Golf has always been a sport that lends itself well to technological innovation. In terms of flow of the game, golfers go from static to explosive movement rapidly and consistently. This bodes well for engineers to specifically design hi-tech equipment and measuring systems to help golfers perform their best.
During The Masters this weekend Danny Lee and Danny Willett, two players on the first page of the leaderboard after day one, and seventh-ranked Henrik Stenson are using clubs designed by Boeing engineers.
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Boeing and golf may not be two things often associated in the minds of sports fans but the American aircraft engineering company has deployed four of its engineers over the past year to work on a side project with Callaway Golf that resulted in the creation of the new XR16 Driver.
Essentially, the concepts of a golf club traveling through the air are similar to those of an airplane in flight. Aerodynamics are key in both fields but working on golf clubs give the skills of some world-class engineers a little more recognition and something fun to do on the side.
“A driver or a sports product is used by a lot of people and they really value and appreciate the performance that they’re able to get from it,” said Jeffrey Crouch, a Boeing senior technical fellow, to WKYC news in Cleveland. “That’s unlike a commercial airplane where a lot of the value and the performance improvements are hidden from the typical passenger.”
Check out the video below to see the full scoop on this interesting golf and engineering partnership: