When we receive a press release announcing that the new Pinnacle Distance golf ball is now the official ball of the World Long Drive Tour, we tend to raise an eyebrow.
When we learn that Pinnacle is now the official golf ball partner of, and a presenting sponsor for, the World Long Drive Tour, we tend to raise the other one.
Many of you probably aren’t old enough to remember but there was a time when Pinnacle was one of the top-selling balls in golf. As recently as 1994, the Pinnacle Gold held a roughly 17-percent market share. Fast-forward a few decades and the Pinnacle brand has become a budget-price afterthought in the Acushnet ecosystem.
Today’s news is a signal that Acushnet wants to pump some new life into the old brand by teaming up with the World Long Drive Tour. After all, if you want to promote a ball called Pinnacle Distance, teaming up with guys whose job is to hit the ball a freaking mile is a marketer’s dream.
Why is Pinnacle/Acushnet doing this?
The obvious answer seems to be to make the Pinnacle brand relevant again. Acushnet spent several months trying to find out what golfers in the target audience wanted.
“What came back is golfers were looking for a high quality, consistent, low-cost golf ball,” Acushnet Golf Ball Product Manager Courtney Walsh tells MyGolfSpy. “From a performance perspective, they were really focused on distance above all other attributes.”
The good news is that Pinnacle already had a ball that fit that particular bill. The bad news is that it was known as the Pinnacle Rush which doesn’t scream distance. The obvious move, especially at the sub-$20 price point, is to rebrand the Rush as the Pinnacle Distance.
That’s when serendipity joined the party when the World Long Drive Tour approached Acushnet about a partnership.
“Going into 2025, we wanted to establish a true partnership with a golf ball company,” says World Long Drive Chief Commercial Officer David Livington. “The ball is the only consistent part of our sport. We wanted to work with a partner that could provide a ball that allows us to showcase our athletes and their performance.”
World Long Drive + Pinnacle = Distance
The deal between Pinnacle/Acushnet and the World Long Drive Tour is straightforward. As of this weekend’s season-opening event, the Clash in the Canyon in Mesquite, Nev., the Pinnacle Distance will be the Tour’s official competition ball.
Additionally, Pinnacle will be the presenting sponsor for three World Long Drive events this season. That includes the Bluff City Shootout in Memphis, the Rocky Mountain Rumble in Colorado as well as this weekend’s event in Mesquite. Pinnacle will also be the official sponsor of a fourth event, the Fight at the Fort in South Carolina.
In total, the World Long Drive Tour will have nine events in the U.S. this year along with others worldwide.
Pinnacle is also signing reigning World Long Drive Champion Sean Johnson and World No. 4-ranked Jack Smith as brand ambassadors.
“The biggest thing I look for in a ball is one that holds up to our power,” Smith tells MyGolfSpy. “For us, it’s purely about distance so I’m looking for a ball that can translate the speed I put into it.”
In case you’re wondering, Smith’s highest recorded swing speed is 160 mph and his personal best ball speed is 238.7 mph.
“When you’re hitting it this hard, consistency is important,” he says. “You could have the fastest golf ball in the world but if it’s inconsistent, it’s like a sniper with inconsistent powder in his shells.”
The folks at Acushnet made sure to tell us that all Pinnacle balls are made at Ball Plant 2 in New Bedford, Mass., and are held to the same quality standards as Titleist golf balls.
Don’t Think. Just Rip
The Pinnacle brand was established by Acushnet back in 1980 as a Surlyn-covered alternative to balata-covered Titleist. Originally a high-compression competitor to Spalding’s Top-Flite, Pinnacle proved to be a very popular choice for recreational golfers for the next two decades. However, as golf ball manufacturers developed better solid-core technology, the brand faded into the pack of low-cost, low-compression, low-technology golf balls.
“This partnership presents us with an opportunity to reintroduce Pinnacle to golfers who remember it,” explains Walsh. “It also presents an opportunity to engage with golfers who are new to the game. Partnering with World Long Drive opens up a completely different segment of golfers to interact with.”
Pinnacle even has a new Long Drive (and maybe Crash Davis) inspired tagline: Don’t Think. Just Rip
As mentioned, the Pinnacle Distance golf ball is a rebrand of the older Pinnacle Rush. It’s about as basic a golf ball as you can get: a solid synthetic rubber core with a Surlyn cover and a 332 icosahedral dimple pattern to keep it up in the air. Acushnet isn’t publishing any compression information but we do know that the Bridgestone e9, the World Long Drive Tour’s previous official ball, was listed at 75.
For what it’s worth, MyGolfSpy measured Pinnacle’s range ball at 95.
Pinnacle Distance golf balls: Price and availability
The Pinnacle Distance goes on sale this weekend at retail and online. They’ll be available in white and yellow and will retail at $19.99 for a 15-ball pack.
For more information, you can visit the Pinnacle website.
Dennis Beach
1 year ago
I would think the compression would be more like something close to 90, or at least 85ish.. Especially if they are touting a soft cover, for a little greenside control. The Rush went far, but was difficult to control around the green, and the Soft, well, it was soft, so hopefully the Distance is a mix of the two, but is firm enough to give good distance, and soft enough to give decent control around the green. And, no ‘tarriffs’ to affect the price! Made in the U.S.A.!!