Balls, balls, balls?

[hos]

modern balls, old clubs

Spent some time searching forums and other places. Always forgetting to make notes. Since the idea of playing retro is getting more popular I wondered if we shouldn't have a sticky concerning balls that play decent with persimmon (for easy reference).
Thought if we everyone could chime in with their preferences or ones to stay away from it would be great info (or even a poll).
Ones I've found so far searching - no experience (still swinging away with old balata's)
Maxfli Revelution
Srixon Soft Feel
Titleist Pro-V
Wilson Zip
Wilson Luxe
Precept Ladies

[freddiec]

I personally like the wound balls, like the Titleist prestige, professional and tour balata. I don't think you would find a significant distance gain in any of the above over a prestige or professional, other than say 3 or 4 yards if any. You can still find these Titleists on ebay. I haven't tried any on your list except for the Pro V1 once, but the Pro V to me is way to hard of a feel for Persimmon for me anyway. I know a lot of people do like the Srixon Soft feel ball.

[JRS]

i've just acquired some wooden woods to hit for fun. distance is not a concern. all i want to know is, out of todays readily available golf balls, what is is the lest likely to damage the clubheads?

[astamm8]

Good idea. My thoughts and observations.

Modern rocks will damage persimmons, and I can't get them in the air with a 10ish degree persimmon driver. I have a beater Cleveland that o use at the range. It's dented from the line drives that I can manage to hit.

Pro v1s aren't great for me with persimmons. A bit too hard, a bit too hard to get up in the air.

There is a pretty noticeable distance loss between the slightly used circa 2000 tour balatas that I use and a new ball like a pro v1. When I play persimmons I usually don't use the balata on any hole that where I don't plan to hit a wood, e.g. Par 3s. Pretty big difference for me in distance and performance. In fact, I sometimes switch balls mid hole depending on the game and my supply of balatas.

I'd like to find the most durable ball that performs well with persimmon and won't cause any damage for reasons of economy. I simply go through balatas too fast. I've been thinking to switch to professionals as I recall that they were a lot more durable.

But, I'd love to find a really modern ball that played well.

[2OnePutt]

thanks for the posts everyone

[ChristianMc]

Astamm8,
I have seen someone mention the maxfli revolution ball. This was recommended to me also by brokgolfer and along with the pro-v1 I use this ball most. It is the Maxfli Revolution 90 which has a nice soft feel and still produces prodigious distances. Can't report yet on persimmon damage as I have only been doing this (persimmon gaming) for about 6 months - no signs of damage yet.
Good luck,
Christian

[sausage100uk]

Are we talking distance, spin or potential damage to clubs? surely with modern balls an amateur swing will still put less force into a club than Nicklaus (at his peak) walloping his driver into a balata ball and therefore have less potential for damage (I accept that using rock-like range balls is asking for trouble) surely if the club can take the shock of the occaisional "interaction" with the ground then any ball shouldn't be a problem.

[Bella Woods]

Having played golf for a little more than 40 years and still gaming persimmon quite frequently, I find this post very interesting.

For more than 20 of the years I have played golf, I played some form of a balata. Mostly Titleist Tour Balata's, but some Maxfli Balata's as well. The balata golf balls defintely had a "shelf life" even when they were brand new. If you lived in the northern states (with the shorter golf season) you did not buy new golf balls near the end of the season if you could help it because they would lose distance over the five month "inactive season". I think the generally accepted shelf life limit was 1 1/2 years or so for new balls to remain "the same".

To me, the golf balls of today are no harder than the golf balls of yesteryear. Actually, the modern Pro V-1's are the same compression as the old Tour Balata.

According to Titleist:

Pro V-1 84 to 96 Compression (90 on average)
Pro V-1X 95 to 105 Compression (100 on average)
NXT Tour 76 to 82 Compression (79 on average)
DT So/Lo 66 to 74 Compression (70 on average)
NXT 66 to 72 Compression (69 on average)

I'm not an expert on golf ball technology, but I do know that compression refers to the density or hardness of the golf ball. I usually play the Pro V-1x with my persimmons just like my modern clubs. Yes, the ball flight is lower due to less spin. I have never had a problem with damage to a persimmon wood due to the modern golf ball and I have no problem getting the ball in the air.

In my opinion, the real value of the balata balls in the "old days" was the spin they provided on approach shots, and the soft touch around the greens and putting. You knew you were giving up a little distance off the tee, but it was a trade off you made. In addition, they were expensive and you were lucky to get more than 4 to 6 holes out of a ball, sometimes only a couple of shots (bad swings). A lot of the pros would change balls after every hole.

[u]To find the proper ball for persimmon play, could it be that you need to use the ball that best fits your swingspeed and attack angle? If you have a slower swingspeed you will probably have trouble hitting a higher compression ball because you can't compress it. Weather can make a difference too.[/u]

I have not hit a balata since they quit making them (2002?) although I do have several boxes of them along with some professionals laying around. I am curious, for the guys that are currently buying and playing them, do they go anywhere? It seems to me they would be "dead as a doornail'.

[freddiec]

My results have been very surprising. When I play a persimmon driver, I always use a Tour balata 100, or a professional. I've got probably 50 or so balls in very good condition. The pro's are very white and the balatas have yellowed a lot. On the screws both of these balls go about 235 to 245 on average, sometimes a little further. The professionals definitely are about 5 to 6 yards longer I would say. Back when I was using persimmon when I was 18 and 19 years old I was hitting it around the same distance, granted I'm probably stronger now and maybe a little longer. I probably need to hit a bunch of Pro V's side by side with the Balatas to get a good comparison.

Here is me in March of 09 hitting some balatas with my 1953 M85W. ( in jeans and nike running shoes,lol).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6bxCWjjgIA&feature=related

[Bella Woods]

freddiec:

Nice swing! Sounded like you pured it too!

[bchester6]

I recently picked up a dozen Maxfli Tour Fires from dicks for $12. I can honestly say they are the longest and straightest off of persimmon heads I've hit yet. Callaway Tours with the hexagon dimples are truly exceptional as well with persimmon but will cost you a pretty penny.

[Ogre41]

I am guessing the Burner TP would be a good answer to the Tour Fire. It felt similar to me.

[hos]

Has anyone else seen this list from golf.com ? Higher the #, harder the cover. Wondering if anyone can find correlation between these numbers and real world feel off persimmon? Notice the Srixon Soft Feel #'s? Odd!

We took the average of five measurements on each ball. The Shore D hardness scale is commonly used to gauge the hardness of plastics and rubbers. (A lower Shore D number equates to softer.)


SOFTEST
Softest CoversShore D
Nike One Platinum 46.8
Callaway HX Hot Bite 54.4
Wilson Luxe 55.2
Callaway HX Pearl 55.4
Srixon AD333 55.4
Titleist Pro V1x 55.8
Top-Flite Gamer 56.4
TaylorMade TP Black 56.6
Nike One Black 56.8
Titleist Pro V1 57.2
Titleist NXT Tour 57.2
Bridgestone Tour B330-S 57.2

HARDEST
Hardest CoversShore D
Top-Flite Freak 68.8
Callaway HX Hot 67.0
Precept Laddie X 67.0
Callaway WarBird 66.4
Top-Flight XL Distance 65.6
Pinnacle Gold FX Soft 65.6
Pinnacle Platinum Distance 65.4
Pinnacle Gold FX Long 65.4
Srixon Soft Feel 65.2
Callaway Big Bertha 64.8
Titleist NXT Extreme 64.8
Volvik Crystal 64.6

[brokgolfer]

I must admit I bought a dozen Srixon soft feels a while back and put them straight in he practice ball bag after a couple of hits as they felt hard, heavy and dull to me off of a persimmon face. I would say I have a reasonable swing speed so not sure that it would be to do with compression. I have never quite managed to get my head round how they decided on that ball for one of the Classic Club events that they hold. I have just ordered some Tour Fires to see how they go. Isn't the feel a combination of the outer cover and the hardness of the inner core as well? Hopefuly someone more knowledgable than more will shed some light.

Cheers, BG

[Bella Woods]

I agree with you brokgolfer, feel is a combination of the shell and the core. Looks like the list hos posted
has more to do with spin than anything. The softer cover balls more spin than the harder cover balls.

[alucard655]

I was in my golf store the other day and hit the Soft Feel. Like the previous poster, they felt terrible. So I was poking around some and found the solaire ladies ball by Callaway and hit that a few times with a persimmon fairway into the net. That ball felt soft, really soft. So I bought a dozen, but have not played with it yet. I was just going to toss that ball out there are being a soft one.

[sausage100uk]

anyone tried the top flite xl 5000 soft? they look like a budget option if they are any good.

[biervergnugen]

I've played both hickory and persimmon for several years now (not every round, but they're definitely getting used) with ProV1 and ProV1x's that were worn from play by my modern set. There are also a few older balata's mixed in the bag as well. Cannot say that I prefer the newer or older ball for any one aspect other than the Prov1/x seem to go further and hold their shape. That being said, the wound/balata balls are positively past their prime and lack their original action.

I have not had any damage to either hickory-shaft era or 50-70's era persimmons from using the newer ball.