Nick Raffaele kept a secret in the palm of his hand as he walked away from the practice range at Bethpage Black during the U.S. Open. He opened his fingers just enough to reveal a golf ball that looked like any other, except for the script.

“Hogan.”

A Ben Hogan golf ball had not been used on the PGA Tour in years, only this wasn’t a relic Raffaele was holding. The company’s director of tour relations had a prototype that was two weeks away from being launched.

“This is going to be something special,” Raffaele said.

Hogan, best known for its forged irons, made a re-entry into the premium golf ball market with the Apex Tour, a four-piece ball designed for greater distance off the tee but with an unusually soft feel around the greens.

Len Mattiace won the St. Jude Classic the week Apex Tour made its official debut. It was the second victory of the season for Mattiace, who until this year had never won on the PGA Tour in seven full seasons.

His maiden victory came in February at the Nissan Open. That, too, was a prototype of the Apex Tour ball, even though the label said “Strata” at the time.

“It was amazing how it happened,” Mattiace said. “I had been playing the Strata and was looking for something with a little more spin around the greens. The guys at Spalding said, ‘Why don’t you try this ball?’ That was on Tuesday at Nissan. It was exactly what I was looking for, and I had one of my best weeks ever.”

It was Mattiace’s victory at the Nissan Open that made Spalding Sports Worldwide realize the golf ball was good enough to attach the Hogan name.