion for golf, and this has continued through the
company he founded.
“Golf is a sport which rewards patience and a good tactical mind. Just like
motorsport, it is a sport where you have to persevere to achieve good
results.
“Many Formula One drivers enjoy and appreciate the game of golf, and it is
always pleasurable for Bridgestone as a company and myself personally when
we are able to combine our passions for this sport, especially when a
charity benefits.”
The celebrating of Bridgestone Tyre Sales Malaysia’s tenth anniversary with
a golf event was particularly relevant as Bridgestone golf balls are made in
Malaysia. Bridgestone made its first tyre in 1930, and produced its first
golf balls in 1935. Today, both Bridgestone’s tyres and golfing products are
respected worldwide.
“Although we are most famous for our tyres, our golf products have made a
very good impression on those who use them,” says Yasukawa.
Just as a tyre may look as if it is a relatively simple item to an
uninitiated eye, a golf ball is also actually a highly sophisticated item
too.
Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, Hirohide Hamashima,
also a keen golfer, explains some of the similar aspects between a golf ball
and Formula One.
“Golf balls are crucial to good performance on the fairway, just as tyres
are crucial to good performance on the race track.
“Starting with the outside of the ball, just like in Formula One,
aerodynamics are very important, and dimple pattern can influence flight
trajectory. Bridgestone golf balls have Seemless Cover Technology, SCT,
which means there is a constant dimple pattern around the ball, without a
seam, which helps consistency when the ball is struck.
“When the ball is struck, it deforms, just like a tyre deforms when it is
under load. A high speed photograph of a golf ball being hit will show that
the ball flattens next to the club, and this makes a larger contact patch to
transmit the power from the club into hopefully forwards motion from the
ball.
“This is very similar to a racing tyre under load, which deforms under load
to make a bigger contact patch with the road. The contact patch of an F1
tyre when static is around the size of a postcard, but when under load it
increases to around the size of an A4 piece of paper.
“There are other similarities. Both are multi-layer constructions. The
different layers in our golf balls fulfil distinct requirements in the same
way that the different layers of our tyres do, and the relationship between
these different layers ultimately determines overall performance.
“Our tyres and our golf balls require very precise manufacturing to ensure
consistent and reliable performance. The enjoyment of this quality is
something that all golf players and Bridgestone tyre users can enjoy every
day, whether they are a Formula One driver or not.”
Bridgestone is now in its fourteenth season of supporting Formula One, and
its branding can be seen not only on its tyres, but also on the cars, driver
overalls and circuit signage. In golf, Bridgestone supports many top golfers
such as Fred Couples, Lee Trevino and Brandt Snedeker as well as the World
Golf Championship event, the Bridgestone Invitational, held at the Firestone
Country Club.
“Bridgestone has been a proud supporter of motorsport and of golf for many
years, and this support has helped many people understand and appreciate our
products,” says Yasukawa. |
