When it comes to innovation that helps make golf —and life—better, 3M Science is par for the course

From the world’s best golfers to the amateur looking to lower their handicap, a lot goes into bettering your game. It takes a combination of practice, patience, confidence and having equipment that gives you an edge.

The smallest enhancements to tools golfers rely on each round can make a huge difference in elevating their game. Players are asking for enhancements and golf manufacturers are listening. For some, turning to 3M Science has helped deliver longer drives, lower club vibrations and straighter putts that every golfer wants.

Abrasives. Adhesives. Glass Bubbles. These may not be the first things you think of when holding a golf club. But believe it or not, these 3M technologies improve everyday life by helping make cars with smaller carbon footprints and keeping homes cooler on hot, sunny days. The same technologies also help elevate your golf game.

Josh Duhamel, Hollywood Icon and 3M Open Ambassador, takes us inside the 3M Innovation Center to learn more about this 3M Science.

3M Adhesives: Strong enough for the best swings on the PGA Tour

You might be surprised to hear where 3M Adhesives show up in your world. From helping to bond windows into tall buildings – or skyscrapers – to holding together intricate metal panels on creative architectural designs around the world, if it has to hold, 3M Science is designed to make it stick. And when it comes to building airplanes, vehicles…even wind turbines, 3M Adhesives help these complex, multi-material machines hold fast without getting heavy.

Another place where strength matters is in golf clubs, where up to 4,000 lbs. of force can be applied from a driver to a ball. 3M Adhesives and Tapes are used in club assembly, bonding various components and materials of the club head together and the club head to the shaft – helping your club resist damage from the intense physics of the game.

However, great golf takes more than a strong swing. When it comes to a winning putt, sound and distance are highly correlated. With 3M™ VHB™ Tape, golf manufacturers can fine-tune the sound on putters by using various densities of 3M™ VHB™ Tape, helping you find the right touch to hit the bottom of the cup. That’s music to the ears of golfers everywhere.

3M Abrasives: Powering precision and predictability in your golf game

Whether in your tee shot or your sand wedge, consistency is key to a great golf game. Part of driving that consistency in your clubs is ensuring a polished, precise finish. Abrasives like 3M™ Trizact™ Finesse-it™ Film Discs help make this possible with a micro-engineered surface built from micro-replicated structures that polish to precise, predictable finishes. While golf is life for many, these same 3M™ Trizact™ Finesse-it™ Film Discs also help create the smooth, precise finishes that help make car exteriors shine and artificial hip joints swing freely. So, whether you’re driving to the course, walking the back nine post-replacement surgery or cozying up to the pin out of a bunker, 3M Abrasives help you do it smoothly.

3M Glass Bubbles: Tiny bubbles. Going the distance.

A fleet of jet aircraft that can fly further using less fuel. Cars with a smaller carbon footprint. Paints that help keep homes cooler on hot, sunny days. They all have one tiny, amazing thing in common: 3M™ Glass Bubbles. Incredibly light and surprisingly strong, these stupendous spheres are found in all kinds of places – from the greens of a golf course to the edge of space, and everywhere in between.

The secret? These hollow glass microspheres (which are thinner than the width of a human hair) have incredibly high strength and extremely low density. This means they not only help make objects lightweight, but also strong (some can withstand up to 30,000psi)!

That’s why golf club manufactures have looked to 3M™ Glass Bubbles to improve club performance in innovative ways. The material allows them to shift weight around in the clubhead, thus changing the center of gravity and moment of inertia. This weight shift can increase the golf club head’s lift upon contact with a ball and minimize twist–tiny tweaks which can have huge impacts on a player’s golf game. The hollow glass microspheres have also been put into vibration-reducing resin to decrease weight without dampening its ability to lessen rattle.

Josh’s quest for a better golf game leads him to TaylorMade Golf Company where he learns how 3M Science and TaylorMade innovation help create revolutionary golf clubs.