Are you old enough to have ever played a balata ball?

[ualtim]

I have hit them and have a few laying around in a used ball pile some where, but never bought them new or played them. I was using Top Flite II Low trajectory's (Orange ) when I first started to becoming serious about the game (prior to that, I was playing what I found, given, or logo over runs.) Made the mistake of switching over to wound balls for several years becase I made the mistake of listening to someone who said my game was too good for the solid core balls. Back to Top Flite with the Top Flite 2000's and then into the Strata 3 piece tour lines.

Never liked the balatas when I hit them.

 

[zaphod]

Yep, Acushnet (became Titleist) club specials---Balata ball which if you hit it thin got an instant smile. Nice soft feel though and a spinner.

 

[ualtim]

Yep, Acushnet (became Titleist) club specials---Balata ball which if you hit it thin got an instant smile. Nice soft feel though and a spinner.

Ya know, I never found one of those without the smile.

 

[cypressperch]

I shall now split a hair.

Titleist 100's had all black writing and numbers.
Titleist 90 compression had black letters and red numbers.
The Titleist with both red letters and red numbers was around 80 compression and for slower swing speeds.

It is hard to believe that these top of the line balls cost around $3 a sleeve at the Pro Shop. I was actually a Maxfli man back in those days. They seemed to hold up a little better and had a softer feel when hit than the Titleist. I think anyone who could afford to would use a Black Titleist (100) if it were a long drive contest.

Wilson Staff and MacGregor Tourneys were a couple of other balls you felt good about when you found one. Even in those days we had the same mystical problem of hitting Titleist or Maxflies into the woods and finding out that they had turned into Spalding Dots, and later on dozens of different kinds of Topflites. (Don't ask me why but I always thought the Spalding Crowflight was a pretty good ball. Went straight!)

CP

 

[mddubya]

I began playing this crazy game in my late teens, over 30 years ago, :faintthud, so yes I've played them. I could never make through a round without putting a smiley face on one with my old Ram blades.

FWIW, my Dad dug his golf clubs out of storage the other day, he has about 75 of the old balls in his bag. He asked me if I wanted them to use, I said thanks, but no thanks,

 

[dave.]

No sane person would ever want to have played them. Pros in those days used 6 a round, Greg Norman used 18 100s every rounbd, no one could afford that unless they were free.

They were truly dreadful balls. Anyone hitting a surlyn ball correctly could get it to stop plus surlyn at least went forwards into the wind. And I'm not kidding I once saw a guy hit a full wedge into a stiff breeze with balata and it ended up behind him

One of the myths of golf is that balata was fun to play with. It wasn't, it was frigging dreadful

But having said that I still have a dozen of so and I always looked forward to when they came out of the practice bag, if only for the feel off the face, so maybe I'm a hypocrite

 

[tjy355]

Old enough that there were no balls other than balata!

Someone else mentioned Club Specials, those are what my dad bought - they were supposed to be the same as Titleists but cheaper.

I played with whatever I found in the bushes. With my superior ball striking skills, I might make it a whole round with a ball before giving it a big smile.

 

[Adam Pettman]

No, no I'm not. Are those the things made from the testicles of Wolly Mammoths?

 

[usa1950]

I'm 37, began playing when I was 5 or 6 on Par 3's. I was in the 30's when I was about 12 or so.

Titleist Tour Balata. All black letters indeed, (I recall the letters being slightly more slender/skinnier than the letters on a DT) but who could forget the wicked cool all black BOX they came in?



and the ultra mysterious, "liquid filled center?" I got to the inside of one once after getting the cover off with some flathead screwdriver work on a smile and then I got the rubber bands going. It bounced all over the place as the rubber bands and their tension came unwound. Inside was a little, gray, ball about the size of a big marble. It was softer than I expected, not "squishy" soft, but you could compress it with your fingers a bit.

I was a teenage volunteer at the 1991 PGA Championship (Daly) and the driving range at Crooked Stick was not long enough for the big hitters. Dozens and dozens of drives were hit into the net, collecting at the bottom. Myself and a few other volunteers had to walk by the net on the way back to the parking lot to get picked up.

I grabbed dozens of them at the bottom of the net. Pristine Titleist and Maxfli balls. I eventually played many of them, and gave some to friends. Had some others autographed the next day(s) after the round. I loved playing with them. When you hit an iron shot pure, there was no better feeling on a golf course.

When I was even younger, back in the 80's I played whatever ball I had, but I remember liking the DT's the best. Perhaps because they were more accessible/cheaper for a kid. Even then, there was something to playing a "titleist." I'm a maxfli guy now, have been for a while.

The Tour Edition was a GREAT ball.

I was in Greg Norman's group one day at the PGA. Pretty nice guy, and he was king of the world at that point. At one point, some wicked storms came through and the horn sounded. We were far away from the clubhouse, on about #6. Some big, cushy, leather seated vans appeared out of nowhere on the rough of our hole. Players and Caddies piled in. The Shark held the door for us and made sure we got a ride back. The other scorekeepes, walking sign-holders showed up 20 minutes later soaked to the skit. I remember one girl in particular.... (the shirts were white, and I was young, you would have done the same!).

After the round, I asked Greg for a ball, and he gave me one. Maxfli #0. SHARK on the side. I putted with it in the house all the time, and still have it.