Tomorrow Golf focuses on sustainable golf balls.
With the start-up Tomorrow Golf, the two Austrians Raphael Blasi and Lukas Peherstorfer are venturing into a difficult market. They offer golf balls, which are by far more sustainable than the balls otherwise currently available on the market. “People are attaching more and more importance to sustainable products,” explains Lukas, “we saw that there was another slot.”
Production in Europe
The two amateur golfers, who otherwise work in banking and online marketing, are working with a Spanish golf ball manufacturer to recycle balls. For balls collected from the water by divers, the skin and core are separated, the masses pulverized, and then processed into new cores. A new outer layer is then added. “In this way we save around 39 grams of new synthetic rubber per ball. That is almost 90% of the weight of a golf ball,” the founders sum up.
This also distinguishes the Tomorrow balls from the usual dipped balls on the market, which are known in the golf scene under the term lakeball. Here the ball is usually only prepared and repainted, for example.
Plastic-free packaging and CO2 compensation when shipping
The Austrians are also breaking new ground when it comes to packaging: this consists of 65 percent grass paper and 35 percent cardboard. “The packaging is completely plastic-free, and that’s extremely important to us,” sums up Lukas Pehersdorfer. The packaging tape is also made of paper. Shipping is CO2-neutral via Austrian Post. “We calculate the CO2 emissions for every shipment in Europe and then offset them via a certified project in Colombia.”
Playing characteristics of the classic 2-piece ball
The question of the playability of the recycled balls remains? “The certification process that you can go through at the USGA or the R&A is extremely expensive,” explains Peherstorfer. “Because we are a very young company and have only been selling the balls for a few months, we decided not to do it for the time being. Of course, our balls comply with the rules laid down by the USGA and R&A and can therefore be used by all amateurs without any problems.” According to the two owners, the Tomorrow ball is a classic 2-piece ball that can be used by most golfers.
The idea for sustainably produced golf balls came about during the Corona crisis. “We simply had more time for such ideas,” sums up Lukas Peherstorfer. The online shop for the balls then opened in August 2021. Since then, the start-up owners have had ball fever.
