May 12, 2003 - For Precept, Tour players are more than just endorsers; they are R & D experts, product testers and consumers. So when Stuart Appleby, Justin Leonard and Nick Price said they needed a ball with a little more distance off the tee but with optimal spin and feel, the engineers at Precept responded by creating the new U-Tri family of golf balls. The newest addition is the U-Tri Tour, a three-piece, seamless urethane-covered ball that offers the ultimate in Tour-level performance.
Before the beginning of the 2003 PGA Tour season, Appleby, Leonard and Price decided to play the U-Tri line of balls. Precept's engineers created several different prototypes for them to try, all with varying combinations of distance, spin and feel. After thorough on-site testing at Precept's ball plant and tournament testing on the PGA Tour, the ball that fit most perfectly with their swing speeds and desired performance characteristics was the U-Tri Tour. As proof, consider that the first time Price teed up an early prototype version of the U-Tri Tour, he finished tied for third and averaged 295.3 yards off the tee (71.4% accuracy), after averaging just 272.7 during the 2002 season. Or consider that in just his third tournament with the prototype version of the U-Tri Tour, Leonard won the Honda Classic.
"We designed several models for them to try," said Stephen Graham, Precept’s Senior Director of Sales, "and the U-Tri Tour was the ball that offered these guys the most optimal combination of distance, spin and feel."
The U-Tri Tour is a perfect example of the Player's Eye philosophy, which Precept uses to gain valuable insight into what golf equipment performance characteristics are desired. The Player's Eye philosophy involves using Tour staff players as well as all levels of amateurs to test golf clubs and golf balls in order to find out what each level of player needs and wants in a driver, an iron, a wedge and, of course, a golf ball. Utilizing this philosophy, Precept learns what improvements can be incorporated into existing products as well as what performance features need to be included in future products-all in an effort to provide golfers with the best possible tools for the game.
As a result of the Player's Eye philosophy, Precept created the U-Tri Tour, which features Dual Muscle-Fiber Technology for explosive launch and soft feel off the tee; Seamless Cover Technology™ (SCT) for consistent trajectory; and a Thermoplastic Urethane (TPU) cover for optimal spin and touch around the greens. The U-Tri Tour also features a slightly softer core for more feel and utilizes 368 dimples in a trigonal trapezohedron pattern to provide a piercing, wind-boring trajectory and additional spin around the greens.
"The challenge with the U-Tri Tour was to optimize spin and feel based on Tour player feedback without losing any distance," said Graham. "Based on the success we have had with our soft-core balls - the MC Lady, Laddie and now Lady (Diamond) - our engineers knew by softening the core and cover to a certain degree, they could optimize spin and feel without losing any initial velocity at impact. The end result is the U-Tri Tour, a high-performance golf ball designed by our Tour players that all golfers can enjoy."
Currently, Appleby, Leonard, Tim Petrovic and Price are using the U-Tri Tour on the PGA Tour and Tom Watson is using the ball on the Champions Tour. In addition, Shigeki Maruyama and Hidemichi Tanaka are using a Japanese version of the U-Tri Tour on the PGA Tour (different face markings).
