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Titleist Tour Balata...

tim31x

By tim31x,
in Clubs, Grips, Shafts, Fitting

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Note: This thread is 5330 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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tim31x Dedicated Member

tim31x

Hey I found a few sleeves of these in my garage, I was wondering if these are the "balata balls" that supposedly spin like crazy, but break like eggshells fairly often?

In my Diablo Edge Tour/ Titliest Stand Bag:
Driver: Nike VR Pro 8.5* w/ Myazaki 43g X
3 Wood: Nike VR Pro II 13.5* w/ Diamana Whiteboard 83g X
5 Wood: Cobra S9-1 Pro 18* w/ Diamana Whiteboard 83g X

Hybrid: Mizuno MP Fli-Hi 21* w/ Prolaunch Red X
Irons: 4-7 Titleist 712 CB, 8-9 712 MB w/ TT Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges: 46* Vokey SM4, 54* Vokey SM4, 60* TMade ATV

Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Belly 43"

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jsjmp Member

jsjmp

Hey I found a few sleeves of these in my garage, I was wondering if these are the "balata balls" that supposedly spin like crazy, but break like eggshells fairly often?

I think thats a fair assessment.

My Bag:
905T 9.5 Grafalloy Blue S
980F 15, 19 Speeder by Titleist S
990 4-PW DGS300
Vokey 54.10 60.04 TC SC PP Newport 2 34"

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sms316 Newbie

sms316

If you are looking to amuse yourself, get an old wedge and grind the sole down so the leading edge is quite sharp. Then make a full swing and aim for the equator of the ball.
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David in FL Incredible Member

David in FL

If you are looking to amuse yourself, get an old wedge and grind the sole down so the leading edge is quite sharp. Then make a full swing and aim for the equator of the ball.

No need for an extra sharp edge.......ask me how I know! BTW.....if you have any kids, slice the cover on one and give it to them. They'll have a ball unraveling about a 100 miles of rubber wrap to uncover the little red ball in the center. That's probable the best use for them these days........

In David's bag....

Driver: Titleist 910 D-3;  9.5* Diamana Kai'li
3-Wood: Titleist 910F;  15* Diamana Kai'li
Hybrids: Titleist 910H 19* and 21* Diamana Kai'li
Irons: Titleist 695cb 5-Pw
Wedges: Scratch 51-11 TNC grind, Vokey SM-5's;  56-14 F grind and 60-11 K grind
Putter: Scotty Cameron Kombi S
Ball: ProV1

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dave_u Newbie

dave_u

Was playing with a couple of younger guys recently, and one of them found a tour balata in the tall stuff. Neither one of them had ever heard the term "smiley ball", and they were quite amused by the explanation...
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Fourputt Incredible Member

Fourputt

great balls. super soft, but will dent very easily if you catch em thin

Just hitting them will beat them out of round. I don't think I ever got more than 9 quality holes with one. They were expensive to play, but IMO worth every penny if you had the game for it.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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  • 9 months later...
Cussin hacker Great Member

Cussin hacker

Years ago I use to find them a lot. Most had a great big smile. Great balls if you were a player though.

Driver.... Nickent DX Evolver V2 65 stiff /07 Burner YS6+ stiff .
4 wood..... Nickent 4DX
Hybrids.....Tour Edge Geomax 22* 25* 28*
Irons.....TM R7 6-P + AW,SW,LW
Putter.....Odyssey White Hot XG 2 BallBag.......Callaway ORG 14 A.L.I.C.E. Ball........Bridgestone e6 / Srixon Soft Feel...

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alf174 Great Member

alf174

Youngster here what does the smile mean?

The cover split and the result is a smile.

"You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred." Woody Allen
My regular pasture.

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Dub Great Member

Dub

Man...you are really bringing back some memories for when I just got into the game. Lots of fun with these balls.

The Tour Balata and the Professional were the balls of choice among the "players" that I knew.

As others have said, a bladed shot would result in a large smiley face or dent in the ball. Backspin was awesome....but they were fairly damp off the putter.


I wouldn't want to trade my ProV1 ball in for either.
909D Comp 9.5* (house MATRIX OZIK XCON-6)
Burner Superfast 3 & 5 woods (house MATRIX OZIK XCON-4.8)
G15 Hybrid 23* (AWT shaft)
G5 5 iron-PW-46*, UW-50*, SW-54 & LW-58 (AWT shaft)
Studio Select Newport 2 Mid SlantGrips: PING cords & Golf Pride New Decade Multi-Coumpound Bag: C-130...
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quantim0 Member

quantim0

In high school I used to play Titleist Professionals. They were great balls, but man did they get torn up. I was lucky to get 18 holes out of one before half the cover was missing.

The balata balls were 10x worse. I used to find them occasionally and screw around with them trying to see how far I could spin them back. I had just gotten the first gen Vokeys and they would rip a section of cover off with every hit. The ball would spin back 5+ feet every time though.

Driver: 909 D3 Diamana Blue
3 wood Ti Bubble 2
Hybrid: Burner Rescue 19 S Fujikura
4-PW: ZB NS Pro 100 S
GW: 51 VokeySW: 55 VokeyLW: 60 BeCuPutter: Red X3 or Del Mar 2 TeI3Ball: TP Red LDP or Pro V1x

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Cussin hacker Great Member

Cussin hacker

Youngster here what does the smile mean?

If you scull a balata it will leave a big cut mark on it. We use to call them smiles. Touring pro's use to get a new ball after every hole when they were useing them.

Driver.... Nickent DX Evolver V2 65 stiff /07 Burner YS6+ stiff .
4 wood..... Nickent 4DX
Hybrids.....Tour Edge Geomax 22* 25* 28*
Irons.....TM R7 6-P + AW,SW,LW
Putter.....Odyssey White Hot XG 2 BallBag.......Callaway ORG 14 A.L.I.C.E. Ball........Bridgestone e6 / Srixon Soft Feel...

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daveh Member

daveh

If you scull a balata it will leave a big cut mark on it. We use to call them smiles. Touring pro's use to get a new ball after every hole when they were useing them.

Huh! I found one of those and assumed it got hit by the lawnmower. Not so sure now.

Been playing just a few months but I play almost every day.

What's in my bag: Distance Master Driver, Maltby Trouble Out woods/hybrids, Maltby KE4 Irons (all assembled by me so I can never blame my equipment).

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rebby Great Member

rebby

Just hitting them will beat them out of round. I don't think I ever got more than 9 quality holes with one. They were expensive to play, but IMO worth every penny if you had the game for it.

I agree. The Tour Balata was a great ball back in the day. In spun like crazy but didn't go nearly as far as some other offerings. Man was it easy to work the ball though. It could be a ton of fun or, on a bad day, really get you in trouble. As Fourputt mentioned, they'd go out of round quickly too. I remember switching balls as often as every 3-4 holes in tournaments. Still, I loved them. One of these days I'll find an old sleeve laying around and put them in play again, just for grins.

Yonex Ezone Type 380 | Tour Edge Exotics CB Pro | Miura 1957 Irons | Yururi Wedges | Scotty Cameron Super Rat | TaylorMade Penta

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jest Established Member

jest

i used one as a putting ball for a long time. extremely soft.
i also agree about giving a ball to a kid to unravel. just be ready to clean up the mess. when i was a kid it was an urban legend that the ball in the center was filled with acid. we broke one and thought we were going to burn up.

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