Pinned? Best modern balls for vintage clubs

[dbuck47]

Of late, I have been playing ProV1's and find them quite to my liking with vintage gear. For years I have avoided them, not because I didn't like them, but rather I didn't think at my level, they were worth the extra $. I am becoming somewhat addicted though, and I don't lose many, so the cost is not as big a factor as it could be.

[Fellaheen51]

My strategy for acquiring ProV1's on the cheap: Play a better course. On a tight driving hole, hit a "shag ball" into the woods. Go looking for it. Find several ProV1's and other high end balls. Be a playa.

Wish I had the game that would warrant playing high end balls. The reality is I do not. Do not see where I can hit the ball any further, straighter or spin it more with them compared to the Duos I generally play with all vintages clubs. Keep reading the ball threads attempting to glean some nuance or characteristic that ball "x" may translate favorably to on course results. But just don't see where they make any difference, or at least one that I can notice. And this is not to diss ProV's in any way. Have several in the bag that come out to play periodically.

And not to imply that because I can't take advantage of premium balls, I might as well hit Top Flights. Just that there are a plethora of balls in the $20.00 range that work just fine.....for me; spending the extra $ doesn't seem to be warranted.

However, for no discernible reason, did rather like the Wilson Staff FG Tours I got a sleeve of earlier this year. But because no one plays them, can never find one in the aforementioned woods.

[stevemcgee99]

Duo's are awesome as far as I'm concerned. Cost and technology =/= better. It [i]can[/i], but it doesn't always equate.

I play 'not better' courses frequently and have a grocery bag full of Pro V1 and V1x balls. Also another grocery bag full of Callaways, Taylor Mades, etc.

Put I've bought a used bag of Duos from eBay - love them and don't see the need to play the found balls. At least not until I lose my last Duo.

[deetsal]

[quote ='NRJyzr' timestamp='1430784905' post='11499003']
Most of the wound balls I have lying around are HT100s. Had only just started playing when they were still around, so they weren't really on the radar until they'd been retired in the marketplace.

I got a sleeve of HT90s along with a dozen of the old Circle P balls back around 2000 or so. They were the practice balls Maxfli sold at the time, mostly Revolutions, with some HTs in there. Gave them to #2 son, he used them fairly well, watched him hit and velcro-stick a 40 yd pitch shot. I was intrigued.

Loved all those Maxfli balls, Revolution, A10, M3 Red/Black.... probably why I've liked almost all TM balls.
[/quote]I have something like 200 of those Maxfli's and have no idea what to do with them. I am in the recycled ball industry, small time, and have a ton of balata balls. Titleist, Wilson, Maxfli, Slazenger, etc. Have newer Topflite Tour Balata that I think are very playable. Sold around five hundred on eBay and have about the same left.

Maxfli A10, people loved that ball ten years ago. I remember reading on wrx a few years ago, "best ball ever made" I think was the title. Have a bag of 50 mint, did not sell on eBay.

[NRJyzr]

Thought I'd report in with new ball usage, at least from my perspective.

In the leaf infested golf of fall, I didn't want to use the good stuff any more than I did. Wound up losing in leaves the two birthday gift B330-S I tried using.

So I picked up a dozen Wilson Staff Fifty Elites.

The feel was really quite nice, and it grew on me quickly, to the point I picked up another dozen once that first dozen found Davy Jones' Locker, or were spirited away by squirrels. Ball appears not to spin too much off the tee, and not too much on irons. Trajectory from the dimple pattern appears to be higher than I'd prefer, but I realize I'm likely not the target market for this ball.

What surprised me was the ability to make it check up considerably more than I expected was possible. It's no B330S or Tour Preferred, by any means, but it behaved fairly well around the greens.

A reasonable product IMHO

['53 Precision]

Titleist DT TruSoft best I've found yet...long off of persimmon, excellent control around greens with vintage irons, soft for putting...

[minimal45]

The soft golf ball movement which I'm all for will make it easier to play vintage and classic. That to me is a good thing. A soft ball can make any club feel good.

[oldschoolrocker]

Thought I would update with the two balls I used during Thursday's game.

 

Tempature mid 30's to mid 40's during the round.

 

Balls used during play:

Wilson Duo Spin

Top Flight Gamer 3 piece yellow dimple in dimple

 

Both balls I feel are exceptional for vintage play.

 

Tee ball with woods:

Duo a bit softer off the face

Gamer a frickin rocket.

Both balls great for cold weather.

The dimple in dimple pattern of the Gamer makes it a poor man's e6 in my opinion.

 

Tee ball with irons:

Didn't notice much difference in run out between the two balls. I hit a high ball normally on all full shots and neither strayed more than a couple of yards from their pitch marks. Greens were firm and around 10-10.5, according to the tournament director.

 

Full approach shots:

As expected I could move the Duo a bit more than the Gamer, but that's not to say the Gamer can't be worked, just not as much. It sits down nicely with a little left to right.

 

Green side:

Duo checks up

Gamer more run out, but not excessive

 

Putting:

Duo comes off the face softer

Both balls roll well

 

I would not hesitate to play either ball with either vintage, or modern equipment.

[Fellaheen51]

Thanks for your impressions on these two Randy. Definitely want to try the Duo Spin this season. Could use the extra green side check up. Especially on my "home" course where my short game miss is typically running thru the green. Reading between the lines, worth the modest increase in cost to go with the Spin over the standard Duo.

[oldschoolrocker]

Yes Doug, I would agree with spending the extra couple of bucks for the "spin."

[maverick]

The original post was superb. Thank you. Btw, I remember when it was a choice of 90 or 100 compression balls. I am happy that has changed. ;-)

[Davewn]

The original post was superb. Thank you. Btw, I remember when it was a choice of 90 or 100 compression balls. I am happy that has changed. ;-)

 

Titleist had 80 compression in the DT IIRC, or "Lady 80s". My how times have changed...

[oldschoolrocker]

Pro at a local shop got his hands on some Titlest JDM balls, V3, or something like that, and I tried them out last Thursday. Seemed to play like the Bridgestone e6. Not bad, really good distance, and felt very good off the wedges and putter. Consistent across the board.

['53 Precision]

Titleist DT Tru-Soft...great distance, feel, and control...perform excellently in the short game also.

[8bitpowerfade]

I see that people liked the W/S FG Tour a few years back in this thread and my current go-to ball for vintage play is the Wilson Staff Duo Urethane. It's not cheap unfortunately, but it's definitely got the most balata-like feel to me if retro feedback is what you're looking for in playing vintage clubs.

[Fellaheen51]

8bit, the FG Tours are a great ball. Play them with classic and modern, One of the few balls that I can actually spin the ball backwards on approaches into a green (adding another dimension to calculating the required distance to the pin, LOL). Budget Golf still have them listed on their site, at closeout prices. They are the 2015 (?) version. Less $ than the Duo Urethane. Highly recommended. They had a crazy good deal going in the winter ($24.00/doz., two ball sleeve), stocked up. (With thanks to NRJ for mentioning the sale.)

 

Also, the Snell MTB is an excellent ball. Found them to play very similar to the Wilson FG Tours. Would have acquired more of these if I hadn't found the FG deal.

 

Once I discover a suitable ball for my game, tend to play it with all manner and vintages of implements. Not good enough to detect small nuances in ball performance. My criteria seems to simply be how do they feel when properly struck. Other than to say Pro V1's have never have done much for me. Certainly find enough of them in the netherlands while searching for my ball.

 

As always, YMMV.

[ScooterMcTavish]

Have tried a few more balls this summer, with the following results:

 

Srixon Soft Feel - like it as much as the Duo

Srixon Q-Star Tour - firmer than I would have liked, only ok spin for a urethane cover

Top Flite Gamer Tour - Still a great value and nice feeling ball - love the very soft cover - not balata, but very close

Callaway Supersoft - Even after all the hype as a "reverse engineered" Duo, it lacked the liveliness and feel of the Duo. A "dead" feeling ball IMHO

[skajaquada77]

This is a fantastic thread... thanks to all that contributed. I am a fan of the Slazenger Raw Distance Blue, it was already review but I figured I would let everybody know, Dick’s Sports has them for 3 dozens=30$ with free shipping... they play great in my opinion with 80s clubs, both Persimmons and Irons.

[Prut]

I'm a big fan of the Gamer and Gamer Tour. Duo worked well, too. Recently bought a dozen Noodle Softs. I like them, too. I'm beginning to think it doesn't make a heckuvalot of difference.

[NRJyzr]

Wilson 50 Elite has surprised me, it has much better short game spin than I expected. The only real complaint I might have us that it's not a great fit to my iron game once the wind gets up a bit.

[ThomasJ2352]

hope this isnt too far off the main topic...have been out of the sport for many years...to date myself when I

was playing regularly some of the balls I used (mainly found due to lack of $ in school) were Titleist Balata/DT,

Molitor, Top-Flight XL, ProStaff, Royal, Blue-Max....most were either 90 or 100 (if it was a hot day) compression...

buddies would usually laugh at my Top-Flights until I blew tee shots well past em...normal tee shots were 275 -

290+...still can poke em out there a ways...Been reading reports of many of the balls reviewed in this thread and

one that I thought I might try is the W/S Duo...then I looked at the specs...29 compression??? Back in the day

an 80 was like hitting mush...What should I expect? I can buy a batch but wouldn't want to put 11 in the shag bag...

Thanks

Tom

[golfmj228]

Hey Tom, sounds like you have been out of the game for anwhileeeeee! With the way they are making balls today don’t let that low compression throw you for a loop. They play long off the tee with that low comp but don’t feel like marshmallows. Just my 2 cents but I think you will like the duo quite a bit. Good luck!

[oldschoolrocker]

Tom,

Welcome back in the game. Try the Duo, I think you’ll like it.

[dcopp7]

Get the Slazenger Soft Feel from Dicks for 3doz for $30 shipped

[ThomasJ2352]

Get the Slazenger Soft Feel from Dicks for 3doz for $30 shipped

Wife recently gave me three doz Slazengers for B-day...12 Soft Feel, 12 Long and 12 Straight...picked em up at Dicks whilst getting me a new

bag...think the price was the driver ;) took one of each to the putting green where the Long had more of a "click" compared to the Straight and

Soft Feel....looking forward to giving them a go...