Tempe-based company DnA Golf has introduced a new golf club into the market, and with its new patented technology, their Alpha 610 driver is changing the face of golf… literally!

DnA Golf’s Alpha 610 Driver is the only detachable-face driver on the market. What does that mean? Well, a golfer can replace the club’s standard, USGA conforming face with a thinner face (as part of their upgraded “amp” performance kits) that will customize the driver to get more distance off the tee, all based on swing speed. The slower the swing speed, the thinner the face you want to help maximize distance. It’s that simple.

The big question in the golf circles is whether this “hot” club is against the so-called “rules”. Well, technically, the answer is yes and no. The Alpha 610 comes with a standard face plate that has already been approved by both the USGA and the R&A, the governing bodies of golf in the U.S., Mexico, and more than 126 countries throughout Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific and South America. So golfers have the option to play the club as conforming, or can get fitted for an aftermarket face and face insert to customize the club for optimal distance. The faces are easily interchangeable also, so if you are playing in a tournament sanctioned you can switch it out in just a couple of minutes.

But really, how many people play in USGA sanctioned events or play by all of the Rules of Golf anyway. This is for the recreational golfer, who is playing with his buddies looking to have fun with the game of golf.

“Technology has constantly changed over the years to make sports equipment better and that’s what we are trying to do for the golf industry,” said Howard Lindsay, CEO of DnA Golf.  “We certainly support the Rules of Golf for tournament players but most recreational golfers are just looking to have fun on the course. Is it any different than taking that breakfast ball off the first tee, or improving your lie out of the desert? At DnA Golf, we don’t think so, and we think many people feel the same way we do.”

DnA Golf was formed in August of 2009 and introduced the Alpha 610 to the market earlier this year. The company is a subsidiary of Vyatek Sports, a business started by Lindsay in 1999 that specializes in designing high-end sports equipment for leading brands like Wilson, Louisville Slugger, Rawlings, Scott USA, Invacare, Indigo, Zai, Titus Cycles and Santana Tandems. Now he is trying to do the same thing in the golf industry with DnA Golf.

When it comes to technology and sports equipment, Lindsay is no rookie.  He has a mechanical engineering degree from ASU, and he spent a number of years working in the aerospace industry, where he made composite missile motors that carry nuclear warheads around the planet. Lindsay is now using that mechanical engineering expertise to increase performance in sports equipment using better technology.

“The aerospace industry is all about making things lighter, stiffer and stronger, and in the world of high-end sports equipment, it’s the exact same challenge,” Lindsay said.

The concept for the first DnA Golf driver was hatched in 2002, when automaker BMW asked Lindsay and Vyatek Sports if they could develop a golf driver worthy of BMW’s “Ultimate Driving Machine” tagline. Lindsay relished the challenge, and that resulted in the creation of a radical new driver that was highly “tunable” and had the look, sound and performance of a well-made German car.

That led to what is now known as DnA Golf’s Alpha 610 Driver. Just like the initial prototypes made for BMW, the Alpha 610 can be customized, or “tuned”, for each individual golfer. The detachable face and elastomeric face insert allows a player to not only tune their driver for distance, but for desired acoustics as well – the two criteria that are critical to driver performance. 

Even the look of the driver can be customized. Each driver includes a custom logo that is tastefully implemented on the crown of the club. DnA Golf already has a licensing agreement with the NBA, and has pending agreements with other professional sports teams and colleges. Other logo options include the main branches of the military, corporate logos, charities and golf courses. Logos can also be placed on the premium headcover.

The golf club industry is a tough one to break in a new product, and Lindsay knows he has a battle going up against the big-time golf manufacturers like Ping, Callaway and Titleist. But he also knows that in this world of ever-changing technology, people are always looking for that next best thing, and that is what DnA Golf is trying to do with the technology behind the Alpha 610 Driver.

“Recreational golfers will look for any advantage they can get while on the golf course, and if they can customize a driver to help increase their distance, I think that’s a plus,” Lindsay said. “That is our main goal – creating a product that can help people enjoy the game more and help grow the game of golf.”

With the state-of-the-art technology behind the Alpha 610 Driver, DnA Golf is on the right track to accomplish that.

If interested in trying out an Alpha 610 Driver, you can visit Cool Clubs, the authorized club-fitting partner of DnA Golf here in the Valley. At Cool Clubs you can demo the Alpha 610, and you can purchase one and get fitted at their Scottsdale facility (by appointment). Or, if you purchased online at www.dnagolf.com or from another independent distributor, you can still bring in your driver to Cool Clubs and get fitted for a different Amp face.