Just curious what golf balls get used during the TRGA events? Do you try and source balatas or use modern balls? If so, what kind?
We haven’t been able to source out the balatas… not enough of them anyway…
In the TRGA Las Vegas Open we played the Srixon soft feel ball… it was ok off the persimmons… not as hot as some of the
other balls …
The Lady Pearl, or Precept we are looking at…
In Vegas, with steel shafts and a persimmon head, it brought all the fairway bunkers back into play. With modern drivers,
10 ounce stick with giant heads, all those bunkers are just things you aim over rather than play around…
My concern with the Srixon ball is that it won’t hold hard greens well enough to be playable… it’s a problem on those kind of greens as I found out at US Open Q… I couldn’t play the golf course… very frustrating… I should have been playing Beth Page this week…
So there really isn’t a ball on the market anymore that is a combination of very low compression and very spinny?
I have played around a little with which modern balls to use with persimmon. The modern mid price range lower compression balls like the Srixon soft feel don’t do much for me. To me they tend to feel “dull and heavy” rather than “soft”. So I either play some old original Maxfli Revolutions (the ones with the blue writing) that I picked up of ebay which are multilayer, 90 compression and closer to balata than a modern ball but are still more durable than balata. Or if I go modern I will play a pro v1 or Bridgstone B330s. I have also heard the the Wilson Zip and and Bridgstone B330-RX are worth a try with persimmon but I have never tried them and wouldn’t expect a miracle. Let me know if you find anything out when you experiment.
Cheers, Arnie
Yeah, I’ve been using the Pro V1. It doesn’t feel great, but it’s acceptable. I wish I could source some more Tour Balatas. Is there any boutique manufacturer that still makes wound balata balls in small batches? I know there are companies that make guttys for hickory golf.
Anyone want to start a Balata Ball Company?
There must be some of those old machines laying around somewhere… could probably pick one up for a song…
Balata itself is not hard to find…
Hecks yeah there should be a Balata Golf Ball Company! I’ve been thinking for a long time that somebody should do this - that and company that produces a full compliment of Proper Equipment. Louisville and Joe Powell still exist for making persimmons, but nobody really makes Proper irons, which is why all of us look for vintage Hogans, Macs, and Wilson blades. Scratch sort of might fit this bill, but only if you throw down 2 G’s for a set of blade that are custom ground, and even then the design is decidedly modern.
This company is pretty cool - mwauthenticgolf.com/ - they make period specific golf balls for hickory play, but I think they utilize more modern materials. They do not, however, make Balatas 
That being said, I’d like to pick up a dozen of the Bullets to see how those play.
I recently tried Sirixon Soft feel ball (?Arnie’s favourite) against the new 3 layered Sirixon Trispeed ball which is a low compression (I think a 65) and found the Trispeed better in terms of feel off the tee as well as with the putter. Saw a Wilson 50 ball today at Golftown which is a 2 layer ball and they say is the first 50 compression ball. Pretty cheap at $27 for two dozens. some one needs to try that.
A guy in the know at the store came and chatted about how most of the new balls are way softer compression. He was saying this year Pro Vs are an 80 compression instead of a 100 and aslo the Taylor Made TPs are much softer.
A week ago I cut open a balata ball and saw first hand how the rubber band is wound over empty core squash. I have never played balatas but looking at the winding it must be impossible to have two balls exactly the same.
All in all I think we have more options to play with persimmons.
I started off with some freebie Pro V1’s and bought a bunch of v1 AND v1X practice balls off ebay. I find the occasional ball and try them during practice. I then bought the Srixon Soft Feels after hearing stories here. Much better for the persimmon than a V1, makes the V1 feel like a rock IMO. Many of the found balls had the same problem, feel like a rock. On top of that Soft Feels seem to go a good distance, and still spin better than some of the rocks I find. So I think it’s a good all round option.
I’m patiently waiting for a set of mint balatas to arrive from the US, would love to see how they play.
Lag are you trying for the US Open again? Did you write a forum post about the whole experience here or elsewhere?
I’m debating going this year… because I would have to go down to Los Angeles to get on a decent golf course. Oakmont CC in LA interests me…
The Q locations up here are all on more modern courses… so not only does that not interest me… it doesn’t even sound like fun.
I’d like to go… but instead of show up and play… it’s a three day ordeal if I go to LA… for a one rounder… not sure I want to do that…
I do have veterans status if I re apply on the Canadian Tour for membership, being a tour winner there, I have lifetime exemption in some category, so it’s possible I could get into a couple events later in the year… that sounds more interesting to me. I like beating up on the kids with the old gear… 
But really, it would be even better to get another TRGA event happening up here in SF like last year.
I’m glad you are getting the urge to compete again a little lag, keep us all up to date with anything you or two are planning this year.
I second that motion!
And I’ll third it! 
I fourth it!!!