Lawsuit Takes A Swing At Golf-ball Manufacturer

In the world of golf, Karsten Manufacturing is a huge name. During the last 20 years, the Phoenix company, run by a man named Karsten Solheim, has sold millions of clubs, putters and bags, all under the name Ping. But golf balls have never been Karsten's strong suit.

In the world of golf, the Yardley Ball Corp. is a tiny name. During the last 20 years, the Bucks County company, run by a man named Duncan Pollitt, has attempted - largely without success - to produce a golf ball that will go longer and straighter than golf balls now on the market.

For a while, in 1987 and 1988, Karsten was intrigued by Yardley, and Solheim and Pollitt were in business together. But last month, Karsten Manufacturing filed a lawsuit against Yardley Ball in federal court in Phoenix.

In a 13-page complaint, Solheim maintained that he gave Pollitt $60,000 worth of equipment and $125,000 in development money. All he got back, according to the suit, was a "nearly useless" 38-pound batch of a supposedly secret zinc salt compound called Z-Max that, when mixed in the core of a golf ball, was supposed to create a ball that would fly far and straight.

Pollitt, who says the complaint is "filled with half-truths, non-truths and scurrilous misrepresentations," objects to the complaint's chief allegations:

* That Pollitt's "allegedly unknown and highly secret Z-Max" was readily available.

* That Pollitt was "notorious in the golf ball industry" and that he ''had attempted to induce numerous other Eastern U.S. golf ball manufacturers to use his allegedly secret Z-Max zinc salt."

* That Pollitt used part of the development money "to refurnish and remodel (his) home and for personal vacation travel."

* That the performance of the Pollitt-designed ball did not set records but performed "significantly below acceptable limits."

"Either he's a fraud who's trying to get money out of us, or he's an innocent who doesn't know what he's doing," said Bert Haynes, Karsten's manager of patents and trademarks.

Pollitt said Karsten has the situation 100 percent backward.

"The complaint contains a great many willful distortions, misrepresentations and patently untrue statements," said Pollitt. "It simply ain't true."

In a sworn affidavit, Pollitt said, "I have never misrepresented Yardley Ball, its products or its technological capabilities in any way."

Pollitt said in the affidavit that he never said Z-Max was secret. "From my discussions with Karsten representatives in the fall of 1987, I know that Karsten was fully aware of the history and development of zinc salt golf ball technology," Pollitt said.

Pollitt said that when he pressed for a written contract, a Karsten employee told him that would be unnecessary. Pollitt also said his understanding was that the equipment was to be his.

On Friday, Pollitt's attorneys filed a motion to have the case dismissed.