36 replies to this topic

[sigep1967]

I hit at a range that uses "pick up" balls for lack of a better term lol. Every now and then you will find a old titliest  professional or balata in the bucket. I cherish these find as the feel is just so much better than todays balls.
Last night I was hitting a bucket and had taken out my old Macgregor Muirfields just for fun. I should just put them in the bag nd play them LOL. Anyway hitting that old balata was just so pure and I didn't care that is was lumpy and out of round which made it fly a little funky that feel too me is what a golf shot should feel like!!! I sure wish they were still made. I would play them score be damned.

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[farmer]

Those old wound balata balls were the best feeling balls ever made.  I've got a sleeve of Titleist Pro's I used to use carpet putting, but the feel was so off from what I use in the real world that I finally quit using them.  If I owned a golf store, I would find all the old balata's I could and they would be all the balls on my putting area.  Every putter would feel great.

[sigep1967]

Found another one last night dang I wish they still made them

[nova6868]

I sure don't miss when you would balloon a wedge up into the wind and watch the ball zip back 30 feet off the green.

[TPG1971]

nova6868, on 24 October 2018 - 09:07 AM, said:

I sure don't miss when you would balloon a wedge up into the wind and watch the ball zip back 30 feet off the green.

Yeah, that was terrible, but not as bad as hitting one with the old Staff Blades and putting a smiley face in it. That went into the shag bag... shag bag, they still around?

[elwhippy]

Nostalgia is a wonderful thing but old balata balls were a nightmare. Went out of shape, easily marked and cut and went nowhere into a headwind. I enjoy getting several rounds out of a Z-Star or V1 and not a few holes.

[sigep1967]

elwhippy that is most certainly true but man do they feel good coming off the club lol.

[farmer]

elwhippy, on 24 October 2018 - 10:34 AM, said:

Nostalgia is a wonderful thing but old balata balls were a nightmare. Went out of shape, easily marked and cut and went nowhere into a headwind. I enjoy getting several rounds out of a Z-Star or V1 and not a few holes.

Absolutely right.  Compared to modern balls, those wound balata's were terrible balls.

[vietnameeh]

The best feeling is when you blade a brand new Titleist professional/prestige/balata or maxfli revolution....  might as well throw that thing in the water and crying you just wasted a $4 ball lol

[farmer]

I once saw some video or tape of Andy Bean literally biting the cover off a Titleist ball.

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[me05501]

I practice at a range where you'll sometimes get an old Molitor ball with the straight rows of dimples.

[Justsomeguy]

I found a brand new Tp5 in the range bucket today. 1st teebox slices into the range. Score!

[wobgon]

So how much did you pay them for that ball?

[vietnameeh]

me05501, on 25 October 2018 - 02:15 PM, said:

I practice at a range where you'll sometimes get an old Molitor ball with the straight rows of dimples.

I blame my finger arthritis to those and the original top flite XLs lol

[NRJyzr]

elwhippy, on 24 October 2018 - 10:34 AM, said:

Nostalgia is a wonderful thing but old balata balls were a nightmare. Went out of shape, easily marked and cut and went nowhere into a headwind. I enjoy getting several rounds out of a Z-Star or V1 and not a few holes.

I found the urethane covered Maxfli HT-100 were much better at staying round, and definitely avoiding the smiley factor.  Found a few dozen several years ago, still have a sleeve or two.  

Played the HT exclusively for a few weeks this summer.  I was able to get a few rounds with just two balls, switching them from hole to hole.  But eventually, even the HT went out of round and I was forced to set it aside.  It was subtle, but there; could really see it when putting.

I think Duo Urethane might be the best replacement, but even those feel firmer than the wound stuff.

[sigep1967]

I loved the urethane Maxfli HT-100 and yep I now am playing the Duo Urathane as it is the closest  have found feel wise to the old wound balls but even as soft as it is just not the same.

[JHR]

Those old balls were great. I loved the Professional, Tour Balata and Revolution. The original Tour Prestige was also a really good ball, kind of a cross between the Professional and the Balata. I still have a few of each of those balls. I also have a few dozen Pro V1 Star balls. They didn't make the Star very long but I kept a few.

[morgan1819]

Duo's, TruSofts, Noodle Easy Distance, etc.  They all feel about as soft and schmoopy as you would want a golf ball to feel.  No reason to search out old Balata's.

..

[Gary Gutful]

morgan1819, on 31 October 2018 - 03:50 PM, said:

Duo's, TruSofts, Noodle Easy Distance, etc.  They all feel about as soft and schmoopy as you would want a golf ball to feel.  No reason to search out old Balata's.

..

Agree. Definitely something that is still available.

Not a feel I particularly like these days. Need to have at least some level of response.

[Stanks]

I manage to find a lot of different golf balls in my range buckets at my local spot.

TP5, 5x, PRO V1s, Pinnacles, Nikes of all sorts, an occasional Callaway, and a few others. I haven't found a wound ball or liquid core ball but, I know they're around on the course I have walked by one playing but didn't know if someone just sent a shanker.

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[WidespreadPanic]

Is that a sleeve of the Callaway CB1 Blue I see?!?! Those are the balls I played growing up and I was in love with them. They felt so good off the putter. I have no idea if they were good balls or not (at my age it didn’t really matter) but I thought they were the best.

I also loved the TM Inergel as well.

Edited by WidespreadPanic, 02 November 2018 - 09:43 AM.

[JHR]

WidespreadPanic, on 02 November 2018 - 09:41 AM, said:

Is that a sleeve of the Callaway CB1 Blue I see?!?! Those are the balls I played growing up and I was in love with them. They felt so good off the putter. I have no idea if they were good balls or not (at my age it didn't really matter) but I thought they were the best.

I also loved the TM Inergel as well.

The CB1 was another good ball. Most of these " older " balls were balls that I had ordered as give away balls to my customers. I usually bought whatever was the new/ hot ball on the market.

[CISM Wayne]

JHR, on 31 October 2018 - 02:36 PM, said:

Those old balls were great. I loved the Professional, Tour Balata and Revolution. The original Tour Prestige was also a really good ball, kind of a cross between the Professional and the Balata. I still have a few of each of those balls. I also have a few dozen Pro V1 Star balls. They didn't make the Star very long but I kept a few.



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JHR, on 31 October 2018 - 02:36 PM, said:

Those old balls were great. I loved the Professional, Tour Balata and Revolution. The original Tour Prestige was also a really good ball, kind of a cross between the Professional and the Balata. I still have a few of each of those balls. I also have a few dozen Pro V1 Star balls. They didn't make the Star very long but I kept a few.



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Those pictures sure bring back memories.  I remember being at college and having to choose between a sleeve a Balatas and some other weekend distractions.  Often wonder if I made the wrong choices...  

[Cwebb]

JHR, on 31 October 2018 - 02:36 PM, said:

Those old balls were great. I loved the Professional, Tour Balata and Revolution. The original Tour Prestige was also a really good ball, kind of a cross between the Professional and the Balata. I still have a few of each of those balls. I also have a few dozen Pro V1 Star balls. They didn't make the Star very long but I kept a few.



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The ProV1 "Star" was the original version of the 'X'.  A lower spin ProV1.  If I recall, they were around for about 1 year or so in 2002.  The 'X' came out in '03

[hm59]

Cwebb, on 07 November 2018 - 08:00 PM, said:

JHR, on 31 October 2018 - 02:36 PM, said:

Those old balls were great. I loved the Professional, Tour Balata and Revolution. The original Tour Prestige was also a really good ball, kind of a cross between the Professional and the Balata. I still have a few of each of those balls. I also have a few dozen Pro V1 Star balls. They didn't make the Star very long but I kept a few.

The ProV1 "Star" was the original version of the 'X'.  A lower spin ProV1.  If I recall, they were around for about 1 year or so in 2002.  The 'X' came out in '03

Man, seeing this brings back some memories. They came out around the same time as the 983K driver came out. Those two together were way longer off the tee than anything else in those days. Back when you could line up a ProV on the "seam" to make it go straighter, or at least that's what we thought.

[shot-savior]

The balata ball was all I played in the 70's.  Although I couldn't afford to, based on condition I needed to change balls every six holes...and that's if I wasn't being particular.  You could literally put a shallow cut in the cover by pulling it out of the cart's ball holder.

That being said, the ball felt like it stayed on the face forever with such soft feel transmitted to the hands.  Off a persimmon it was like slapping a foam mattress.

[Cwebb]

hm59, on 25 November 2018 - 10:35 AM, said:

Cwebb, on 07 November 2018 - 08:00 PM, said:

JHR, on 31 October 2018 - 02:36 PM, said:

Those old balls were great. I loved the Professional, Tour Balata and Revolution. The original Tour Prestige was also a really good ball, kind of a cross between the Professional and the Balata. I still have a few of each of those balls. I also have a few dozen Pro V1 Star balls. They didn't make the Star very long but I kept a few.

The ProV1 "Star" was the original version of the 'X'.  A lower spin ProV1.  If I recall, they were around for about 1 year or so in 2002.  The 'X' came out in '03

Man, seeing this brings back some memories. They came out around the same time as the 983K driver came out. Those two together were way longer off the tee than anything else in those days. Back when you could line up a ProV on the "seam" to make it go straighter, or at least that's what we thought.

Yeah,....Ernie Els was the most notable early in that '03 season, with a big distance increase from the combo of the V1x and the 983 driver.  If we look at the average driving distances on tour, that was the year where it really jumped up in general.  Was the point where ball and driver technology really came together and more players were getting an understanding of optimal higher launch and lower spin

Edited by Cwebb, 25 November 2018 - 12:13 PM.

[starsail85]

Cwebb, on 25 November 2018 - 12:09 PM, said:

hm59, on 25 November 2018 - 10:35 AM, said:

Cwebb, on 07 November 2018 - 08:00 PM, said:

JHR, on 31 October 2018 - 02:36 PM, said:

Those old balls were great. I loved the Professional, Tour Balata and Revolution. The original Tour Prestige was also a really good ball, kind of a cross between the Professional and the Balata. I still have a few of each of those balls. I also have a few dozen Pro V1 Star balls. They didn't make the Star very long but I kept a few.

The ProV1 "Star" was the original version of the 'X'.  A lower spin ProV1.  If I recall, they were around for about 1 year or so in 2002.  The 'X' came out in '03

Man, seeing this brings back some memories. They came out around the same time as the 983K driver came out. Those two together were way longer off the tee than anything else in those days. Back when you could line up a ProV on the "seam" to make it go straighter, or at least that's what we thought.

Yeah,....Ernie Els was the most notable early in that '03 season, with a big distance increase from the combo of the V1x and the 983 driver.  If we look at the average driving distances on tour, that was the year where it really jumped up in general.  Was the point where ball and driver technology really came together and more players were getting an understanding of optimal higher launch and lower spin

Yeah Ernie picked up about 50 yards overnight that season , I remember the tournament of champions , he was hitting everything 350-400 yards .... didn’t seem to have the same distance a year later ...almost wierd

[elwhippy]

What would be interesting is a manufacturer re-making wound balls with 2018 technology....new material for the windings and a new style dimple pattern. Add in a urethane cover for durability...….

[NRJyzr]

starsail85, on 26 December 2018 - 02:45 AM, said:

Cwebb, on 25 November 2018 - 12:09 PM, said:

hm59, on 25 November 2018 - 10:35 AM, said:

Cwebb, on 07 November 2018 - 08:00 PM, said:

JHR, on 31 October 2018 - 02:36 PM, said:

Those old balls were great. I loved the Professional, Tour Balata and Revolution. The original Tour Prestige was also a really good ball, kind of a cross between the Professional and the Balata. I still have a few of each of those balls. I also have a few dozen Pro V1 Star balls. They didn't make the Star very long but I kept a few.

The ProV1 "Star" was the original version of the 'X'.  A lower spin ProV1.  If I recall, they were around for about 1 year or so in 2002.  The 'X' came out in '03

Man, seeing this brings back some memories. They came out around the same time as the 983K driver came out. Those two together were way longer off the tee than anything else in those days. Back when you could line up a ProV on the "seam" to make it go straighter, or at least that's what we thought.

Yeah,....Ernie Els was the most notable early in that '03 season, with a big distance increase from the combo of the V1x and the 983 driver.  If we look at the average driving distances on tour, that was the year where it really jumped up in general.  Was the point where ball and driver technology really came together and more players were getting an understanding of optimal higher launch and lower spin

Yeah Ernie picked up about 50 yards overnight that season , I remember the tournament of champions , he was hitting everything 350-400 yards .... didn't seem to have the same distance a year later ...almost wierd

He went from 281 to 303, his "regression" was to 298

Edited by NRJyzr, 26 December 2018 - 10:00 AM.

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