The Most Unpretentious Golf Ball Ever

[Shilgy]

For those of you singing the praises of the Maxfli HT100. Which one was best for you? For me it was the "yellower" version when it was still made in Japan.

[Fellaheen51]

The z balata has the ryder cup insignia from what year? Im sure i have one of those up in shed somewhere.....

 

Good eye MM. Ryder Cup - Valderrama, so 1997. Has Oldsmobile (a now defunct GM car brand) imprinted on the side so must have been a promotional ball/sleeve from that time. I've never been one to have a golf ball display, but maybe getting inspired.

[MoaningM]

The z balata has the ryder cup insignia from what year? Im sure i have one of those up in shed somewhere.....

 

Good eye MM. Ryder Cup - Valderrama, so 1997. Has Oldsmobile (a now defunct GM car brand) imprinted on the side so must have been a promotional ball/sleeve from that time. I've never been one to have a golf ball display, but maybe getting inspired.

 

Ill have to have a root thro mine the image caught my eye purely as i have seen it before. For some reason i had thought it was 1993.

 

Ill look forward to photos of the ball case ;)

[tlhorsh]

For those of you singing the praises of the Maxfli HT100. Which one was best for you? For me it was the "yellower" version when it was still made in Japan.

 

loved those even over tour 100s

[8bitpowerfade]

Maxfli is another one of those brands that's been around forever. I'm sure those balls peaked with the ones that you are describing, but even the Dick's modern version quite good. The Maxfli brand could have gone extinct years ago and I'm enjoying its survival.

[TimV]

Rummaging thru the used golf ball box yesterday made me think of this thread.

Top Flight Tours. Don't know if these are just the usual Rock Flights with another name. But they have some marketing mumbo on the back that makes them interesting. Multi-layer, 66 compression, "Spintack" ionomer mantle layer for "regulation" spin and distance. May have to try one.

 

66 Compression should be a pretty soft ball unless it's just age hardened. I'd be interested to hear how they feel if you give one a go.

[8bitpowerfade]

Remember Lazer Tag? Or what about the giant laser in the film Real Genius? The 80s decade was seminal for laser folklore born out of real tech advances and military complexes associated with the SDI and proposed "Star Wars" missile defense programs. Nothing says the crazy 80s like a Laser ball by Golden Ram!

[BIG STU]

For those of you singing the praises of the Maxfli HT100. Which one was best for you? For me it was the "yellower" version when it was still made in Japan.

The one in the middle I still have some. I did not know where they were made at

[BIG STU]

The z balata has the ryder cup insignia from what year? Im sure i have one of those up in shed somewhere.....

 

Good eye MM. Ryder Cup - Valderrama, so 1997. Has Oldsmobile (a now defunct GM car brand) imprinted on the side so must have been a promotional ball/sleeve from that time. I've never been one to have a golf ball display, but maybe getting inspired.

Man that Oldsmobile imprint reminded me of something. A course I worked at briefly in the early 90s must have gotten one heck of a deal on some Top-Flites with the Oldsmobile logo. We had cases and cases of them packed loose. I remember 3 for $2.50 or $8 a dozen. They must had bought a million of them. I remember we used to find a lot of them on the course. Some 10 years later just before the course and range closed for good they still had a good many of those balls on the range

[NRJyzr]

Remember Lazer Tag? Or what about the giant laser in the film Real Genius? The 80s decade was seminal for laser folklore born out of real tech advances and military complexes associated with the SDI and proposed "Star Wars" missile defense programs. Nothing says the crazy 80s like a Laser ball by Golden Ram!

 

 

Or.....

 

[8bitpowerfade]

Haha! Dr. Evil's favorite ball because it has a, cue hand quotes, "laser" to facilitate world domination and extort one million dollars from America and Europe (except Belgium) at the Ryder Cup.

[8bitpowerfade]

I remember hitting premium Slazengers back in the 80s and 90s, the balatas. It's a little sad to see some premium brands/lines die out. I wish they'd make a urethane cover Slazenger again because all I see are cheap surlyn rocks. Urethane and that black cat silhouette...that's what I'm talking about.

[Shilgy]

For those of you singing the praises of the Maxfli HT100. Which one was best for you? For me it was the "yellower" version when it was still made in Japan.

The one in the middle I still have some. I did not know where they were made at

That is the "yellower" version when they were still made in Japan. They of course were not really uellow but compared to the Titleist of the day they stood out in the fairway.

[8bitpowerfade]

Man, is this Spalding Strata Flite II thing a rock! It's not unlike that sleeve of Rock Flite IIs. When you tap on the shell it's high-pitched, makes a tinny sound like you're rapping on aircraft aluminum.

[Wriggles]

The z balata has the ryder cup insignia from what year? Im sure i have one of those up in shed somewhere.....

 

Good eye MM. Ryder Cup - Valderrama, so 1997. Has Oldsmobile (a now defunct GM car brand) imprinted on the side so must have been a promotional ball/sleeve from that time. I've never been one to have a golf ball display, but maybe getting inspired.

 

Back in 2002, I got a dozen Strata Ryder Cup balls for test driving a then new Cadillac. Beautiful presentation, Ryder and Cadillac logos, along with custom sleeves and box. I bought a certified 2002 Deville two years later, best car I've ever owned.

 

Still have the balls AND the car.

 

PS: Yesterday, I broke out a box of some pastel balls called Diamond Ice. Mrs. Wriggles bought me the dozen from clearance at Kmart for $3 a couple years ago. Played with a yellow one yesterday. Remarkably, seems like decent balls. I'll use them when the leaves are on the ground.

[tlhorsh]

So sorry to thread jack a little bit but thought you guys that were following this might find this interesting. So i'm teaching science this year and we are doing a chapter on kinetic and potential energy. so what better to demonstrate than golf balls. I happened to find an old Titleist Pro-Traj 100 at the range couple weeks ago in almost mint shape. We were going to do a lab with how much golf balls bounced from a given height. We started out finding the mass of the golf balls...the 30 year old Titleist mass was 44.4g i had a Maxfli U/3 45.6g and a Nike Tour Accuracy 45.1g. Pretty interesting data don't you think. And by the way the old titleist bounced only 3cm less than the nike and 5cm less than the maxfli...

[BIG STU]

So sorry to thread jack a little bit but thought you guys that were following this might find this interesting. So i'm teaching science this year and we are doing a chapter on kinetic and potential energy. so what better to demonstrate than golf balls. I happened to find an old Titleist Pro-Traj 100 at the range couple weeks ago in almost mint shape. We were going to do a lab with how much golf balls bounced from a given height. We started out finding the mass of the golf balls...the 30 year old Titleist mass was 44.4g i had a Maxfli U/3 45.6g and a Nike Tour Accuracy 45.1g. Pretty interesting data don't you think. And by the way the old titleist bounced only 3cm less than the nike and 5cm less than the maxfli...

I did a simular project for my science fair project in the 9th grade. Now things as far as spin etc were not as known as they were known now. I did the bounce test thing and hitting them with the driver and 5 iron. I remember doing it on the following balls and I am quoting off of memory that project being some 40 plus years ago. Here is the list as far as I remember all Balata balls

 

Titleist 90 and 100

Maxfli Red and Black Dot (90 and 100)

Spalding Black Dot (USA size)

Royal Plus 6-- This ball was the rage at the time and had the hexagon dimples sorta like the Callaway balls today

Wilson Staff I think this was a 90 compression ball

Acushnet Club Special this was a cheaper balata wound ball rumored to be rejected Titleist balls.

 

I remember getting an A on the project because my science teacher also played golf and was a decent college player. BTW I remember the Royal Plus 6 won on distance hands down by about 5 yards or so.

[jsabatke]

So sorry to thread jack a little bit but thought you guys that were following this might find this interesting. So i'm teaching science this year and we are doing a chapter on kinetic and potential energy. so what better to demonstrate than golf balls. I happened to find an old Titleist Pro-Traj 100 at the range couple weeks ago in almost mint shape. We were going to do a lab with how much golf balls bounced from a given height. We started out finding the mass of the golf balls...the 30 year old Titleist mass was 44.4g i had a Maxfli U/3 45.6g and a Nike Tour Accuracy 45.1g. Pretty interesting data don't you think. And by the way the old titleist bounced only 3cm less than the nike and 5cm less than the maxfli...

I did a simular project for my science fair project in the 9th grade. Now things as far as spin etc were not as known as they were known now. I did the bounce test thing and hitting them with the driver and 5 iron. I remember doing it on the following balls and I am quoting off of memory that project being some 40 plus years ago. Here is the list as far as I remember all Balata balls

 

Titleist 90 and 100

Maxfli Red and Black Dot (90 and 100)

Spalding Black Dot (USA size)

Royal Plus 6-- This ball was the rage at the time and had the hexagon dimples sorta like the Callaway balls today

Wilson Staff I think this was a 90 compression ball

Acushnet Club Special this was a cheaper balata wound ball rumored to be rejected Titleist balls.

 

I remember getting an A on the project because my science teacher also played golf and was a decent college player. BTW I remember the Royal Plus 6 won on distance hands down by about 5 yards or so.

 

I bought some Royal +6 balls when I was very young. I liked them. Can't speak to distance gained as I never noticed, but they were cool. I heard years later that the +6 was more height than length, but can't prove that either.

[BIG STU]

Man, is this Spalding Strata Flite II thing a rock! It's not unlike that sleeve of Rock Flite IIs. When you tap on the shell it's high-pitched, makes a tinny sound like you're rapping on aircraft aluminum.

Never ever have seen one of those in person

[BIG STU]

The z balata has the ryder cup insignia from what year? Im sure i have one of those up in shed somewhere.....

 

Good eye MM. Ryder Cup - Valderrama, so 1997. Has Oldsmobile (a now defunct GM car brand) imprinted on the side so must have been a promotional ball/sleeve from that time. I've never been one to have a golf ball display, but maybe getting inspired.

 

Back in 2002, I got a dozen Strata Ryder Cup balls for test driving a then new Cadillac. Beautiful presentation, Ryder and Cadillac logos, along with custom sleeves and box. I bought a certified 2002 Deville two years later, best car I've ever owned.

 

Still have the balls AND the car.

 

PS: Yesterday, I broke out a box of some pastel balls called Diamond Ice. Mrs. Wriggles bought me the dozen from clearance at Kmart for $3 a couple years ago. Played with a yellow one yesterday. Remarkably, seems like decent balls. I'll use them when the leaves are on the ground.

The amazing thing about this is that an 02 Deville with I assume a 3800 or 4100 engine is still running and has not rusted away where you live from the harsh winters. You must really take care of it and got an exceptional one.

[Eidolon]

Wow! Memories....when I was a kid. (12/13) my city course, Asheville, NC. My dad gave me 3 bucks in the morning. I got....greens fee for the day, hot dog, fries and coke for lunch, 3 acushnet club specials. We played dime Nassau among 4 players. Great memory, thanks guys for pulling this up for me! :)

[Wriggles]

The z balata has the ryder cup insignia from what year? Im sure i have one of those up in shed somewhere.....

 

Good eye MM. Ryder Cup - Valderrama, so 1997. Has Oldsmobile (a now defunct GM car brand) imprinted on the side so must have been a promotional ball/sleeve from that time. I've never been one to have a golf ball display, but maybe getting inspired.

 

Back in 2002, I got a dozen Strata Ryder Cup balls for test driving a then new Cadillac. Beautiful presentation, Ryder and Cadillac logos, along with custom sleeves and box. I bought a certified 2002 Deville two years later, best car I've ever owned.

 

Still have the balls AND the car.

 

PS: Yesterday, I broke out a box of some pastel balls called Diamond Ice. Mrs. Wriggles bought me the dozen from clearance at Kmart for $3 a couple years ago. Played with a yellow one yesterday. Remarkably, seems like decent balls. I'll use them when the leaves are on the ground.

The amazing thing about this is that an 02 Deville with I assume a 3800 or 4100 engine is still running and has not rusted away where you live from the harsh winters. You must really take care of it and got an exceptional one.

 

My Deville has the Northstar engine. I believe it is a 4.6. My 93 Deville had the 4.9. We had a 86 Coupe deVille, bought in beautiful condition back in 1998. Little old lady owned, 43K miles, we bought if for $4K. It had the 4100 engine you mention. A guy I golfed with coaxed us to sell it in 2003. His wife had one in the day, and she loved the car. He had a 2002 Olds Intrigue, 16K miles, (he had two cars, the Olds and a new Seville) that he traded for our car and $10K. A great deal, but the Olds was trouble from day one. It had the 3800. In spite of the numerous repairs which included a transmission rebuild at 44K miles, it still was a beautiful car when traded in 2012, with a little over 100K on the clock.

 

My golf buddy wasn't so fortunate. He absolutely loved the car, and drove it everyday to the golf course for a week or so. I didn't see the car for a couple weeks, and decided to ask the guy about it. He told me that he and the wife were driving to a nearby restaurant, and the car idiot lights started coming on like a pinball machine, and the car just died. After towing and getting an estimate, the engine had self destructed, due to some inherent defect in the aluminum engine, common that year. He kept the car in his garage for a year or so, gave it to a young neighbor, who replaced the engine, and a bit later, totaled the car. Remarkably, my golf buddy didn't hold me responsible for the car. I recall that car ran and looked so good, we really didn't want to sell it.

 

Getting back to my current Deville, it's been a great car, now has 76K on the clock. Being retired, I don't put many miles on it. I don't think it has sat out more than a few days, or driven in any heavy snow. When I bought it in 2005, Cadillac certified, the salesman told me it was the best deal on the lot. A huge dealership, comparable models were up to $10K more. He said that most people shied away from it because it didn't have the GPS system in it, and the fellow that traded it, had a two tone custom interior installed. The seats were the OEM light beige, with slightly darker trim and piping, along with Cadillac crests on the headrests. Very tasteful, not tacky. After a test drive, my nice 93 Deville was traded for almost nothing. It had 70K on the clock, in beautiful condition, but my Mom and Dad had passed away earlier that year, so what the heck.

 

Everyone tells me I should get a new car, but I hate to get rid of my Deville. Now, it trades for about $1,500. Back in around 2010, before I retired, a widow I used to prepare her taxes owned a car almost identical to mine, but she used to remind me that hers' was a LEVEL 2 and mine was just a level 1, ha, ha. She got $2,800 traded on a new Lexus. She didn't like the Lexus, and literally drooled over my Deville. Kept telling me how she missed it. I just nonchalantly remarked a Lexus was not a Cadillac.

 

Anyhow, forgive the long post, sometimes I get long winded. Thanks for comment on the Cadillac.

[super20dan]

i once worked at a golf course in the late 70,s so i am very familiar with all the balls of that era. the royal felt great off the club face. by far the worst preforming ball was the club special. went nowhere it seemed. later i found it was only 65 compression

[Shallowface]

[BIG STU]

The z balata has the ryder cup insignia from what year? Im sure i have one of those up in shed somewhere.....

 

Good eye MM. Ryder Cup - Valderrama, so 1997. Has Oldsmobile (a now defunct GM car brand) imprinted on the side so must have been a promotional ball/sleeve from that time. I've never been one to have a golf ball display, but maybe getting inspired.

 

Back in 2002, I got a dozen Strata Ryder Cup balls for test driving a then new Cadillac. Beautiful presentation, Ryder and Cadillac logos, along with custom sleeves and box. I bought a certified 2002 Deville two years later, best car I've ever owned.

 

Still have the balls AND the car.

 

PS: Yesterday, I broke out a box of some pastel balls called Diamond Ice. Mrs. Wriggles bought me the dozen from clearance at Kmart for $3 a couple years ago. Played with a yellow one yesterday. Remarkably, seems like decent balls. I'll use them when the leaves are on the ground.

The amazing thing about this is that an 02 Deville with I assume a 3800 or 4100 engine is still running and has not rusted away where you live from the harsh winters. You must really take care of it and got an exceptional one.

 

My Deville has the Northstar engine. I believe it is a 4.6. My 93 Deville had the 4.9. We had a 86 Coupe deVille, bought in beautiful condition back in 1998. Little old lady owned, 43K miles, we bought if for $4K. It had the 4100 engine you mention. A guy I golfed with coaxed us to sell it in 2003. His wife had one in the day, and she loved the car. He had a 2002 Olds Intrigue, 16K miles, (he had two cars, the Olds and a new Seville) that he traded for our car and $10K. A great deal, but the Olds was trouble from day one. It had the 3800. In spite of the numerous repairs which included a transmission rebuild at 44K miles, it still was a beautiful car when traded in 2012, with a little over 100K on the clock.

 

My golf buddy wasn't so fortunate. He absolutely loved the car, and drove it everyday to the golf course for a week or so. I didn't see the car for a couple weeks, and decided to ask the guy about it. He told me that he and the wife were driving to a nearby restaurant, and the car idiot lights started coming on like a pinball machine, and the car just died. After towing and getting an estimate, the engine had self destructed, due to some inherent defect in the aluminum engine, common that year. He kept the car in his garage for a year or so, gave it to a young neighbor, who replaced the engine, and a bit later, totaled the car. Remarkably, my golf buddy didn't hold me responsible for the car. I recall that car ran and looked so good, we really didn't want to sell it.

 

Getting back to my current Deville, it's been a great car, now has 76K on the clock. Being retired, I don't put many miles on it. I don't think it has sat out more than a few days, or driven in any heavy snow. When I bought it in 2005, Cadillac certified, the salesman told me it was the best deal on the lot. A huge dealership, comparable models were up to $10K more. He said that most people shied away from it because it didn't have the GPS system in it, and the fellow that traded it, had a two tone custom interior installed. The seats were the OEM light beige, with slightly darker trim and piping, along with Cadillac crests on the headrests. Very tasteful, not tacky. After a test drive, my nice 93 Deville was traded for almost nothing. It had 70K on the clock, in beautiful condition, but my Mom and Dad had passed away earlier that year, so what the heck.

 

Everyone tells me I should get a new car, but I hate to get rid of my Deville. Now, it trades for about $1,500. Back in around 2010, before I retired, a widow I used to prepare her taxes owned a car almost identical to mine, but she used to remind me that hers' was a LEVEL 2 and mine was just a level 1, ha, ha. She got $2,800 traded on a new Lexus. She didn't like the Lexus, and literally drooled over my Deville. Kept telling me how she missed it. I just nonchalantly remarked a Lexus was not a Cadillac.

 

Anyhow, forgive the long post, sometimes I get long winded. Thanks for comment on the Cadillac.

WOW that car looks great-- better than I had imagined! looks like it just rolled off the lot!

[super20dan]

northstar- wouldnt touch one with a 10 foot pole.

[Wriggles]

i once worked at a golf course in the late 70,s so i am very familiar with all the balls of that era. the royal felt great off the club face. by far the worst preforming ball was the club special. went nowhere it seemed. later i found it was only 65 compression

 

I still have three Club Specials and two Spalding Dots. That is the extent of my "Golf ball collection." The Club Specials seem quite dead when bounced on concrete, Dots seem better. I'll have to play one of my Specials at some point, but it being upwards of fifty years old, can't blame the ball at this point.

 

@ Big Stu

 

I'm quite attached to my Deville. It looks and drives like a new car. Hard to believe I've owned it so long, Time passes too quickly.

 

Thanks for the compliment.

[super20dan]

the club special plays dead too. first golf ball i could see the results in playing. the drop in preformance was very apparant

[BIG STU]

i once worked at a golf course in the late 70,s so i am very familiar with all the balls of that era. the royal felt great off the club face. by far the worst preforming ball was the club special. went nowhere it seemed. later i found it was only 65 compression

Never checked the compression on one. I know the old man sold a lot of them in his shop to the weekend players. He had them loose in a big cookie jar on top of the counter. He always told me that they were rejected Titleists too bad to even be x-outs. We had 3 cookie jars on that counter one had the Club Specials one had Titleist X-outs and the 3 rd held reclaimed lake balls from our lake. I think on the Specials they were 3 for a dollar and the x-outs were 2 for a dollar and the lake balls were 10 or 15 cents each I actually recall the lake balls were 10 for a dollar and usually on them for a good customer he would let them have 12 or 15 for a dollar since he did not have any actual cash in them.

[super20dan]

i really doubt they were titliest rejects. first they were much more durable and second they didnt preform anything like a reg titliest. they did make good winter golf balls and we are talking about new england winters. they didnt sting the hands as much on a bad hit.