Deok-eun Kim, director of the Korea Archives (from left), Dana Heshu, president of the World Records Committee (WRC) judge, Woong-yeol Lee, honorary chairman of Kolon Group, and Hee-gu Jang, president of Kolon Industries, held at the Kolon Only & One Tower in Magok-dong, Seoul on the 14th. A commemorative photo is taken at the official record certification ceremony. Provided by Kolon Group
Honorary Chairman Lee Woong-yeol of Kolon Group resumed his external activities with a golf ball made of a new material. It has been more than three years since he stepped down from the front line of management in 2018. The explanation of Kolon Group is that Chairman Lee came up with the idea of applying atometal, a new high-elasticity material, to a golf ball.
Chairman Lee showed up at the ‘Atomax World’s Longest Distance Official Record Certification Ceremony’ held at Kolon One & Only Tower in Magok-dong, Seoul on the 14th. It has been three years and seven months since I sent a message to the executives and employees in November 2018, saying, ‘I will leave Kolon and return to the young Ung-Yeol Lee’. Chairman Lee, who appeared in a black jacket and jeans on that day, participated in the event while holding balloons among the executives and employees.
Atomax is a golf ball jointly developed by Kolon Industries, a chemical and materials affiliate of Kolon Group, with Atometal Tech Korea, a new materials affiliate established by Chairman Lee in 2018. Atometal with high elasticity and high repulsion is made in powder form and placed in the mantle layer, the center of the golf ball. The two companies received the world’s longest flying distance certification from the US World Records Commission (WRC) on the same day.
Chairman Lee himself came up with the business idea to apply Atometal to golf balls. When the research team was contemplating what to develop with atometal with high elasticity, Chairman Lee, a golf enthusiast, suggested, “Let’s develop a golf ball that flies far away.” He was the first to sign the giant Atomax golf ball that appeared at the certification ceremony that day. Chairman Lee wrote the phrase ‘pay4gain’. It means that if you want to gain distance, buy an Atomax golf ball (pay). He also encouraged the executives and employees by saying, “I hope that we will continue to research and develop so that we can continue to break our record.”
Atomax golf balls made of Atometal will be released in the second half of this year. A Kolon official said, “Compared to other brands of golf balls, Atomax can fly up to 270 to 280 yards, which is 15 to 20 yards more.
Atometal is an amorphous alloy that improves elasticity, hardness, and wear resistance by making the atomic structure of metal irregular. It is manufactured by mixing various metals, such as iron and chromium, and then rapidly cooling it to break the boundaries between crystals. Atometal Tech Korea has been using the Atometal mass production system since last year and is applying it to the aramid production line. Aramid, called super fiber, is used in optical cables for 5G (5G) mobile communication and tire materials for electric vehicles.
Chairman Lee did not attend the press conference following the certification ceremony. When asked if “Chairman Lee will continue to participate in the business in the future,” a Kolon official said, “I gave advice as a golfer.”
By Nam Jung-min, staff reporter peux@hankyung.com
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