Bring back balata balls

[baudi]

Not sure but I sense that the excellent curvability characteristics are related to the wound technique.

With wound balls a curve shot was so much easier to perform. Especially with the mid-irons.

The ball turned into a weird shape after a while.

 

With a bad putt the ball suddenly could roll in.

Every drawback has its benefit. :-)

[BIG STU]

I learned the game playing Balata, and then Professional 100's, and butter knives (which are in the garage). Reached single digit despite limitations. Though I always love the challenge I have no desire to go back to mushy Balata facing today's golf courses; much less at my age. :beach:

Agree with you in general-- At my age I do not even play blades and persimmon with a modern ball on some courses--- Now I will play the blades combined with modern metal woods and a hybrid on about any course. When I do get out the balata I will hit like wedge shots or 8 iron shots to a green. Lots of times when playing balata I play the little executive course up the road or the little par 3 course. That par 3 course I think the longest hole is 105 yards and it is a hoot spinning a balata into those greens with a vintage wedge. In fact Augie and myself are going to do that this spring or summer. Yeah I know us old farts need all the distance help we can get :taunt:

[Pepperturbo]

I learned the game playing Balata, and then Professional 100's, and butter knives (which are in the garage). Reached single digit despite limitations. Though I always love the challenge I have no desire to go back to mushy Balata facing today's golf courses; much less at my age. :beach:

Agree with you in general-- At my age I do not even play blades and persimmon with a modern ball on some courses--- Now I will play the blades combined with modern metal woods and a hybrid on about any course. When I do get out the balata I will hit like wedge shots or 8 iron shots to a green. Lots of times when playing balata I play the little executive course up the road or the little par 3 course. That par 3 course I think the longest hole is 105 yards and it is a hoot spinning a balata into those greens with a vintage wedge. In fact Augie and myself are going to do that this spring or summer. Yeah I know us old farts need all the distance help we can get :taunt:

 

 

Balata ball spin is difficult to control. Haven't played one in a few years now. Still take my blades out for 18 though, just when ball striking gets a bit sloppy. Love playing 2k-4k executives when time is limited. Have a good day. :beach:

[CoiledUP]

I still have a balata habit from long ago that surfaces when opening up today's modern sleeve- I bite the cover for a test, just like after panning for gold a Forty-Niner would bite the nugget.

[BIG STU]

I learned the game playing Balata, and then Professional 100's, and butter knives (which are in the garage). Reached single digit despite limitations. Though I always love the challenge I have no desire to go back to mushy Balata facing today's golf courses; much less at my age. :beach:

Agree with you in general-- At my age I do not even play blades and persimmon with a modern ball on some courses--- Now I will play the blades combined with modern metal woods and a hybrid on about any course. When I do get out the balata I will hit like wedge shots or 8 iron shots to a green. Lots of times when playing balata I play the little executive course up the road or the little par 3 course. That par 3 course I think the longest hole is 105 yards and it is a hoot spinning a balata into those greens with a vintage wedge. In fact Augie and myself are going to do that this spring or summer. Yeah I know us old farts need all the distance help we can get :taunt:

 

 

Balata ball spin is difficult to control. Haven't played one in a few years now. Still take my blades out for 18 though, just when ball striking gets a bit sloppy. Love playing 2k-4k executives when time is limited. Have a good day. :beach:

I also do the same thing when I get sloppy. Mr Macgregor ain't gonna forgive you and this weekend I am hoping Mr Hogan will

[BIG STU]

I still have a balata habit from long ago that surfaces when opening up today's modern sleeve- I bite the cover for a test, just like after panning for gold a Forty-Niner would bite the nugget.

I just gave you your first like

[Tim Schoch]

Wow, I'm surprised balata balls don't turn to dust when you hit them. Golf balls have a shelf life, and I'd say balata has run out. No one still makes them, do they? If so, I'd say they would pretty well these days.

[PALS-SSA]

Still have a dozen each Titleist Tour Balata 90s and Professional 100s in the box, but I would never bring back a wound ball.

 

I'd consider the solid balatas like the Wilson Tour Balata or TopFlite Z-Balatas from the late 80s early 90s. Solid core won't go out of round and the core can still give better distance.

[TimV]

Agree with you in general-- At my age I do not even play blades and persimmon with a modern ball on some courses--- Now I will play the blades combined with modern metal woods and a hybrid on about any course. When I do get out the balata I will hit like wedge shots or 8 iron shots to a green. Lots of times when playing balata I play the little executive course up the road or the little par 3 course. That par 3 course I think the longest hole is 105 yards and it is a hoot spinning a balata into those greens with a vintage wedge. In fact Augie and myself are going to do that this spring or summer. Yeah I know us old farts need all the distance help we can get :taunt:

 

If it wasn't for the fact that my back tightens up unpredictably and I then hit thin (or worse) I would think the Par 3 Course idea was brilliant!

Due directly to this thread I threw a couple Balatas in my bag yesterday when my wife and I went out for a Vintage Round. Because I didn't want to see the dreaded smiley :) ball I only played the Balatas with my Persimmon Driver and Woods. I alternated between them and the soft modern balls (various varieties) I play my vintage clubs with. More often than not I was longer with the modern balls although that may have been due to the age of the Balatas. I can honestly say that I was able to keep the Balatas toward the middle of the fairway though which was a pleasant surprise. Over-all I think a desire to "Bring back Balata Balls" is more of a nostalgia thing than a practical one. jmo

[augustgolf]

Agree with you in general-- At my age I do not even play blades and persimmon with a modern ball on some courses--- Now I will play the blades combined with modern metal woods and a hybrid on about any course. When I do get out the balata I will hit like wedge shots or 8 iron shots to a green. Lots of times when playing balata I play the little executive course up the road or the little par 3 course. That par 3 course I think the longest hole is 105 yards and it is a hoot spinning a balata into those greens with a vintage wedge. In fact Augie and myself are going to do that this spring or summer. Yeah I know us old farts need all the distance help we can get :taunt:

 

If it wasn't for the fact that my back tightens up unpredictably and I then hit thin (or worse) I would think the Par 3 Course idea was brilliant!

Due directly to this thread I threw a couple Balatas in my bag yesterday when my wife and I went out for a Vintage Round. Because I didn't want to see the dreaded smiley :) ball I only played the Balatas with my Persimmon Driver and Woods. I alternated between them and the soft modern balls (various varieties) I play my vintage clubs with. More often than not I was longer with the modern balls although that may have been due to the age of the Balatas. I can honestly say that I was able to keep the Balatas toward the middle of the fairway though which was a pleasant surprise. Over-all I think a desire to "Bring back Balata Balls" is more of a nostalgia thing than a practical one. jmo

 

And why can't nostalgia and practicality be one and the same for people like us?

 

Would I ever tee up a balata ball in any type of competition??? No, for the obvious reason.

 

But, being to re-visit the past is never a bad thing, IMHO

[Sean2]

I loved the feel of the balata ball around the green and off the putter.

[Londoner]

They were more fun to pull apart.

[Dr. Block]

Back in my tournament days we all played the Titleist Professional. I remember it having near to the feel and spin of the balata, but with a much more durable cover.

 

I completely agree with the original poster - if a small independent golf ball manufacturer returned a wound ball to the market - I would be a loyal customer. I love to work the ball both ways all the way down to my wedges. I also find myself needing to move the ball around tree's due to my often errant tee game. There is simply no comparison with the modern multi layer tour balls to the old wound balls. You cant bend the new balls like you could the old ones. I can flight the new balls well enough, but I can't shape them the same way.

 

It's funny this thread came up. My buddy and I were talking about this the other day. Specifically, we were wondering what became of the old manufacturing equipment that the ball makers used to make wound balls. Seem's like if they didn't re-purpose it, they wouldn't have thrown it out. It's gotta be collecting dust somewhere. Maybe if us old dogs make enough noise someone will listen and make a wound ball again.

 

I went through a period of paying top dollar on ebay for survivors, but they didn't age well. No pop left in the rubber bands after all those idle years.

[TimV]

Amazing what I find in some of the golf bags when I pick up clubs...

 

 

 

[justasgood]

232 yard driver?

[TimV]

232 yard driver��

 

I'd be thrilled with that at this point!

Wonder if that's a guarantee? ;)

[HoganApexBlades]

Amazing what I find in some of the golf bags when I pick up clubs...

 

 

 

 

Good find Tim! I remember when Slazenger balls were 1.62" and the rest were 1.68" around. Those "little buggers" were wind cheaters!!!

[Dr. Block]

Whenever I throw down an old balata it looks much smaller then a pro V. We’re they smaller, or rather are new balls a little bigger?

[augustgolf]

Amazing what I find in some of the golf bags when I pick up clubs...

 

 

 

 

Good find Tim! I remember when Slazenger balls were 1.62" and the rest were 1.68" around. Those "little buggers" were wind cheaters!!!

Every ball mfg. made the smaller British size ball. I had a large number of Maxfli 100 xxx - outs - talk about a hot ball!

 

Made serious money with them

[Pepperturbo]

Whenever I throw down an old balata it looks much smaller then a pro V. We're they smaller, or rather are new balls a little bigger?

 

I learned the game with Balata and believe the off-white color of balata causes it to appear smaller than white ProV's

[BIG STU]

Augie Those old balata Penfolds were hotter than a $2 pistol too and so were the Slazengers . My Old man knew a fellow pro across the pond and got the "English sized" balls as we called them shipped over periodically. He sold the heck out of them to the hustlers. A typical game making conversation "You can get 2 up a side with grease and a small ball" Those little balls would go like stink with a greased up driver on those old hard dry Carolina clay fairways.

[augustgolf]

Augie Those old balata Penfolds were hotter than a $2 pistol too and so were the Slazengers . My Old man knew a fellow pro across the pond and got the "English sized" balls as we called them shipped over periodically. He sold the heck out of them to the hustlers. A typical game making conversation "You can get 2 up a side with grease and a small ball" Those little balls would go like stink with a greased up driver on those old hard dry Carolina clay fairways.

 

I got my hands on some Maxfli Black (100's) British size XXX-outs.

 

BITD, the only real reasons for XXX outs was: 1) too hot, or 2) some type of blemish...but, these hot balls were REALLY hot.

 

Typically, I say that I could move the smaller 1.62 ball maybe 10-2- yards further with driver...but, put those XXX out smaller balls....easily 30-40 yards. I never played them to the green, as the advantage of going further off the driver was great, but putting became a difficult endeavor.

 

Not only were they smaller, but they were lighter and had less mass, so figuring out the distance on putts easily outweighed the advantage of distance off the tee.

 

But....when the money got right on the long drives (and, I wasn't know as a long ball hitter...but, I could hold my own) those Maxfli were great!

 

They also "blew" up a lot...I'm sure you saw many a Maxfli where the liquid center had exploded inside the cover, and you now had a blob of a ball.

[Pablomartin]

I have been thinking on creating a retro tour where woods played need to be 200cc max and made of actual "wood", no graphite shafts allowed, ballata balls only. Cord grips and metal spikes encouraged. You will drop behind your back. It will be called the "screw titanium-real golfers tour" or STRGT. Winners would get a 20% discount voucher to eat at my grandmas dinner. It would be a total success I'm sure....... I need to see 30 yards backspins again. I'm suffering of PTSD from all these new regulations and nonsense from the USGA and RA and dont have any shell wonderfull world of golf rounds left to see...

[dcopp7]

> @Pablomartin said:

>I'm suffering of PTSD from all these new regulations and nonsense from the USGA and RA and dont have any shell wonderfull world of golf rounds left to see...

 

watch a few Sam Snead Celebrity golf's

[wkuo3]

There might be a small segment of the market whom might want to see the balata brought back.

All of the retro golfers playing older equipments for sure.

However, not many would pay over $60 a dozen gold balls which would split open when bladed one, goes off round after leaving the driver's face, or seldom last more than an 18.

 

[BIG STU]

> @Pablomartin said:

> I have been thinking on creating a retro tour where woods played need to be 200cc max and made of actual "wood", no graphite shafts allowed, ballata balls only. Cord grips and metal spikes encouraged. You will drop behind your back. It will be called the "screw titanium-real golfers tour" or STRGT. Winners would get a 20% discount voucher to eat at my grandmas dinner. It would be a total success I'm sure....... I need to see 30 yards backspins again. I'm suffering of PTSD from all these new regulations and nonsense from the USGA and RA and dont have any shell wonderfull world of golf rounds left to see...

 

Some of the guys on here in certain sections do get togethers and play the classic stuff. Someone on here can shed more light on this but didn't Tad Moore try to do a steel shaft blades and persimmon thing in conjunction with the hickory players? I know from reading on here quite a few guys over in the UK get together and play vintage. I think on this southeast coast (NC/SC) only Augie ,Randy and myself play vintage. I did meet a guy a while back that played persimmon and we played some but he moved back to his native Michigan for family reasons. I met one other guy from Charleston SC that played a real mix bag with some hickory clubs ,Vintage steel shafted irons and steel shafted persimmon woods. He was a pretty good player with that set up have not seen him in a while. I know over in the UK that they have a whole Facebook section of vintage players. Some of those guys are members here.

[storm319]

> @"BIG STU" said:

> > @Pablomartin said:

> > I have been thinking on creating a retro tour where woods played need to be 200cc max and made of actual "wood", no graphite shafts allowed, ballata balls only. Cord grips and metal spikes encouraged. You will drop behind your back. It will be called the "screw titanium-real golfers tour" or STRGT. Winners would get a 20% discount voucher to eat at my grandmas dinner. It would be a total success I'm sure....... I need to see 30 yards backspins again. I'm suffering of PTSD from all these new regulations and nonsense from the USGA and RA and dont have any shell wonderfull world of golf rounds left to see...

>

> Some of the guys on here in certain sections do get togethers and play the classic stuff. Someone on here can shed more light on this but didn't Tad Moore try to do a steel shaft blades and persimmon thing in conjunction with the hickory players? I know from reading on here quite a few guys over in the UK get together and play vintage. I think on this southeast coast (NC/SC) only Augie ,Randy and myself play vintage. I did meet a guy a while back that played persimmon and we played some but he moved back to his native Michigan for family reasons. I met one other guy from Charleston SC that played a real mix bag with some hickory clubs ,Vintage steel shafted irons and steel shafted persimmon woods. He was a pretty good player with that set up have not seen him in a while. I know over in the UK that they have a whole Facebook section of vintage players. Some of those guys are members here.

 

Still a minuscule percentage of the shrinking overall golf market. Low demand plus higher production difficulty/cost means that it is unlikely that any OEM would even consider this.

[Shallowface]

> @storm319 said:

> > @"BIG STU" said:

> > > @Pablomartin said:

> > > I have been thinking on creating a retro tour where woods played need to be 200cc max and made of actual "wood", no graphite shafts allowed, ballata balls only. Cord grips and metal spikes encouraged. You will drop behind your back. It will be called the "screw titanium-real golfers tour" or STRGT. Winners would get a 20% discount voucher to eat at my grandmas dinner. It would be a total success I'm sure....... I need to see 30 yards backspins again. I'm suffering of PTSD from all these new regulations and nonsense from the USGA and RA and dont have any shell wonderfull world of golf rounds left to see...

> >

> > Some of the guys on here in certain sections do get togethers and play the classic stuff. Someone on here can shed more light on this but didn't Tad Moore try to do a steel shaft blades and persimmon thing in conjunction with the hickory players? I know from reading on here quite a few guys over in the UK get together and play vintage. I think on this southeast coast (NC/SC) only Augie ,Randy and myself play vintage. I did meet a guy a while back that played persimmon and we played some but he moved back to his native Michigan for family reasons. I met one other guy from Charleston SC that played a real mix bag with some hickory clubs ,Vintage steel shafted irons and steel shafted persimmon woods. He was a pretty good player with that set up have not seen him in a while. I know over in the UK that they have a whole Facebook section of vintage players. Some of those guys are members here.

>

> Still a minuscule percentage of the shrinking overall golf market. Low demand plus higher production difficulty/cost means that it is unlikely that any OEM would even consider this.

 

While you are likely correct about the overall level of demand, it would not be all that difficult to do a modern ball with balata level spin rates. It was done with the original Spalding Tour Edition. I think a number of people would enjoy the novelty aspect of such a ball and it seems something a niche ball producer might be willing to try.

Isn't the major difference between today's ball and the Tour Edition mostly cover thickness? Seems I recall the Tour Edition cover being quite a bit thicker than what one sees today, and perhaps that is why it spun so much more. If that's true, it wouldn't be a problem to produce such a ball today.

I saw a chart recently that showed a number of modern tour level balls and their compression ratings. Many of them were over 100, yet if I recall correctly Louisville Golf has deemed those balls safe to use with their persimmon woods. I always believed that most of the damage to woods with two piece balls wasn't due to their compression but was in fact due to the relatively thick, hard, inflexible Surlyn covers of that day.

[NRJyzr]

> @Shallowface said:

> > @storm319 said:

> > > @"BIG STU" said:

> > > > @Pablomartin said:

> > > > I have been thinking on creating a retro tour where woods played need to be 200cc max and made of actual "wood", no graphite shafts allowed, ballata balls only. Cord grips and metal spikes encouraged. You will drop behind your back. It will be called the "screw titanium-real golfers tour" or STRGT. Winners would get a 20% discount voucher to eat at my grandmas dinner. It would be a total success I'm sure....... I need to see 30 yards backspins again. I'm suffering of PTSD from all these new regulations and nonsense from the USGA and RA and dont have any shell wonderfull world of golf rounds left to see...

> > >

> > > Some of the guys on here in certain sections do get togethers and play the classic stuff. Someone on here can shed more light on this but didn't Tad Moore try to do a steel shaft blades and persimmon thing in conjunction with the hickory players? I know from reading on here quite a few guys over in the UK get together and play vintage. I think on this southeast coast (NC/SC) only Augie ,Randy and myself play vintage. I did meet a guy a while back that played persimmon and we played some but he moved back to his native Michigan for family reasons. I met one other guy from Charleston SC that played a real mix bag with some hickory clubs ,Vintage steel shafted irons and steel shafted persimmon woods. He was a pretty good player with that set up have not seen him in a while. I know over in the UK that they have a whole Facebook section of vintage players. Some of those guys are members here.

> >

> > Still a minuscule percentage of the shrinking overall golf market. Low demand plus higher production difficulty/cost means that it is unlikely that any OEM would even consider this.

>

> While you are likely correct about the overall level of demand, it would not be all that difficult to do a modern ball with balata level spin rates. It was done with the original Spalding Tour Edition. I think a number of people would enjoy the novelty aspect of such a ball and it seems something a niche ball producer might be willing to try.

> Isn't the major difference between today's ball and the Tour Edition mostly cover thickness? Seems I recall the Tour Edition cover being quite a bit thicker than what one sees today, and perhaps that is why it spun so much more. If that's true, it wouldn't be a problem to produce such a ball today.

> I saw a chart recently that showed a number of modern tour level balls and their compression ratings. Many of them were over 100, yet if I recall correctly Louisville Golf has deemed those balls safe to use with their persimmon woods. I always believed that most of the damage to woods with two piece balls wasn't due to their compression but was in fact due to the relatively thick, hard, inflexible Surlyn covers of that day.

 

I'm not so sure about the compression vs cover softness angle. It seems the ball manufacturers look at core compression in their ball construction, and most of the modern balls start with cores lower than their final ATTI tested compression.

 

The rocks of old were using even firmer cores. Remember the DDH 110 ball from Maxfli? A great deal harder at impact than even the firmer modern multilayer balls, like the ZStar XV, or the old Chrome+.

[BIG STU]

> @storm319 said:

> > @"BIG STU" said:

> > > @Pablomartin said:

> > > I have been thinking on creating a retro tour where woods played need to be 200cc max and made of actual "wood", no graphite shafts allowed, ballata balls only. Cord grips and metal spikes encouraged. You will drop behind your back. It will be called the "screw titanium-real golfers tour" or STRGT. Winners would get a 20% discount voucher to eat at my grandmas dinner. It would be a total success I'm sure....... I need to see 30 yards backspins again. I'm suffering of PTSD from all these new regulations and nonsense from the USGA and RA and dont have any shell wonderfull world of golf rounds left to see...

> >

> > Some of the guys on here in certain sections do get togethers and play the classic stuff. Someone on here can shed more light on this but didn't Tad Moore try to do a steel shaft blades and persimmon thing in conjunction with the hickory players? I know from reading on here quite a few guys over in the UK get together and play vintage. I think on this southeast coast (NC/SC) only Augie ,Randy and myself play vintage. I did meet a guy a while back that played persimmon and we played some but he moved back to his native Michigan for family reasons. I met one other guy from Charleston SC that played a real mix bag with some hickory clubs ,Vintage steel shafted irons and steel shafted persimmon woods. He was a pretty good player with that set up have not seen him in a while. I know over in the UK that they have a whole Facebook section of vintage players. Some of those guys are members here.

>

> Still a minuscule percentage of the shrinking overall golf market. Low demand plus higher production difficulty/cost means that it is unlikely that any OEM would even consider this.

 

Agree 110%------ I actually did research on this and a friend of mine who has a Doctorate in BA helped me--- The most costly thing besides re tooling would be the pure rubber from rubber trees needed to make balata