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Remember these great golf balls of years past?

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When it comes to classic gear, few pieces of equipment stir up as much conversation as golf balls, especially in the modern era when talking about distance and short game control specifically. Just like clubs, they are carefully constructed and designed to fit certain swings and provide performance benefits for different types of golfers.

Some well-known brands have been around for over a half-century, and in the case of the Titleist Pro V1, has remained the staple by which all other modern golf balls have been judged. But this list isn’t about new, it’s about the forgotten.

Here are some of the forgotten greats of the past two decades.

Strata Tour Ace

Best known as the ball used by Jim Furyk to win the 2003 U.S. Open, the Strata Tour Ace was a four-piece urethane ball with a very soft cover that allowed for what Strata called “one hop and stop” spin around the greens.

One quirky way to quickly distinguish the Tour Ace from other balls in the Strata lineup was the use of card suites instead of numbers to identify balls that came in a sleeve—it also allowed you to really flush one (dad joke, I’ll see myself out).

Maxfli Revolution Solid

Introduced in the early 2000s to compete with the Pro V1, the Maxfli Revolution Solid was engineered to provide improved distance without sacrificing approach or around-the-green spin. It was a three-piece ball that featured an oversized core and urethane cover. What also made the Maxfli Revolution interesting is that its main endorser was none other than Jack Nicklaus.

TaylorMade InerGel

The golf ball made more famous for its packaging than its performance, the InerGel was the first TaylorMade golf ball to market. What really made it stand out was the plastic tube the balls came in to help prevent them from being exposed to moisture (hey, it was an angle).

TaylorMade R&D estimated that golf balls had the potential to lose as much as six yards in distance by being exposed to moisture and this was one way to prevent that from happening. Although it was never a big seller, the InerGel tubes lived on for a long time carrying tees and other things in a lot of golfers’ bags.

Callaway HX Tour 56 (Hogan Tour Deep?)

The HX Tour 56 was the softer brother to the original HX Tour (also referred to as the HX Black) and offered an extremely soft feel and higher spin around the greens. The Tour 56 was introduced the second year after Callaway bought Top-Flite, its manufacturing plant, and all its IP—why do I bring this up?

Here’s where it gets interesting. At the time of introduction, Hogan was still owned by Callaway Golf and they were producing both Hogan and Callaway branded clubs and balls. One of the key design features of the HX Tour 56 were six strategically placed deeper dimples around the ball to help with aerodynamic stabilization. You know what other ball has this feature? The Hogan Tour Deep, the only difference being the HX Tour 56 has the patented HX dimple pattern while the Hogan had the traditional round dimples.

Were they the same ball with different dimple patterns? I can’t 100 percent confirm, but considering how much R&D goes into a ball design, and that these arrived at almost the same time, I would put a few bucks on it.

Precept Lady

You could argue the Precept MC Lady was the ball that changed the way average golfers thought about compression. It was introduced late 1999 as strictly a value ($20 a dozen) ball designed for women with slower swing speeds, Precept really didn’t even market it. By late 2000 it set the golf world ablaze to the point of many shops having a hard time keeping them in stock—it was the number two selling ball at retail behind the $40/dozen Titleist Pro V1.

It was a two-piece ball that performed way above its price point and the softer compression kept spin down and created longer flying straighter drives that average golfers only dreamed of. Technically the Lady still exists today as the Laddie under the Bridgestone brand (Bridgestone owns Precept).

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Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

20 Comments

20 Comments

  1. Ewald

    Oct 17, 2020 at 6:33 am

    Anyonr know what the Strata tour ace specs were ie construction materials, compression etc?

  2. Joe

    Mar 20, 2020 at 10:48 am

    Dating myself, but I recall as a beginning golfer the Penfold Ace, the Acushnet Club Special,and the Spalding “Green Eyes” ( a green dot on either side of the number), which were always in plentiful supply in a large glass jar on the pro shop counter

  3. MikeB

    Mar 20, 2020 at 10:45 am

    NIKE DD & TW, although the DD was the better ball of the two. Callaway SR series 1,2 and 3. SR1 being the softest and SR3 being the firmest. Played the SR3 up to a year and a half ago when my hoarded supply ran out. Dicks kept selling them for $20/doz, had more dozens of them than toilet paper!

  4. ChrisJ

    Mar 20, 2020 at 9:55 am

    What about the Tour Edition that was played by Greg Norman that would spin off the planet?
    Also the Precept EV Extra Spin, and the Top Flite Z Balata

  5. DAVID J. CLEMENT

    Mar 20, 2020 at 9:54 am

    Going back a bit further – to the 1960’s and ’70’s – I was always glad to find a MaxFli “Blue Max” out on the course as a kid. Remember that the George Peppard movie was out then about WW1 German fighter aces?

  6. Steve Cantwell

    Mar 20, 2020 at 9:15 am

    Things I recall…the Precept Lady was a great cold weather ball. Balata balls had wonderful feel off the club face (putter included)….but “thinning” one would result in a big ol’ smile (cut). Balata balls could also become out of round after 36 holes of golf. Gosh, we here making comments are old!

    • Joe

      Mar 20, 2020 at 10:38 am

      Some of those balata balls were out of round tight out of the box

      • joro

        Mar 20, 2020 at 11:01 am

        The Black Maxfli was one that was a great ball if you got a good one, but some were so out of round they looked like stones.

  7. David Arbuckle

    Mar 20, 2020 at 8:47 am

    Nice story and can relate to those remembering even more balls. Did anyone ever appreciate the Dunlap ball with the different divots? It corrects in flight! I have arguably the largest collection of logo balls and have given away more than 15,000 balls to friends, charities and anyone who respects the game, and really enjoy the difference in the various balls. PS, am not a good enough golfer to get mad.

  8. Jeff

    Mar 19, 2020 at 3:35 pm

    This list could be a lot longer. Where are the Precept U-Tri Tour, Callaway Hex Red; Maxfli M3, Strata Tour, TM TP Red, Nike ONE Gold, Top Flite ZBalata?

  9. 15th Club

    Mar 19, 2020 at 2:50 pm

    You do a great job on these “Remember this old equipment” stories. They are always well done and entertaining.

    This is no exception.

    But I have to say that apart from some curiosities with branding and marketing, and some things that had nothing to do with Tour golf (like the Precept Lady) golf balls have always been to me the least interesting, least comprehensible things in the game.

  10. Acemandrake

    Mar 18, 2020 at 10:00 pm

    I’ll always remember being pleasantly surprised by the Wilson Staff ball in the 1990’s.

    They were great and I couldn’t understand why no one talked about them.

    • Rich Douglas

      Mar 19, 2020 at 2:12 am

      They had one version labeled “Balata,” but I’m pretty convinced it was artificial, not real, balata. Imagine a two-piece ball with a balata cover. Oh, my!

  11. juanny

    Mar 18, 2020 at 9:50 pm

    Tour Prestige was a great ball too despite getting shredded by the third hole.

    Loved the Stratas and the Wound Maxfli Rev.

    I found two dozen inergel’s in my garage a few weeks ago, sans plastic cases, and threw them on ebay and they sold for $25 which I thought was strange.

  12. Brandon

    Mar 18, 2020 at 6:10 pm

    What was the deal with those goofy ping balls that were 2 different colors and felt like rocks?

    • Swirley

      Mar 18, 2020 at 8:45 pm

      I had one that was Green and Neon Yellow. Needless to say, i hit one in the rough that landed neon yellow side down.

  13. Big Earl

    Mar 18, 2020 at 3:03 pm

    Cool article! Always fun to get nostalgic.
    Maxfli revolutions were my jam back in the early days. Also finding a DT wound 80 or 90 was really exciting!

    • Nihonsei

      Mar 20, 2020 at 8:47 am

      +1 for Revolutions and the side stamp predecessor to lining up for putts perfectly. Do I remember an arrow at least on one side of the Revolution print?

  14. Gunter Eisenberg

    Mar 18, 2020 at 12:58 pm

    As I remember correctly, the Maxfli Revolution solid wasn’t as revered as the original wound version. Most of the technology that you see in Callaway’s current tour level balls are derived from Strata and Ben Hogan when Callway bought Top Flite in 2003 and their patents.

  15. BillyG

    Mar 18, 2020 at 12:57 pm

    Lady. Yeah!

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Whats in the Bag

Chesson Hadley WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 70 TX

3-wood: Titleist TSR2+ (14.5 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

Irons: Titleist T200 (3), Titleist 620 CB (4, 5), Titleist 620 MB (6-PW)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 105 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball
Grip: Odyssey

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Check out more in-hand photos Chesson Hadley’s clubs here.

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Whats in the Bag

Gary Woodland WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Cobra Darkspeed X (8 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 70 M5

  • The white circle that appears at the top of the face a removable sticker that’s used for launch monitor tracking, and Woodland removes it for competition!

3-wood: Cobra Darkspeed X (14 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 GW100 Prototype

7-wood: Cobra LTDx LS prototype (20 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 GW100 Prototype

Irons: Wilson Staff (18 degrees), Cobra King MB (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper Limited X

Wedges: Cobra SB (48), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-08F, 56-14F), Cobra King (60)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper Limited X (48 degrees), KBS Tour V-Ten 125

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 3.0P

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

See more in-hand photos of Gary Woodland’s WITB in the forums.

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Equipment

Q&A: Martin Trainer on his Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers” putter, 6.5-degree driver, and “butter knife” 2-iron

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As unbiasedly as I can put it, Martin Trainer has one of the coolest club setups in professional golf. (At some point soon, I’ll put together a top-10 list of “coolest club setups on Tour,” but I know that Trainer will be in the top-10)

What a lineup. He plays a 6.5-degree Wilson prototype driver, a 13-degree Wilson prototype 3-wood, a true blade Wilson Staff Model 2-iron, and a Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers Commemorative” putter!

 

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I mean, look at this 2-iron from address…

To quote the great author R.L. Stine: “Goosebumps.”

On Wednesday at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open, I caught up with Trainer to learn more about his bag setup.

Here’s what he had to say:

You have the Internet going crazy over your bag setup, and your putter. Where’d you pick the Bobby Grace-Greg Chalmers putter up? How long have you had it?

MT: This was from when Bobby Grace came to my course in California: Cal Club. And for whatever reason, they just started having them in the shop. So then I took my buddy’s, started using it, and made, like, a million putts in a row, which is how every putter story begins, I guess.

And then, I bought a couple of my own, used it for years, got to the Tour with it, won on Tour with it (the 2019 Puerto Rico Open). Then, about a year later, started using another putter, did that for a couple years, but now it’s back in the bag.

When did it come back in the bag?

MT: December of this past year. So a few months ago.

What year would you say was the first time you threw that in the bag, or, like, when you bought it?

MT: God…Probably, 2016, maybe? 2018?

Do you remember how much you paid for it?

MT: I don’t know, actually. Maybe $100-150 bucks or something. I think that’s the only golf club I’ve bought between high school and now. Well, two, since I bought two of them.

The driver is interesting, too. What went into the prototyping process?

MT: That was a version of the current driver, but it was the prototype that they first came out with for Tour guys to try. And for whatever reason, I just never switched out to the new one.

It’s just 6.5 degrees, right?

MT: Yeah. Very low loft, yeah.

What kind of ball speed do you have with that these days?

MT: Like high 170’s.

Yeah, that’ll work. And then a 2-iron blade? We’re seeing fewer and fewer of those out here.

MT: Yeah. The butter knife.

Very cool thing to have in the bag. Have you done any testing with driving irons? 

MT: Yeah, I used to have a thicker one, but it was a little offset, and I never hit it that well. And then finally, I started messing around with the butter knife. And I remember the first time I looked down at it, I was terrified. And then I ended up getting used to it, putting it in play, and it’s been in place since. It’s a pretty good club for me.

How far do you carry that? 

MT: Like 235.

A good little wind club, I’m sure.

MTL Yeah, exactly. I can hit it very low. It’s great.

I love it. You have people shook looking at that. Thanks for the time, man. 

MT: Absolutely.

To see more photos and discussion of Trainer’s bag, click here.

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