Your Favorite Ball

[The Ultimate Spin]

15 years ago....

I remember the days where I would play the Titleist Professional 100 on most holes, then switched to a Titleist Tour Balata on par 3's to spin the ball more....good times. And kind of miss them in a way...

Anyone else remember those days? What was your favorite ball, or if your like me...balls.

[littlepingman]

I actually liked the old Titleist Tour Distance and the Ultra Tour Balata in those days.

[mat562]

I'm trying to think back..

 

I was always a Maxfli HT man for years, but around the early 90s I switched to a Titleist since the cover changed on the Maxfli for the worse.

 

When did the Professional come out? I switched to those from a Tour 100 the first day I hit one and played it for years until the Nike Tour Accuracy came out...

 

Wound balls? What a quaint idea.. :man_in_love: The bonus of the modern ball is you don't have to worry about the dog getting hold of one and, as the urban myth used to say would happen, having his intestines destroyed by the rapidly-expanding elastic thread a bit like in 'Alien'...

[muxi87]

The Srixon Hi-brid tour ball was way ahead of its time when it came out a good decade ago. I used it through high school and junior golf and felt it gave me the advantage of distance and spin when others pretty much had to choose one or the other. It was the ball that prompted the new age of balls...

[littlepingman]

I'm trying to think back..

 

I was always a Maxfli HT man for years, but around the early 90s I switched to a Titleist since the cover changed on the Maxfli for the worse.

 

When did the Professional come out? I switched to those from a Tour 100 the first day I hit one and played it for years until the Nike Tour Accuracy came out...

 

Wound balls? What a quaint idea.. :man_in_love: The bonus of the modern ball is you don't have to worry about the dog getting hold of one and, as the urban myth used to say would happen, having his intestines destroyed by the rapidly-expanding elastic thread a bit like in 'Alien'...

 

I always enjoyed destroying my old Titleist Tour Balata balls just to watch the ball of rubber bands jump and bounce around until all that was left was a little goat's bladder shaped red sack, that was full of goat's milk if I remember correctly.

[blade_man]

I used the balata for years and then switched to the Professional 100's. They were good balls in their day!

[mat562]

Corn Syrup I was once told in the case of Titleists..

 

Never tasted it to make sure though.

 

The Maxflis used to have a foul-smelling blue paint-like gunk in the core that stained your clothing. You know how I found that out, I'm sure... :man_in_love:

[6t4gt0]

Topflite (i think tour-not sure) - don't laugh they made a ball that was incredible, this thing would spin off greens if you weren't careful. Only made it for a few years then I had to search the used ball bins for them.

[mat562]

It's more than 15 years back, but I can vividly remember hitting a Spalding Tour Edition with an Eye 2 sand wedge as a teenager and laughing out loud as it spun off the practice green into the bunkers time after time...

 

A comedy club/ball combo right there.

[eventemposwing]

Titleist Professional 90 and Titleist Tour Balata 90 for me.....

 

It wasn't THAT long ago - maybe a decade!! :man_in_love:

[shepdog]

Tour Balatas and then into the Professional 100's. Still have a sleeve of the Pro 100's around the house somewhere. Pro 100's are my favorite all time.

[The Ultimate Spin]

When did the Professional come out?

 

can't really remember, but i know i played it for most of the 90's...

[cdesana]

Titleist Tour Balata as well here.

[URStillAway]

Titleist DT 90 (still have one sitting on my desk - kept it as a memento for one of the few times I shot 72 on our local muni - Aug 14 1993)

[The Ultimate Spin]

from what it sounds like, titleist dominated the ball market even more than it does today....interesting

[Swingtheclub]

For me it was the titelist balata or what was supposed to be balata I go back to the K2 and then they had the high traj and the low traj the low was a great ball for me for a while.

 

I did carry a Top Rock in my bag for a while to use on long par threes into the wind. If you found the right hot Top Flite you could hit a four iron into on a 220 yd par three

 

Between the high traj and the low traj and the top rocks ahhhhhhhhhh came the one ball rule.

 

Good memorys

[imsocrabby]

i can't remember titleist not being the 'ball of choice".

 

 

 

interesting isn't it.

[pro11ace]

Im not even 15 years old, but the titleist tour balatas I bought are amazing!!

[dmac4g]

I really liked the Rextar Balata's. Those balls were super soft and spun alot! They also cut if you looked at them wrong. I think they were made by Bridgestone and were pretty spendy back then. Oh...the good old days! :man_in_love:

[dansrixon]

I'm trying to think back..

 

I was always a Maxfli HT man for years, but around the early 90s I switched to a Titleist since the cover changed on the Maxfli for the worse.

 

 

You are not the only one...Here is the story behind the change. The Maxfli HT was manufactured by Sumitomo Rubber in Kobe Japan until the plant was damaged by an earthquake. Well the earthquake damage was recoverable, but it was enough for the maxfli people to consider having their golf balls made elsewhere. Meanwhile, insurance money covered the fixing costs and the Sumitomo plant was up and running again, so with in a few years of the earthquake, 1998 to be exact, a new golf ball company appeared on the US Market. Ten years later SRI Sports is the 4th largets golf campany in the world.

[dansrixon]

PS how has the Wilson Ultra not been mentioned yet? Thats the ball that was my ball of choice as a junior golfer on the rolling fairways of Connecticut as a junior.

[BigLeftyinAZ]

Tour professional and tour prestige were my fav's

[shawnee]

That first Precept in 1993 the one Nick Price Played, I went to that after the Maxfli HT looked like it was not white anymore and had a bad color to it...

 

Kindest regards, Shawnee

[mat562]

That first Precept in 1993 the one Nick Price Played, I went to that after the Maxfli HT looked like it was not white anymore and had a bad color to it...

 

That's the year I changed balls; '93. The old HTs went from being a soft 'proper' balata to a horrid shiny-covered thing that looked like it had been varnished and felt a lot harder. My old oppo used to play those Bridgestone balls. The EV Extra Spin.. that, conversely, didn't spin much... :man_in_love:

 

Apparently it spun a lot for a two piece ball (as it was) hence the name... ;) He loved the things as he hit a really high, spinning ballflight and they were the best thing out there as far as he was concerned.

 

I remember the Rextars - they developed a bit of a cult following after Faldo started using them in the early 90s and won an Open with the things.

 

The Ultra Tour and the Precept Double Cover balls were both decent too - and space age stuff at the time with that 4 piece construction. I think both of those balls just preceded the Titleist Professional - which was an incredible thing as I remember. Went absolutely miles and spun just like the Tour 100s it replaced... And it even had that natty coppery/gold box that looked the absolute business...

 

Ken; I remember the old Tour Balata Low Trajectory balls. They were like white Foot Joy Classics in my younger days: the preserve of accomplished players, and not for the likes of us juniors... :)

 

Good thread this. I'm having a very enjoyable wander down memory lane.

[Swingtheclub]

Mat dont you sleep is it not like two am in the UK?

[mat562]

Just turned 1am Ken.

 

But shift work (and no work in the morning) and a poorly dog who may need a rapid exit to the garden at any moment mean I'm still up... :man_in_love:

 

I can always find time to reminisce about the good old days...

[sam_5_0]

thats the ball that norman could back up with a one iron

[mat562]

The old Tour Edition that Spalding made was an amazing thing. Norman had to ditch them for a Titleist back in '89 as I remember because of the excessive spin.

[Night train]

For me it was the titelist balata or what was supposed to be balata I go back to the K2 and then they had the high traj and the low traj the low was a great ball for me for a while.

 

I did carry a Top Rock in my bag for a while to use on long par threes into the wind. If you found the right hot Top Flite you could hit a four iron into on a 220 yd par three

 

Between the high traj and the low traj and the top rocks ahhhhhhhhhh came the one ball rule.

 

Good memorys

 

Remember when they rolled out the 384 Balata.......that thing was a rocket compared to the previous Titleist balatas. It was as big a hit on tour back in the mid 80's as the Pro V1 was when it rolled out.

 

Lots of folks don't realize how good todays balls are compared to the old days!

[TBIRD67]

Titleist Professional 90