Balatas

[nevets88]

Are those available anymore? I can't find any of my old Titleist balatas (rats, I really wish I saved some) and I'd like to hit the different balls back to back, and see the difference between the old and new technology. I suppose if I tried to work the ball, I'd really get some action with the balatas.

[tree_under]

I used to use those too,YEARS ago and loved them..I think the new ProV's are the new balatas..I use TM balls now,I think they're the closest ones,for me..

[golf_junkie27]

They're available on ebay for as little as $35 a dozen.

[iacas]

Also note that today's equipment is geared towards today's ball, and yesteryear's equipment was geared toward's yesteryear's ball.

A driver from 1990 wouldn't perform very well with today's ball, just as a driver from today won't perform very well with a ball from 1990. Doesn't mean either ball sucks (or sucked) or that the either driver sucks/sucked, just that they're not matched up together.

There's a reason guys had drivers with 6.5° loft back in the early 90s and why some have 9.5 or even 10.5° today.

And if you think modern wedges shred the urethane covers of balls, wait until you hit a balata ball with a new Spin Milled wedge or something.

[jamesbei]

OMG you can nearly bite through the tomato's (soft as)

[bgsworld]

i found a really scummy ball the other day i brought it home and washed it... it is a Wilson Staff - Smart Core the side says Wilson Balata Distance... i was pretty excited cause i had just heard about balata covers last week and noticed i didnt have a single balata ball in my shag bag!!! im gonna keep an eye out for them now!

[Big_M]

Also note that today's equipment is geared towards today's ball, and yesteryear's equipment was geared toward's yesteryear's ball.

you make some good points... the balls of yesteryear were indeed very different... and I can just imagine the sharp U grooves on a Balata... it would be a massacre. It reminds me of the days when you hit driver and the ball would take off low and swoop high right at the end... ballflights were so different with woods back in the day.

[Lemay427]

I remember how excited I was as a junior golfer (12-15) when I would find a balata in the woods or high grass. I was playing Rock Flites at the time so hitting a balata was like playing with marshmallows.

Ya I remember Tiger saying something how he sometimes plays a practice round with persimmon and balatas. Seems like a pretty fun round.

[joshtpa]

i found a really scummy ball the other day i brought it home and washed it... it is a Wilson Staff - Smart Core the side says Wilson Balata Distance... i was pretty excited cause i had just heard about balata covers last week and noticed i didnt have a single balata ball in my shag bag!!! im gonna keep an eye out for them now!

Balata distance sounds like an oxy moron. They were so soft.

[clemsontiger]

I have not seen balata's except for in range balls that are really old. The closest thing that you will get to it is the Pro V1 is you are playing titleist. It has great fell around the green and explodes of the clubs for full shots.

[BigDaddy_Sean]

i played balatas back in the day ... man they were fun but the prov1's easily get 15 - 20 yards more with the same amount of spin.

[Bigbuckley]

when my dad and i were cleaning out our basement we found a box of them. i was putting them around and it was amazing. i hit the balata fiirst and felt like heaven than i hit a pro v1 and the feel was not nearly as good. than i hit a top filght and it felt like a rock. I wish i was alive when these balls were around

[trageserk]

Probably can be bought on ebay. I found a Strata Professional Balata the other day and it was in really good condition. I played it on one hole and I birdied it. First birdie ever so I had to keep it kind of as a trophy- kind of aggravating seeing as the thing was like hitting a marshmallow as other's have said and they are extremely rare to find at the courses by me.

[drtbk933]

I've been hunting balls for a while and have been hitting balls into my woods for six years. I looked in my shag bag after reading this thread and I counted that I have 97 Balata golf balls, half in new conditon.

[FlopShotArtist]

I've been hunting balls for a while and have been hitting balls into my woods for six years. I looked in my shag bag after reading this thread and I counted that I have 97 Balata golf balls, half in new conditon.

Sell them.

[chingali]

I used to use Titleist Balatas and a little bit later I used the Maxfli DDH Balatas for a few years and yes they were soft. One of my party tricks if I gave a mate lift to the course was to leave one sitting on the dash of the car while out playing to let it heat up and then on the way home chew the cover off it. Not too good for the teeth. If you really managed to get through the cover and in to the elastic winding the thing would go off like crazy and spin rubber band material everywhere!

As for the new wedges chewing up the covers, trust me the old ones did a great job of it as well. I'd usually change ball every 3 or 4 holes during competition rounds.

[Domenic]

At Lost Nation GOlf cLub all the range balls are Balata 90's.........SCORE!

[lumpuckeroo]

Also, any balata ball you would find today in someone's garage or basement would not be nearly as good as when it was new.  Today's ball has a much longer shelf life than a balata ball.  The balata ball had a liquid center, inside a rubber ball and then all of that was wound with a rubber ribbon.  The ball would lose it's "bounce" as time went along, part of the reason that the Pro's would play a new ball every hole.  Also, part of the reason that ball manufactors would deliver balls to the Pro's at every tournament, they wanted to make sure they had a fresh batch and not balls that had sat on a self in a pro shop for 6-8 months.  So unless you had a balata ball that was made recently, comparing it to any current ball would prove valueless.