New Zealand GolfCross

Apparently, once you get rid of all that putting nonsense, the notion that golf balls need to roll clearly becomes obsolete. As we all know, it's not the putt, but the flog after which golf is conversely named. Hence, the invention the oval golf ball and birth of New Zealand GolfCross. A small step for golf, you say. Yes, but a giant step for golfkind.

Burton Silver of New Zealand has taken the flogging part of golf to the next level, inventing not only a new kind of golf ball and a new kind of non-hole-in-the-air and what might very well prove to be whole new game.

It turns out that an oval golf ball is reportedly far more condusive to both not-rolling, and more controllable flogging. According to the official NewZealand GolfCross site, the ovality of the ball allows you to:

1. Hit the ball straight every time.
2. Perform controlled slices and hooks with ease.
3. Adjust the degree of fade or draw you require.
4. Generate backspin — even with a wood or out of the rough.
5. Apply top spin to achieve long low running shots and,
6. if you really want to show off, do double curves and play tunes.

Says Mr. Silver:

“It seems strange and sad to me that we don’t do more to encourage a spirit of innovation in sport. Because inventing new activities and getting people to participate in them is so exciting and stimulating for all concerned. It always leads to new discoveries about our physical and mental capabilities and skills, and it presents us with new challenges, which is surely what sport should be about.

“It’s my belief that the creation of the new in sport is as important as the celebration of the old. That actively experimenting with sport and staging new events challenges human ingenuity and reinvigorates the human spirit and I’d love to think that GolfCross® may in some way act as a kind of catalyst in encouraging us to explore all the other new sporting challenges that are just waiting to be discovered out there.”

Hi ho, Mr. Silver!