The Brand
One of the game's
greatest heritage brands.
A performance brand with history, credibility and a growing presence.
One of the game's
01 / From the beginning
A benchmark
from the start.
The roots of Maxfli stretch to the early 20th century. Under the Dunlop umbrella in the early 1920s, rubber specialist Albert Penfold developed a golf ball that quickly established itself at the elite level. By the 1923 Open Championship, historical research suggests about 75 percent of the field played Maxfli, including champion Arthur Havers.
This was never simply another ball manufacturer competing for shelf space. Maxfli became one of the game’s benchmark performance brands. The name later expanded into equipment and accessories: golf bags arrived in the 1960s, while the famous Australian Blade irons launched in 1976 and remained in production in various forms into the 1990s.
02 / The Australian connection
Chosen by the
players who defined it.
Few countries developed a stronger relationship with Maxfli than Australia. Greg Norman was the centrepiece: the world’s No.1 for 331 weeks and one of the most recognisable sportsmen on the planet.
Norman credits the ball’s flight, spin, consistency and feel around firm Sandbelt and links greens. He played Maxfli during some of the most important years of his career, including his 1993 Open Championship victory at Royal St George’s.
Yet the connection reached deeper. Marsh, Parry and Allenby carried Maxfli around the world. For Allenby, the memory is emphatic: “They had the best product in the world, golf ball and golf clubs. I even named my dog Max after Maxfli.”
03 / At the summit
One of golf’s
biggest names.
By the early 1990s, Maxfli’s HT Balata was one of the premier balls in professional golf. Norman used it. So did Fred Couples, Jack Nicklaus and Fuzzy Zoeller; Tom Watson joined the roster. At the beginning of 1995, Maxfli trailed only Titleist in tour usage and was closing the gap.
The HT Balata offered the softness, feel and greenside control demanded by the world’s best. It was a ball for shot-makers, revered before launch monitors became commonplace and ball fitting developed into a science.
Then, on January 17, 1995, the Great Hanshin Earthquake devastated the Kobe region of Japan. Dunlop’s Kobe factory, home of the HT Balata, suffered significant damage. Production stopped just as golf-ball construction was entering a technological revolution.
04 / The modern chapter
History opened the door.
Performance brought it back.
Maxfli moved through ownership changes before joining Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2008. The name never disappeared, but its position changed. The rebuild has not relied on history alone.
When Lexi Thompson signed to play a Maxfli ball in 2024, the golf world noticed. Ben Griffin followed after testing showed the Tour X producing roughly seven additional metres while maintaining comparable performance around the greens. Griffin’s breakthrough 2025 season included Maxfli’s first PGA Tour victory in more than two decades.
The current Tour family - Tour, Tour X and Tour S - is engineered around distinct launch, spin and feel characteristics. Maxfli also returned to clubs with the XC2 and XC3 forged irons in 2025, its first new iron families in more than 30 years.
05 / Coming home to Australia
A return that
simply feels right.
From early October, Maxfli is set to launch exclusively through The House of Golf, reconnecting the brand with a market where its history runs especially deep.
For The House of Golf CEO and Co-owner Michael Button, the relationship is personal. At 12 years old, he collected Greg Norman’s statistics inside the ropes during the third round of the 2000 Australian Masters at Huntingdale. After the round, Button was given a Maxfli ball Norman had used.
“Greg Norman was my hero. Getting to spend four hours inside the ropes was a dream. The fact that I will now reintroduce Maxfli to the Australian market feels a bit surreal, and simply feels right.”
— Michael Button
For one generation, Maxfli means Norman at his peak, Australian Blades and balata balls. For another, it may mean Thompson and Griffin. For golfers discovering it in 2026, Maxfli does not need to be a trip into golf’s past. It can simply be a very good golf product.