Vintage Balls

[CBECH22]

I am new to this forum but have taken a liking in vintage clubs since i bought a cheap set on Ebay last summer. I love to play vintage clubs and see how well i can shoot with them compared to my gamer bag. But I have seen a lot of posts about different vintage clubs, and since I havent been around for long I dont know if this question has been previously been discussed, but do any of you guys play vintage balls or have a stash of vintage balls that you have? I know they would be pretty hard to get your hands on a lot of them, but i have had some vintage balls such as spalding or old Top Flite balls that go in and out of my bag. What a vintage ball in my mind consists of what you see in the movie the greatest game ever played.

 

Do any of you guys play some balls like this or have a stash at home?

 

What are some good balls that you would call the ProV1's of the past?

 

Feel free to post pictures, i would love to see whats out there!

[oldschoolrocker]

Do a search, or browse around this section. There is a ton of information to be found.

[Woodridge]

Welcome to the forum.

Goodwill is the best bet for vintage balls unless you want to do the eBay thing. A lot of times they don't clean the balls out of old golf bags, so you can find a decent haul in some of them.

[CBECH22]

[quote name='oldschoolrocker' timestamp='1437417601' post='11986004']
Do a search, or browse around this section. There is a ton of information to be found.
[/quote]

Aye aye, thanks for the info, ill take a look around!

[CBECH22]

[quote name='Woodridge' timestamp='1437420549' post='11986512']
Welcome to the forum.

Goodwill is the best bet for vintage balls unless you want to do the eBay thing. A lot of times they don't clean the balls out of old golf bags, so you can find a decent haul in some of them.
[/quote]

Figured Ebay would be the best bet, thank you!

[BIG STU]

Glad to see you made it over here!!

[CBECH22]

[quote name='BIG STU' timestamp='1437427580' post='11987502']
Glad to see you made it over here!!
[/quote]

I told you that you would see me soon :P

[dan360]

Anything balata. They don't last long and some people claim old balls are dead. Haven't noticed that myself.

Titleist Professionals and the Maxfli HT's are great modern balata type balls with some durability.

[CBECH22]

[quote name='dan360' timestamp='1437432756' post='11988032']
Anything balata. They don't last long and some people claim old balls are dead. Haven't noticed that myself.

Titleist Professionals and the Maxfli HT's are great modern balata type balls with some durability.
[/quote]

Yeah, i did some searching on ebay and around the forums for vintage golf balls and saw that balata was very common. I guess hitting vintage golf balls is not as common as i thought it would be but it makes sense because the durability of them are less than now days. But i appreciate your information!

[dan360]

[quote name='CBECH22' timestamp='1437434833' post='11988266']
[quote name='dan360' timestamp='1437432756' post='11988032']
Anything balata. They don't last long and some people claim old balls are dead. Haven't noticed that myself.

Titleist Professionals and the Maxfli HT's are great modern balata type balls with some durability.
[/quote]

Yeah, i did some searching on ebay and around the forums for vintage golf balls and saw that balata was very common. I guess hitting vintage golf balls is not as common as i thought it would be but it makes sense because the durability of them are less than now days. But i appreciate your information!
[/quote]

Some people like to play them because of their vintage characteristics. High spin, feel, etc. It's been said touring pro's could knock them out of round with high swing speeds. I know you can about peel the cover off with your fingernail if you get violent with 'em.

Others seem to think the older balls are easier on a persimmon wood. I guess all those rock hard Titleist DT-90s, Top Flites, and Pinnacle Golds weren't?

Found a Kro-Flite in the rough today. Doesn't look like it had been there long. Brought back some memories.

[oldschoolrocker]

Every now and then you can find some in an old bag, but I have had better luck in the large bins at thrift stores. Usually if they are picked over, the older vintage balls are left untouched.

[CBECH22]

[quote name='dan360' timestamp='1437439351' post='11988822']
[quote name='CBECH22' timestamp='1437434833' post='11988266']
[quote name='dan360' timestamp='1437432756' post='11988032']
Anything balata. They don't last long and some people claim old balls are dead. Haven't noticed that myself.

Titleist Professionals and the Maxfli HT's are great modern balata type balls with some durability.
[/quote]

Yeah, i did some searching on ebay and around the forums for vintage golf balls and saw that balata was very common. I guess hitting vintage golf balls is not as common as i thought it would be but it makes sense because the durability of them are less than now days. But i appreciate your information!
[/quote]

Some people like to play them because of their vintage characteristics. High spin, feel, etc. It's been said touring pro's could knock them out of round with high swing speeds. I know you can about peel the cover off with your fingernail if you get violent with 'em.

Others seem to think the older balls are easier on a persimmon wood. I guess all those rock hard Titleist DT-90s, Top Flites, and Pinnacle Golds weren't?

Found a Kro-Flite in the rough today. Doesn't look like it had been there long. Brought back some memories.
[/quote]

All that makes a lot of sense. Thats why i was thinking about vintage balls because when i take out my vintage clubs i want to get the full effect and see how well i can play compared to my gamer bag. Its more of a pride thing rather than a use a modern ball for better performance. But that makes sense that the older balls would be easier on wooden clubs and help out with keeping the clubs in good condition.

[guisician]

Hickory golfers have these:

https://www.mcintyregolf.com

Is anyone similarly making / marketing balata-era replicas? Seems like an untapped market if not.

[fluffy265]

Did someone mention vintage balls.....

This is most of my stash at the moment, some great Balata, some good wound surlyn and a few others that aren't so great...

[attachment=2871982:coll01.jpg]

Everyones favourites... Titleist Tour Balata & Japanese DDH HT's

[attachment=2871984:FAV.jpg]

And my personal fav the early NZ made DDH. ( these can really dance!)

[attachment=2871986:NZDDH.jpg]

J

[CBECH22]

[quote name='guisician' timestamp='1437783016' post='12015270']
Hickory golfers have these:

[url="https://www.mcintyregolf.com"]https://www.mcintyregolf.com[/url]

Is anyone similarly making / marketing balata-era replicas? Seems like an untapped market if not.
[/quote]

That is a really unique site! This is exactly the type of balls I was thinking about when i posted this thread. I just love the history of these balls and how different the technology back in the day was compared to now. This was really cool to look at!

[CBECH22]

[quote name='fluffy265' timestamp='1437799852' post='12016668']
Did someone mention vintage balls.....

This is most of my stash at the moment, some great Balata, some good wound surlyn and a few others that aren't so great...

J
[/quote]

Wow, thats a really cool collection! Where did you get most of those? and how often do you play vintage balls?

[fluffy265]

[quote name='CBECH22' timestamp='1437933270' post='12022516']
[quote name='fluffy265' timestamp='1437799852' post='12016668']
Did someone mention vintage balls.....

This is most of my stash at the moment, some great Balata, some good wound surlyn and a few others that aren't so great...

J
[/quote]

Wow, thats a really cool collection! Where did you get most of those? and how often do you play vintage balls?
[/quote]

A lot the balls have been in the bags of old clubs I've purchased, or when I've collected the clubs the owners has said something like "There's a bunch of old balls here too".
I normally play Bridgestone B330S, because I like how they behave around the greens and I don't get any surprises from them. I usually carry a couple of Balata DDH's in the bag too, just in case I need a mental "pick me up" during a bad round.

My supply of Balata balls is obviously limited so I only really play them occasionally. However I play wound Suryln cover balls more as I have more stock. I've been experimenting with the DT90's, I love them off tee and with irons, yet I'm not a big fan them around the greens.

A ball that is quickly becoming a favourite of mine is the Japanese Maxfli Super 432NC, this ball is every bit as good as the B330S around the green, yet has the softness and performance from the tee and off the irons that I'd expect from a good wound ball, and all with no detectable performance loss during the round. Without knowing any better I'm inclined to think that this is a wound ball with a Urethane cover.

Can anybody shed any light on this ball? Was there an American release?

[attachment=2876256:RED432.jpg]

J

[stevemcgee99]

THE EXCELLENT WINDING BALL!

[NRJyzr]

Fluffy, that sounds very similar to the ball that was released here in the US as the M3 Red. It's one of the successors to the Revolution and A10, and a cousin to the Slazenger Players. There was also an M3 LT, aka M3 Black. The Red flew a little higher with a little less spin, the Black flew lower, allegedly with a little more spin (LT = low trajectory).

There were also some prototype variants of the M3 Red floating around, with slightly different dimple configurations.

The M3 balls were a large solid core with a thin layer of windings. The stupidity of the US marketplace dictated they disappear, because people couldn't use a ball that was remotely close to "wound." Idiots. (of course, people also think the Pro V1 is "the standard," can't expect them to have a clue)

I absolutely loved all those Maxfli balls, hunted them for years after they were discontinued. Amazing around the greens, great in the wind, they had it all.

edited to add: the Maxfli balls were all urethane covers

[oldschoolrocker]

Agree on the Maxfli balls. Still my all time favorites.

[NRJyzr]

Back in Ye Olde Dayes....

Occasional WRX poster MCoz used to provide ball reviews on the GEA forum. He had a group of good players who would test many balls over a decent length of time. A few years in a row, Maxfli balls were always on top in the test. This drove the Title-heads crazy, they couldn't believe anything would be better than their precious ProV1, so it must be a biased test, he must own Maxfli stock, blah blah blah.

Still makes me laugh.

It was even funnier when the reformulated Strata Tour Pro was the top ball. They still whined about Maxfli bias. LOL

Amusingly, a friend of mine was a Pro V1 user. For his bday one year, I got him a dozen Srixon ZStars, something to try that was different. He noticed an immediate improvement in performance, and his scores actually dropped while he was using them. He saw the same thing with the TaylorMade Penta TP3.

Another bit of amusement for me.

[oldschoolrocker]

Many are called. Few are choosen. A world of sheep.

[oldschoolrocker]

Not vintage, but as a sidebar: my oldest son, a Titlest junkie finally admitted that he could find no difference in his game when playing the Wilson Duo instead of a ProV. A watershed moment for his pocketbook.

[farmer]

The very best of those old wound balata balls were terrible balls by modern standards. They came out of the sleeve out of round (good players used to carry a tool to determine which were round), went out of round during play, could be ruined by a slight mishit, or even a carelessly struck cartpath. The only good thing about them was that they could perform magic around the green. They were, however, expensive, and good for maybe one round. Pros routinely changed balls every three holes or so, even lacking obvious damage.

[NRJyzr]

[quote name='farmer' timestamp='1438103896' post='12035472']
The very best of those old wound balata balls were terrible balls by modern standards. They came out of the sleeve out of round (good players used to carry a tool to determine which were round), went out of round during play, could be ruined by a slight mishit, or even a carelessly struck cartpath. The only good thing about them was that they could perform magic around the green. They were, however, expensive, and good for maybe one round. Pros routinely changed balls every three holes or so, even lacking obvious damage.
[/quote]


In my HT 100 hunting of several years ago, I managed to score a couple dozen HT 100s that were apparently from the Asian market, and were "genuine balata," in contrast to the HT100s I'd found on ebay earlier, which were urethane.

I found the HT100 balatas could indeed go out of round. I didn't have that trouble with the urethane models I'd acquired previously; managed to play the better part of two rounds with one, it showed little or no damage.

I guess not all wound balls are created equal. <shrug>

[CBECH22]

So, when I posted this I knew nothing about vintage balls and how they performed or held up during a round ad you guys have vastly increased my knowledge. What happened at the right time was I found a huge bag of balls in a shed that is on my property. I have no idea how or whos they are but i started looking through them and they consist of a lot of old junk. And i havent been able to look through all of them but i found some pretty old looking ones. Heres some pictures of the cool looking ones i found. The reason i picked these is because some have the symmetrical dimples in perfect order, the labels on the golf balls (pga, Star-Flite, Lee Trevino, and Skyline GC), and then i found one balata ball that is a Ram Tour. I am assuming these are all cheap balls because all of the ones i recognized were cheap top-flites, but just thought i would share!

[attachment=2878336:20150728_133020.jpg]
[attachment=2878338:20150728_133214.jpg]
[attachment=2878340:20150728_133227.jpg]

[dan360]

Those range from the 60's - 90's.

Cool finds. People will buy them on eBay, but if you're into golf collectibles they are neat to display on a shelf.

[CBECH22]

[quote name='dan360' timestamp='1438114418' post='12036626']
Those range from the 60's - 90's.

Cool finds. People will buy them on eBay, but if you're into golf collectibles they are neat to display on a shelf.
[/quote]

Thank you. I will keep looking and see if I can find anything else that happens to catch my eye. There are hundreds of balls in there so there is hopefully something else!

[BIG STU]

[quote name='farmer' timestamp='1438103896' post='12035472']
The very best of those old wound balata balls were terrible balls by modern standards. They came out of the sleeve out of round (good players used to carry a tool to determine which were round), went out of round during play, could be ruined by a slight mishit, or even a carelessly struck cartpath. The only good thing about them was that they could perform magic around the green. They were, however, expensive, and good for maybe one round. Pros routinely changed balls every three holes or so, even lacking obvious damage.
[/quote]I still have my aluminum machined roundness gauge from the 70s

[BIG STU]

[quote name='NRJyzr' timestamp='1438107285' post='12035866']
[quote name='farmer' timestamp='1438103896' post='12035472']
The very best of those old wound balata balls were terrible balls by modern standards. They came out of the sleeve out of round (good players used to carry a tool to determine which were round), went out of round during play, could be ruined by a slight mishit, or even a carelessly struck cartpath. The only good thing about them was that they could perform magic around the green. They were, however, expensive, and good for maybe one round. Pros routinely changed balls every three holes or so, even lacking obvious damage.
[/quote]I never saw a Urethene HT-100 all I ever saw and have now are balata


In my HT 100 hunting of several years ago, I managed to score a couple dozen HT 100s that were apparently from the Asian market, and were "genuine balata," in contrast to the HT100s I'd found on ebay earlier, which were urethane.

I found the HT100 balatas could indeed go out of round. I didn't have that trouble with the urethane models I'd acquired previously; managed to play the better part of two rounds with one, it showed little or no damage.

I guess not all wound balls are created equal. <shrug>
[/quote]All the HT-100s I ever saw were balata in fact the 10 or so I have now are all balata