Like a lot of kids interested in golf, Sean Foley worked at his local course growing up. Like a lot of kids who worked at their local course, Foley and his friends were hustlers, scouring ponds, waste areas and rough for rogue golf balls they could resell.
“When we found Maxflis we knew we were going to make some money—it was the premier ball at that time,” Foley said. “… We were selling them in the parking lot like hot dogs at Shea Stadium.”
Founded in 1910 by Robert H. Maxwell, the brand whose name is an amalgamation of its founder’s surname and “flight,” was also very popular among the game’s best within the professional ranks, witnessed firsthand by Foley working on the driving range at the Canadian Open during its time at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
As an avid past user of the brand’s ball, Foley now finds himself in a full-circle moment as Maxfli’s latest brand ambassador, joining Lexi Thompson (LPGA) and Ben Griffin (PGA Tour).
The esteemed golf instructor whose résumé is a who’s who of golf greats including Tiger Woods, Lydia Ko and Justin Rose, will exclusively play the Maxfli Tour X golf ball.
“To be part of a brand that’s going to give you the same performance but at a cheaper price, that’s what I’m all about, especially at a time from a vertical structure inequality is expanding,” Foley said.
Foley’s addition to the Maxfli portfolio is the latest headline-making news from the century-old brand that has spent the past few decades finding its identity. As Maxfli grew into a prominent golf ball manufacturer, the company started expanding its products by introducing golf bags, clubs and other accessories but bounced from owner to owner.
It was acquired by Dunlop Slazenger in 1996, sold to TaylorMade-adidas in 2002 and then sold to Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2008.
Always around, particularly with its golf balls, Maxfli has returned to prominence lately in a big way. The brand sprung up with an out-of-left-field apparel capsule collection with Metalwood Studio in October 2024 after it added Thompson and Griffin as ambassadors.
Maxfli, which recently released its latest generation of golf balls with the Tour, Tour X and Tour S, also announced its first golf clubs in more than three decades with the XC2 and XC3 forged irons.
Forged from 1025 carbon steel with co-forged tungsten and ceramic weighting to enhance feel, weight and balance, the XC2 line sways closer to the player’s/player’s distance category while its XC3 counterpart is in the game-improvement category. Available exclusively in-store and online via Dick’s Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy starting April 18, these two iron sets cost $999.99 for seven clubs (4-PW).
“We’ve been working hard behind the scenes for a very long time and we just weren’t ready until the product felt like the best possible version of itself,” Maxfli brand manager Sara Scarlett said. “Coming off the success of the tour balls the past few generations, our team felt it was time to expand the product line and reintroduce irons.”
The XC2 and XC3 are the brand’s first irons since the 1990s after approximately 20 years of manufacturing their Australian blade golf clubs, first introduced in 1976.
Anticipating a two-year life cycle with the new irons, Maxfli is dutifully hard at work to expand its growing portfolio and products as more eyeballs return to the legacy golf brand and wonder: What’s next?
Regardless of what products it releases into the market, Maxfli’s M.O. remains the same by offering high-quality products for less.
“We’re always looking at how we can innovate and update,” said Quinn Sliker, Maxfli product development associate. “We’re always looking to see how we can elevate Maxfli to make it more premium but also be really accessible. You may see some stuff for us over the next couple of years that may fill some voids in some other categories.”
Michael LoRé 