WOW They're Back !!

[D'KRUSHER]

Penfold Golf Balls..... But I have never heard of'em. have you

Saw this website - Penfold Heart Golf Balls.... Preferred by 007 !!

http://www.penfoldgolf.com/

Have any Golfwrx'rs played 'em ? Are they good ? I do like the style.... be fun on the skins night to break them out.

[Walkin36]

I have never played those, but I used to play these...

[mufan1]

as a kid, stratas were my favorite! the red diamonds ones were my lucky ones.

[D'KRUSHER]

Penfold, Individually wrapped, look like Truffles.
This gallery is quite interesting.. look at the high tech almost hexagon dimples !

[url="http://www.penfoldgolf.com/gallery/index.html?page=1"]http://www.penfoldgolf.com/gallery/index.html?page=1[/url]

I too loved the Strata Tour Ace

[coldsoul]

This has turned into a little bit of a thread jack but god did I love those stratas I used to ask the guys at golf town to let me go through the boxes and make up sets of just spades (my lucky ones). I'm going to have to give those penfolds a try just for kicks thanks for the link.

Edit to add: This also reminded me of how my brother loves slazengers (doesn't golf a ton) because goldfinger played them.

[Masse1369]

Weren't the penfold the smaller heavier balls that went a mile? Illegal obv... If not what were those called?

[dazem]

Im going to date myself here, but it is what it is! As a young man i was lucky enough to pick up a bag at an early Canadian Tour event that was held in my home town in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada.It's a small rural town ,so when these guys from America, South Africa,Mexico, South America etc. it was a big deal. Even the late, great Moe Norman played!! My guy was a young Canadian Pro named Mark Shushak ... He won the Pro-Am! Sorry, back to the thread .. after the Tourney had ended, the local ball hunters were selling all of us these Penfold Aces ... they came wrapped, witch was strange enough, but the cover was a very light blue color, very faint, and you could almost press your thumb nail through the cover! Im sure some of the ''older'' U.K. guys know this ball for sure. Anyway, that sole event shaped my future, i am now the head Professional at a very prestigious club in the Philippines. God bless Golf!!!

[dazem]

Sorry if i got a little off topic, but my Dad passed away at age 83 and it's brought back alot of golf memories. At least we know a little more about the history of Penfold Ace golf balls .... oh yeah, those pills would spin back on frozen blacktop!!! I remember a practice round and we were in a group playing behind Moe Norman,and a local Am hotshot hit into him ...the ball rolled past his feet! No irrigation and the ball rolled a mile. Moe took out his 1iron and bladed one back to the tee, right at this guys feet, and his brand new Titleist was smiling from ear to ear!!! Oh my god it was funny!

[MoaningM]

Did Penfold manufacture the old commando ball? anyone remember that one, vertually a one piece of rubber, great things, but would struggle to hit it out of your shadow, but boy would it spin

[dgs]

Back in the 50's and 60's in the UK, the Dunlop 65 was the premier selling ball, followed by the likes of Penfold Ace and a couple of other brands.  Dunlop had two balls - the 65 and the less expensive Warwick, Penfold I think only had the Ace.

The Ace was a premium ball and IIRC through my foggy memory sold at the same price as the Dunlop 65, something like 1/6d or 25cents in US money :-) :-)  They were a great ball, balata cover of course, and like the other balls of its' day you could cut it with your fingernail :-) :-)  Although I do not remember the Penfold being wrapped, the Dunlop 65 had a red wrapper, and the Warwick a black, with a stick on label which also included the # of the ball.

I was at the PGA Show in Orlando, I think it was 2001, and saw a wrapped dozen of Warwicks, asking price was something in the range of $250.00  :-)







David

[trubo]

And, there was also the Slazenger B51 Fireball, not to mention the Spalding Hot Dots, all in the small ball specs.

The Penfolds used to cut if you frowned at them. Heaven help you if you topped one, the rubber inner windings were exposed in a heartbeat.

Individually wrapped or boxed - and I remember they had a real rubber smell about them. Cost a packet too - that's why people used to repaint them for resale back in the 50s and 60s in my neck of the woods.

Took a bit of skill to successfully control those balls in any sort of wind, but they did spin like crazy.

Helped to make short courses long and long courses a real test.

[D'KRUSHER]

For the more seasoned folk here- So, did you any of you get turned onto the Penfolds because James Bond had used them ? Anyway, the penfold' have style, I have to admit. I'm guessing they didnt dominate the market at any one time......a " bouitique" golf ball..

[magolf]

Hi Guys - yes you're right, Penfold Golf DID make the Commando Golf ball and still do, as a Range Ball now. Penfold is still an independent British company based in Birmingham, England. At one time they had a factory in New York in the 1940s, but the guys got called up to go to war, so that was the end of that!

After a long absence, Penfold made a come back last year and started off remaking the Penfold Heart golf ball that was made famous in the 1964 movie Goldfinger. Sean Connery admits that he developed his love of the game whilst learning to play golf for the Bond Movie.

I am helping William Baird, (known as "Mr Penfold" in the trade) to gather pix of old Penfold balls for his photo gallery. So it would be great if you could add to the archive and send in any photos of old Penfold balls etc. Sadly, the company lost its photo library in the 1980s, so it's a case of starting again...

Happily, some great pix have come in from US and Scotland.

Interesting to hear that old Penfolds had such idiosyncracies. As a novice to the game I can't really comment on the idiosyncracies of the modern Penfold Hearts. But if anyone wants to try one out, I could wing some off across the pond...

Cheers Guys,
Michele

['53 Precision]

[quote name='magolf' post='1976549' date='Sep 28 2009, 02:41 PM']Hi Guys - yes you're right, Penfold Golf DID make the Commando Golf ball and still do, as a Range Ball now. Penfold is still an independent British company based in Birmingham, England. At one time they had a factory in New York in the 1940s, but the guys got called up to go to war, so that was the end of that!

After a long absence, Penfold made a come back last year and started off remaking the Penfold Heart golf ball that was made famous in the 1964 movie Goldfinger. Sean Connery admits that he developed his love of the game whilst learning to play golf for the Bond Movie.

I am helping William Baird, (known as "Mr Penfold" in the trade) to gather pix of old Penfold balls for his photo gallery. So it would be great if you could add to the archive and send in any photos of old Penfold balls etc. Sadly, the company lost its photo library in the 1980s, so it's a case of starting again...

Happily, some great pix have come in from US and Scotland.

Interesting to hear that old Penfolds had such idiosyncracies. As a novice to the game I can't really comment on the idiosyncracies of the modern Penfold Hearts. But if anyone wants to try one out, I could wing some off across the pond...

Cheers Guys,
Michele[/quote]


MIchele,

Where do you want us to send the pics? I have one that I found in a back yard in Ft. Worth, TX last summer that I would be happy to photograph and send the pictures to you.

[mat562]

[quote name='MoaningM' post='1953845' date='Sep 16 2009, 11:58 AM']Did Penfold manufacture the old commando ball? anyone remember that one, virtually a one piece of rubber, great things, but would struggle to hit it out of your shadow, but boy would it spin[/quote]

I remember the Penfolds all to well. What a ball they were. Even as a youngster, playing most of my early golf with balls that the dog found in the gorse at the local club, Penfold Commandos were considered to be a bit of a booby prize when the hound came back with one in its clack. A Titleist balata was like manna from heaven and, once you caught a glimpse of the logo peeking out from behind the dog's tongue, it had you frantically shouting at the poor hound to drop it before it ended up with fang marks in the cover. A Commando, though, was a shrug, a beleaguered sigh, and an instruction to the hound to nip back into the bushes to hopefully find something else.

The Commandos were shockers, even for a 12 year-old. Basically a big lump of used chewing gum that had been compression moulded into a golf ball shape. The off-white/cream ones were the norm, but they also knocked out a few that were resplendent in a sort of NHS hearing aid beige.

Hopefully they're not bringing those back.

[cubfanbob]

> As a novice to the game I can't really comment on the idiosyncracies of the modern Penfold Hearts. But if anyone wants to try one out, I could wing some off across the pond...

Michele, I would love to try one - thanks!

PM-ing you with my address.

[ScooterMcTavish]

[quote name='mat562' post='1976996' date='Sep 28 2009, 06:45 PM']The off-white/cream ones were the norm, but they also knocked out a few that were resplendent in a sort of NHS hearing aid beige.

Hopefully they're not bringing those back.[/quote]

LOL, first good laugh of the morning.

Saw these on the USGA conforming list the other day when I was looking for something else. What I turned up was the following specs:

[size=1][size=1]Penfold TM with heart in red [/size][/size][size=1][size=1]white [/size][/size][size=1][size=1]3P-SC-1c H-M 332 [/size][/size][size=1][font="Times-Roman"][size=1]UNITED KINGDOM Penfold Golf Ltd.

[/size][/size][/font]As per the list, this means the ball is a 3-piece solid core ball with a single-layer cover and 332 dimples. It also states that this ball has HIGH spin off of the driver, and MEDIUM spin off the wedge. Ahhhh....not a great combo IMHO.

I guess for the person who wants more workability off the tee yet wants less spinf around the greens, this could be the magic ball.

Likely this caught my eye, as the current trends in ball design have almost everything on the USGA list as having less or equal spin off the driver, and higher spin off the wedges. To see L-H, L-L, L-M, M-M, and M-H is "normal" for most golf balls.

The link is here if anyone is interested:

[url="http://www.usga.org/ConformingGolfBall/gball_list.pdf"]http://www.usga.org/ConformingGolfBall/gball_list.pdf[/url]

[scott406]

Back again

 

https://www.penfoldgolfusa.com/shop/wgvm8o06lhy6by294t0twz1yp5n8sd

 

 

"New" Penfold Ace

4-piece Urethane cover

 

I may venture into a dozen for nostalgia purposes

 

MGS did a write up if you are into these

 

[CDM]

On 9/16/2009 at 1:52 AM, dgs said:

Back in the 50's and 60's in the UK, the Dunlop 65 was the premier selling ball, followed by the likes of Penfold Ace and a couple of other brands.  Dunlop had two balls - the 65 and the less expensive Warwick, Penfold I think only had the Ace.

The Ace was a premium ball and IIRC through my foggy memory sold at the same price as the Dunlop 65, something like 1/6d or 25cents in US money 🙂 🙂  They were a great ball, balata cover of course, and like the other balls of its' day you could cut it with your fingernail 🙂 🙂  Although I do not remember the Penfold being wrapped, the Dunlop 65 had a red wrapper, and the Warwick a black, with a stick on label which also included the # of the ball.

I was at the PGA Show in Orlando, I think it was 2001, and saw a wrapped dozen of Warwicks, asking price was something in the range of $250.00 🙂







David

 

Just to show everyone how the Dunlop 65 /wapper looked if you have not seen them. 

 

My grandfather had them. I had to be 5 or 6 at the time and I remember sneaking one from his bag as I thought it was candy...!  First time i remember being dispointed with golf... 😃 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/111551397231 

Edited February 23, 2023 by CDM

[CDM]

6 hours ago, scott406 said:

Back again

 

https://www.penfoldgolfusa.com/shop/wgvm8o06lhy6by294t0twz1yp5n8sd

 

 

"New" Penfold Ace

4-piece Urethane cover

 

I may venture into a dozen for nostalgia purposes

 

MGS did a write up if you are into these

 

 

I just bought a box...!  I dont need them as I 5 boxes of ProV1x's already for the season but it brings back great memories of my grandfather who taught me how to play the game. 

[scott406]

17 hours ago, CDM said:

 

I just bought a box...!  I dont need them as I 5 boxes of ProV1x's already for the season but it brings back great memories of my grandfather who taught me how to play the game. 

Give us a report back on how they perform

I was thinking about getting a box myself

 

[CDM]

2 hours ago, scott406 said:

Give us a report back on how they perform

I was thinking about getting a box myself

 

 

Have a trip coming up and will take some with me and test.