Evolution of the Golf Ball - Interesting Stats

This makes you think..."how much better are the old school greats" than the guys playing now. Sure, scores might have been a bit higher, but overall play was probably more inventive because it had to be. I read an article in Golf Digest this past week about a guy who collects older golf balls. I'd be curious to see how a bunch of balls from the 1960's perform on the track man with new equipment.
 
Professional 90
Titleist Professional 90

  • Total Distance 262.1 yds
  • Carry 251.9 yds
  • Clubhead Speed 110.6 mph
  • Ball Speed 161.4 mph
  • Smash Factor 1.45
  • Attack Angle -1.1 degrees
  • Spin Loft 6.9 degrees
  • Launch Angle 6.5 degrees
  • Spin 2915 rpm
Pro V1 NewNew Titleist Pro V1

  • Total Distance 298.4 yds
  • Carry 271.1 yds
  • Clubhead Speed 110.8 mph
  • Ball Speed 167.2 mph
  • Smash Factor 1.51
  • Attack Angle -3.1 degrees
  • Spin Loft 11.7 degrees
  • Launch Angle 7. degrees
  • Spin 2850 rpm
My favorite numbers to look at. Absolutely amazing to see how the Spin goes down and the Smash Factor goes up along with distance.
Thanks for sharing Doc.
 
I have read that the "shelf life" of the older balls was very short before their performance began to deteriorate, something less than 2 years, whereas I have read that the "shelf life" of the newer balls is much much longer than the old balls. I would think that would greatly distort the findings. Does anyone know the exact data on this?

I remember when I was younger TM had the intergel golf ball that came in plastic tubes instead of cardboard boxes. The claim was that after like 6-8 months a ball loses 3-6 yards and the plastic tube should help prevent it. Do you think this could be a factor? I'm def not saying today's balls aren't superior, but I'm just trying to imagine what jack would hit a ball if we sent him in his prime to today with new equipment. Awesome post though! I always loved the old professional when they were the ball to play

http://www.golfpro-online.com/news/yeartodate/news99/tmball.html
Here's a link to the old inergel ball and it has the description of distance loss I mentioned
 
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Those are some great stats. It just makes you wonder how great our balls are going to be 10 years from now. Thanks for the great find.
 
interesting numbers but that doesn't even include that the clubhead speed has increased with time also. the speed is 110 on all of them which was prob lower back then and quicker now which would also make the distance increased more. i understand this was just to see how much the golf ball has improved, but thats interesting also.
 
Professional 90
Titleist Professional 90

  • Total Distance 262.1 yds
  • Carry 251.9 yds
  • Clubhead Speed 110.6 mph
  • Ball Speed 161.4 mph
  • Smash Factor 1.45
  • Attack Angle -1.1 degrees
  • Spin Loft 6.9 degrees
  • Launch Angle 6.5 degrees
  • Spin 2915 rpm
Pro V1 NewNew Titleist Pro V1

  • Total Distance 298.4 yds
  • Carry 271.1 yds
  • Clubhead Speed 110.8 mph
  • Ball Speed 167.2 mph
  • Smash Factor 1.51
  • Attack Angle -3.1 degrees
  • Spin Loft 11.7 degrees
  • Launch Angle 7. degrees
  • Spin 2850 rpm
My favorite numbers to look at. Absolutely amazing to see how the Spin goes down and the Smash Factor goes up along with distance.
Thanks for sharing Doc.

65 RPM in spin decrease is almost negligible - it could be measurement error. The number that stands out to me is the Spin Loft - it is significantly higher for the Pro V1 vs. the Professional. The ball speed increase between the two is 6.2 mph, which would account for about 15 yards of carry. I am not sure why the Pro V1 gets additional run out though. Is it due to the Spin Loft?
 
I have read that the "shelf life" of the older balls was very short before their performance began to deteriorate, something less than 2 years, whereas I have read that the "shelf life" of the newer balls is much much longer than the old balls. I would think that would greatly distort the findings. Does anyone know the exact data on this?

I was thinking this too DawgDaddy, I don't think the older balls in the test were performing at the level they would have when new. This is probably skewing the stats more than they should be. However, there is no doubt that the ball technology has improved distance substantially over the last several years. In fact, USGA has a COR limit on golf balls to help prevent further improvements to distance. If that club pro was hitting one of those illegal balls like the "Fooking Long", you'd see another huge jump in distance.
 
Regardless of any performance issues just the fact that these newer balls stay round after a big hit and are not going to cut like the old balatas is a huge upgrade for my game. I can now play the same ball for a full round where I used to go through two or three, not by losing them but by either cutting them with even a slight blade off a wedge or by knocking them out of round with a driver.
 
65 RPM in spin decrease is almost negligible - it could be measurement error. The number that stands out to me is the Spin Loft - it is significantly higher for the Pro V1 vs. the Professional. The ball speed increase between the two is 6.2 mph, which would account for about 15 yards of carry. I am not sure why the Pro V1 gets additional run out though. Is it due to the Spin Loft?

Good catch...I didn't even notice the Spin Loft. Actually I don't even know what that is...
 
Very interesting data!!!
 
Does make you realise what a difference there can be when your pulling that crap ball out of the bottom of your golf bag because you've just topped one into the lake.
 
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