Who remembers hand-wrapped golf balls?

[magolf]

Anyone bag individually wrapped balls as a kid?

Does anyone out there remember individually hand-wrapped golf balls? Like the Penfold ones from the 30s and 60s? They've not been around for 40 years or so, but word is out that they're back.

You can get hand-wrapped golf balls from British company, Penfold Golf again. They've brought back the Dual-iD film-wrapped ball. Guess they'll be popular with anyone over 45 (quite a few of us!) At around $55 a set of 12, they ain't cheap but they sure will stir up nostalgic memories...

MA Golf

[dan360]

I've never even seen one, but they sound pretty neat.

[78blades]

[quote name='dan360' timestamp='1272274296' post='2401031'] I've never even seen one, but they sound pretty neat. [/quote] Personally, I don't miss them. I bet if they still had to play them on tour they would be good for 2-8 more strokes though.

[peez007]

you can also go to a flee market and buy VHS Tapes...

[Will Par]

We had a guy at our club who once lost his ball in the rough, and secretly dropped another ball from his pocket. One of his playing companions walked over and the ball (it was a Penfold) still had the wrapping on it! The guy even proceeded and hit the ball.... fluttering it down the fairway. Probably not too funny in the retelling, but we used to really laugh about it. I still remember which hole it happened on. Wish I could remember the guy's name.

[Llortamaisey]

Why would someone want individually wrapped golf balls?

[youraway2]

I have a few (collected them) but of course have never played one. I've been playing since the late 60's and cannot remember seeing any sold - but I do remember how a ball back then reacted when mis-hit. Today's ball just goes pretty straight, yes maybe straight right or left but pretty straight. My old Club Specials would not only cut, but if sliced or hooked enough you might believe the ball was actually coming back to you like a boomerang. Yep, I could slice a ball 75 yards right on any given shot. Opp's off topic.

[mark m]

If memory serves....believe it or not....the original spalding Molitor balls came in a triangular box - both in 3's and by the dozen - and were individually wrapped in tissue paper as well.

They also had a 5 or 6 digit seriel number on each ball. They were expensive despite being rock hard. My father played them at the time. Early 1980's(?)

I believe you could return them to be replaced if you cut through the cover. (That was the purpose of the seriel number.)

[dlygrisse]

The cost of packaging for golf balls is more than the cost of making the ball themselves, from my understanding, sounds like this would only drive up the cost. I do remember seeing some though, I think some old guy I knew had them in his garage. Personally I wish I could buy ProV's in a brown paper bag to keep the price down without all the fancy packaging.

[jaskanski]

[quote name='King Kobra' timestamp='1281010053' post='2619853']
Why would someone want individually wrapped golf balls?
[/quote]


Probably for the same reason they would want iron covers and $50 ball markers. No reason in other words.
The original concept of individually wrapped balls was to prevent the rubber from degrading and losing colour over a period of time. Nowadays, balls don't have the same problem as the old balata, even if the likes of Taylor Made try to sell the concept of moisture degradation in balls (remember the short lived Inergel?)

[dalehead]

Never used the Penfold ball, but I do remember seeing them in pro shops when I first started playing.

Maybe its just me, but individually wrapped golf balls are not one of the things I'm nostalgic for.

[astamm8]

You can get a reproduction of the Dunlop 65 that is individually wrapped as well, but it might be a UK only thing.

[Jacoby]

[quote name='astamm8' timestamp='1283881727' post='2683484']
You can get a reproduction of the Dunlop 65 that is individually wrapped as well, but it might be a UK only thing.
[/quote]

I saw an ad in Today's Golfer for Penfold, and apparently they still produce a hand wrapped golf ball.

http://www.penfoldgolf.com/penfold-heart-collection/penfold-dual-id-hand-wrapped-golf-ball/index.html

Kind of spendy though.

[retfr8flyr]

I remember the wrapped golf balls, I haven't thought about them in many years. I would get a dozen Penfolds' for my father every fathers day. Thanks for bringing that memory back.


Earl

[A V Twiss]

They were still selling individually wrapped balls when I started paying golf at around 13 (1971). We did not have a lot of money when I was young and it was always a treat to be able to afford a brand new ball rather than balls out of the used bucket. It was fun to go ball hunting in the many gorse bushes at my local course. A Penfold Ace or good Dunlop 65 were good finds.

[Pinsplitter59]

A Spalding Hot Dot small ball.
this one would have come wrapped and in its own little box.
not sure how old it is, but this quote tells the story.
"The Professional Golfer's Association (PGA) in Great Britian was swayed by people who attributed the American dominance of golf to their usage of the big ball. It announced in 1968 that it was to experiment with the bigger ball of 1.68 inches in its tournaments. Soon it became mandatory. In 1974, the R & A made the big ball compulsory for the Open Championship. Under the rule revisions that came into effect in 1988, the R & A outlawed the small ball altogether."

When Jack Nicklaus played in Australia in the 60's he said this ball was the longest ball he had ever hit.
[attachment=837622:hotdot_0154.jpg]

[astamm8]

This picture was taken to show the club, but behind is a package of Dunlop 65s, also of the 1.62" variety. They're fun balls to hit, and I wish the R & A hadn't done away with them.

[attachment=837681:SS1.2.jpg]

[Tupperwolf]

I have never seen a "small ball" in person. Are they noticeably smaller if you hold one in the palm of your hand?

[astamm8]

[quote name='QWKDTSN' timestamp='1313014639' post='3471260']
I have never seen a "small ball" in person. Are they noticeably smaller if you hold one in the palm of your hand?
[/quote]

I'd say yes, barely. I think as a golfer if you found one on the course, you'd think nothing of it when you bent of to pick it up. But, once it was in your hand and gave it a look, you think, hmm.... this looks a bit small. But, you wouldn't be totally sure it was a small ball until you compared it to a bigger one.

[Pinsplitter59]

if you picked one up you would know it immediately.
its not much in inches but it makes a huge difference.
i remember back in the 60's when i first got a large ball, it looked enormous.
[attachment=840933:DSC_1823w.JPG]

[villa]

My father worked for Dunlop Tyres all his life and used to come home with boxes of 65's back in the day.

I've still got a couple of boxes (black and red) with the balls still in the wrappers. I've also got a couple of the christmas sleeves of 3 with the festive box.

I was actually debating selling them at a sporting auction last year but there not worth that much... yet!

[Nspiel58]

I've never played a wrapped ball, but I picked up these Dunlop 65s at a Liquidation store. It's a nice way of presenting the balls, but pretty expensive to box them individually. In any event, they're a very nice ball, soft with good spin on the greens. Anyone else ever play these?

[dalehead]

Back when there were different size golf balls the Dunlop 65 was the premier British size ball. It was individually wrapped in paper and sold in boxes of a dozen. There was also a paper wrapped American version of the Dunlop 65, but it took a back seat to the Dunlop Maxfli in the US.

Never saw the balls pictured but they look like a later day version.

[villa]

[quote name='Nspiel58' timestamp='1313456586' post='3490119']
I've never played a wrapped ball, but I picked up these Dunlop 65s at a Liquidation store. It's a nice way of presenting the balls, but pretty expensive to box them individually. In any event, they're a very nice ball, soft with good spin on the greens. Anyone else ever play these?
[/quote]
Never used them mate but I believe they're the "remake" made in approximately 2003 (could be wrong on the year).

[astamm8]

Definitely newer, the u in 65u is for urethane which is the cover material.

[Pondy]

Anyone paying $55/dozen for a golf ball needs to have their head examined.

[Pinsplitter59]

quote:
Henry Cotton broke through at the 1934 British Open at Royal St. George's.
He opened with rounds of 67 and 65, phenomenal scoring for that era,
and opened a nine-stroke lead (the "Dunlop 65" golf ball was named for his second round).

[Nspiel58]

I got 6 dozen of those Dunlop 65Us for $60. A good deal if I say so myself.

[maverick]

The feather balls were great! LOL If good you could make up to 6 or 7 a day.

 

The method of manufacturing feathery golf balls was fairly uniform, although some variations did exist.

Come the middle of the 19th Century there were hundreds of craftsmen and their apprentices toiling to produce such balls. Large numbers of which were to be reduced to destitution with the advent of the gutta percha. Producing a feathery was a time consuming process that required considerable expertise. The craftsmen themselves vied with each other for the contracts from the richest patrons of the game and were often scathing about the results their competitors achieved. To produce a feathery, a piece of leather had to be cut in three pieces, softened with alum and water, and then sewn together leaving a small hole into which feathers were pressed until the ball was hard.

[spooky]

I think I still have some individually wrapped Dunlop 65 balls somewhere along with some other stuff from my Dad's shop from about 1969/1970.