WHO Remembers THESE BALATA Golf Balls?!?! – is this the ball that the pros are going back too? Who remembers these golf balls? The distance you can gain from the modern day golf ball will SHOCK YOU!!
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WHO Remembers THESE BALATA Golf Balls?!?! – is this the ball that the pros are going back too? Who remembers these golf balls? The distance you can gain from the modern day golf ball will SHOCK YOU!!
37 Comments
They were the ultimate in softness
I played whatever I found or what was cheap. My older brother loved balata balls and would sometimes give me a sleeve. They felt great, but a bad thin could put a smile on them. They just didn’t last for me. ⛳️
That ball spun like crazy. Made an ace with a Z Balata 100!
I used titleist balata back in the day. The did cut if you thinned them but the biggest problem was that the surface got damaged from a good strike and didn’t last long. They did have a great feel.
Before the dunlop 65 i I played balata balls and often cut a beautiful smile all the way through to the core with a rubbish contact. They were softer and more spinny than other balls . Remember this was around 1970ish. After the 65i the next revolution in balls was the drop and stop pro v. Around this time we moved to the PGA size ball and the English makers seemed to die away. But i always thought i was hitting concrete when using these and still do. The nearest ball to a balata feel was the srixon lady soft , then the srixon soft then the Wilson staff soft now the wilson duo. Over 50 years of golfing and ive tried some very odd and wonderous balls . Some very illegal super long, nah, commandos , nah. 50 for a £. Off Skegness market, nah. I'll stick with wilson duo. ❤ Spalding, Penfold, and more I've probably still got them leaking in the bottom of old bags somewhere😂😂
Grew up in the 70 s. Like Dave said the balata balls cut up especially with a wedge. My go to ball was a Blue Max. A maxfli with a surlyn cover or a Ram Golden Ram. Then Top Lite came out. It’s hard to believe Jack Nicklaus averaged almost 280 yards with a persimmon driver and a junk McGregor ball
Interesting video, thanks. I see the (football) score was a noble 1:1 draw. I’m no expert but in the studio it looked as though Dave had a bit of ‘chicken wing’ going on. Think I’ll stick with the AD333. Cheers.
I played the Maxfli HT 90 balata ball. The cover would scuff after about 7 or 8 wedge shots!
Could hit them round corners.
Chris are you doing the tournament like James and are going to show us it
Seem to remember they were easier to work ,fade or draw, sometimes intentionally!!.Would be interested to see spin rates with a full wedge shot
wilson pro staff
I started to play with the old size ball, 1.62 inch. Happy days. 🤪
In the 90’si used a Wilson Ultra.
Remember hell i still have some
I still have a Titleist balata ball from the late 80’s. I used to play them, but ended up having a lot with smiles on them.
I played a Bridgestone precept ev. Think Nick Price and a few others played them. Ram tour balata were similar too. Great memory's looking back
I've made many a "happy face" on tour 90's or Maxfli Revolutions…
I remember Jack saying on the Golf Channel in its infancy , Arnold had him on and they talked golf balls and Jack said when his Sponsor MacGregor sent him golf balls to play , he would have his caddie go out on the driving range and JAck would hit all the balls and find the ones that flew the straightest as he said he would get about 7-9 golf balls out of a dozen that would fly straight !!!!
I actually played the MaxFli Tour Ltd, 100 as a kid !
I remember when TopFlight came out with the hard 2 piece ball and it was so frigging hard it would actually start cracking your persimmon woods if you played a bunch, even worse if you played in the winter they would Sting your hands so bad because everyone only made Blades and when hit skinny your hands would sting for 3 or 4 holes!!
Loved them and I also remember playing the “small” British size in fact I have some Dunlop 65’s still in their wrappers 🤣🤣
Slazenger and maxfli were more durable and cut less easy. Gary had a ball cap deal even then was worth even in todays market a lot of dosh
The balata ball I played back in the 80s was a wound ball over a fluid filled ball center, with a balata cover molded over that. They cut on thin strikes like cheese and would go all wonky because of the imbalance. Great times! The pros played 100 compression balata balls that, with their swing speeds, would be competitive today. For the rest of us, not so much. Titleist, Rawlings, Top Flight, MacGregor, Slazenger and Ram, among others, all made some form of this style ball. When urethane covers came out, these balls and their rubber band centers all faded away in a couple of years.
Virtually no difference between the Z tour balata and the Pro v I’ve lost hundreds of both of them 😢,
But seriously modern balls have transformed today’s game.
Great idea for a video. I’m back after a 25 year break and have been wondering what happened to the Balatas of my youth.
Ping Eye and Ping Eye 2 is what I played. Still have a bunch of boxes left that I never used. I may pull them out of the basement.
Hahaha brilliant they were the dogs balls after using the velvet titleist balata. Some find sir
Found one the other day. Titleist 100. The very best. Them z-balatas are nowhere near the real thing!!
Maxfli ddh balata they wasn't very durable 😊well done Chris and dave 👍
I'm barely old enough to remember the Balata balls. They were like hitting a large marshmallow on a pure iron shot. Definitely NOT as durable as the new offerings though.
Don't be a cheapskate Chris, get your wallet out and buy proper balatas!! 😂
When I took up golf there were three types of golf balls. The all rubber one peice, the surlyn covered two piece and the three piece balata used by low/scratch players as well as professionals. The one peice was as good as hitting a stone. The two peice balls ranged from distance to control. However, the two peice did not have as much control as the three peice balata. As you friend says, the balata cuts easily and are very expensive.
I played with this ball for hole and a half back in the day , it was shaped like an egg, never again
Remember them well , soft feel and crazy spin but even striking it clean you could go through 3 in a round as the cover scuffed up easily, they rarely survived more than a couple of bunker shots. Then you found all you had left in your bag was a Molitor which was basically a rock painted white and flew like it.
I played the Titleist tour balatas then realized I wasn’t getting the distance I needed. Switched to the Titleist DT and played better!
If you can hunt down some Strata Tour Ultimate balls, I think they would be pretty similar to Pro V1s
The Top Flite Z-Balata was originally the Spalding Tour Edition ball and ended life as the Top Flite XL2000 Exceptional Spin. Got that info from an insider at Top Flite. By the way, Z-Balata in these Top Flites is NOT the same as real Balata used in the Titleist balls of the day.
The slazenger balata was a wound construction, rubber bands basically, with a fluid core, quite small size like a hazelnut size plus the outer cover so a 3 piece ball. Did you cut the new balata in half for a comparison ?