Western New York has another golf ball company trying to make a name for itself. Aced Golf is a Rochester-based company that burst onto the scene in 2020, with three lines of golf balls. In 2021, the company added additional product, and is poised to grab some market share in 2022. We had an opportunity to interview co-founders Judd Simon and Pat Little, to find a bit more about what makes Aced Golf the top card in the deck.
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- Tell us a bit about yourselves, and how you got started in the golf ball business.
– We have two co-founder owners Pat Little and Judd Simon. They met while playing in golf leagues at Harvest Hill in Orchard Park and quickly became friends through their mutual love for the game. Pat is a practicing trial attorney and business law professor and lives with his wife and dog Rory in Rochester. Judd works in real estate development and lives with his wife and daughter, Alexis, on Glen Oak in Buffalo. We started Aced Golf so that we could do something we truly enjoy and be able to share that with our fellow golfers. We want to do our part to help the sport grow by offering lower prices on golf essentials so that beginners and experienced golfers can have access to professional quality balls and apparel without the expensive price tag.
- You have three models of golf balls. Can you break down their strengths for the different golf populations?
-Absolutely! The “Gold” model ball is our least expensive option and is perfect for beginners or higher handicapped players. The swing speed needed to compress the ball on impact is the lowest so that players who cannot swing the club as fast can still get improved distance.
The “Platinum” balls are designed for less spin on tee-shots and have a three piece urethane cover. Mid to low handicap players who currently use a ball like a ProV1 or a Tp5 would enjoy using our Platinum balls. Especially because you will get similar performance and quality at a much lower price per dozen.
The “Diamond” balls are a four-piece ball for low to mid handicap players who want a ball to give them spin and feel around the greens. If you like to be able to shape your shot into the green or spin a wedge back to stop the ball quickly this is the ball for you. Players who use a ProV1x will enjoy this ball.
We have a ball selection tool on the site to help players decide which ball is best for them, but if anyone ever has questions they can send us a message and we will personally help them make the best choice for them.
All of the balls will give the durability and performance needed to enjoy the game and the lower prices lets players lose a couple balls throughout the round without hurting their wallets.
- Following up on that, any plans to add a fourth line of golf ball, or tweak one of the three current ones?
-We are always taking feedback from players, researching and testing to bring the best balls for less to golfers. We do have plans for additional balls going forward and will make changes as we hear from more and more players as they test our balls for themselves. We have tons of ideas and cannot wait to show everyone what we have to offer going forward!
- Talk about your role in the community in Rochester, NY. How do you connect, give back, support your hometown?
-We have tried to support not only Rochester but also Batavia, Buffalo and all of Upstate New York. We play in a league at Terry Hills and try to spread the word about reasonably priced golf options everywhere we go. As an attorney Pat helps provide pro-bono legal work and teaches a college business law class locally. He also created a group in law school to provide golf clubs and lessons for anyone to learn to play at no cost and works with groups to help plan golf tournaments and outings as well.
- Working through the website, we came across the Apparel tab. Quite a bit of gear is available. What ultimately convinced you on the Aced Golf look?
-The Aced Golf look is a collaborative effort that starts with a lot of discussion and back and forth between the owners and then gets finalized after some feedback from their wives, friends and fellow players. We have so many ideas for future apparel and equipment. We have some prototypes in development and hope to be able to make them available to everyone soon!
- Lots of golfers in the north play through the winter. Is there winter apparel on the way, or should we just wait until spring?
-Last year we played in December and February in New York and even had a round in late April with snow on the fairways and greens! We definitely can appreciate the need for warm weather gear and hope to produce that for our fellow cold weather golfers soon! We wanted to produce the golfing essentials like polos, hats and balls first so that newcomers to the game could get everything they need to start from Aced Golf. As we grow we hope to be able to bring more specialized products like winter apparel and new designs to our current lineup to the market as well.
- Jumping on over to the Accessories tab, we see some cool hats, golf glove, and towel. How did you arrive at those four products as your inaugural offerings?
-We wanted to help a golfers find all the “essentials” on our Aced Golf site. It can be tough (for new golfers especially) to know where to start when getting everything you need to play the game. We wanted to provide a starter set of products and will continue to add new products in the future.
- Tell us what makes Rochester such a fantastic golf area? We have some ideas, but want to hear from the insiders.
-Rochester has so many high quality courses at accessible prices for players and a rich golf history with the area’s country clubs. The public courses maintain the fairways and greens like higher priced country clubs and provide a challenge without being too frustrating. The ones who are lucky enough to have the chance to play at the historic courses in Rochester know that they are some of the best golf has to offer anywhere in the Northeast.
- How does Aced Golf plan to involve itself in the local golf community and beyond?
-We hope to participate in events like the Rochester Golf Expo in March and will be trying to reach out to pro shops around the western New York area to have our merchandise sold around the state in more and more physical locations to build the brand in the future as we release more products.
