Bridgestone Golf

October 6, 2005

BRIDGESTONE GOLF’S NEW e5 AND e6 BALLS ALLOW AMATEURS TO CUSTOMIZE THEIR DISTANCE

The new offering of golf balls include the e5, a unique 2-piece Urethane cover ball and the e6, an ultra soft multi-layer golf ball

Covington, Ga. — Following up on the successful launch of the Bridgestone Tour B330 and B330-S golf balls targeted at tour professionals and better players, Bridgestone Golf announced today that they will extend their golf ball offering with the introduction of the e5 and e6 balls. The e5 and e6 balls are specifically engineered for mid-skilled players looking to maximize their distance.

“When choosing which golf ball best fits a player’s game, so much is made of swing speed, but really swing speed is only part of the equation,” said Shunsuke Tayama, Golf Ball Marketing Manager, Bridgestone Golf, Inc. “Actually driver spin plays an important role in determining trajectory and distance. Our goal was to develop golf balls that optimize trajectory to maximize distance for a broader range of amateur golfers.”

With the e5 and e6 golf balls Bridgestone has divided the universe of players into two specific categories of spin and trajectory patterns, those who hit a low trajectory tee shot that limits carry and those who lose distance as a result of too much sidespin in the form of a slice or hook. The Bridgestone Golf engineering team has created a golf ball to address each of these tendencies in the e5 and e6.

The e5 story

The e5 golf ball is targeted at players who want higher trajectory off the tee for more distance and Tour soft feel around the green.

The Bridgestone e5 golf ball is a two-piece urethane cover ball, featuring a seamless 432-dimple pattern. Seamless Cover Technology™ (SCT®) is a superior alternative with complete dimple coverage compared to conventional balls that have a seam that may cause unexpected differences in ball flight. SCT creates added distance and a more consistent ball flight for pinpoint accuracy.

The e5’s construction is unique in the marketplace, providing the distance of a two-piece ball combined with the precision soft feel and backspin of a Urethane cover.

The new Large Kinetic Energy Core generates higher initial velocity for explosive launch and impressive distance. But that’s not all. The new Grip and Grab Urethane Cover delivers optimized spin off the driver, as well as superb backspin and feel on approach and finesse shots. Urethane covers are typically reserved for Tour caliber balls. Making this technology available to a broader range of players is a true innovation.

The e6 story

The e6 golf ball is targeted at players who are currently losing distance off of their tee shots as a result of a hook or slice caused by too much sidespin.

The Bridgestone e6 golf ball, an ultra soft multilayer construction, utilizes a new core, cover and the patented SCT (seamless) 330-dimple design to offer golfers straighter shots, and thus more distance.

The Soft Kinetic Energy Core is designed to deliver consistently better feel on all shots and an optimum launch angle off of the tee for maximum carry. That combined with the Linear Velocity Inner Layer, which is designed to generate extremely high resilience and reduce sidespin off of the driver, means straighter and longer drives.

The Bridgestone e6 features a Soft and Control Surlyn® cover which delivers great feel on approach and chip shots.

“Our golf ball engineers have done it again,” said Dan Murphy, Senior Director of Marketing, Bridgestone Golf, Inc. “We are excited to see how the new technologies will be received by this segment of the golf market. We recognize that not everyone hits the ball like a Tour Pro and we are proud to introduce the e5 and e6, so that players of all skill levels can customize their distance.”

The Bridgestone e5 and e6 golf balls will be available at golf specialty stores and green grass retailers nationwide, beginning November 15th, 2005. Both balls will feature a suggested retail price of $38 per dozen and a street price of $25. For more information on the e5 and e6 and entire Bridgestone Golf offering, visit www.bridgestonegolf.com or findTOBU.com from mid November.