Were the ball weights similar? Your experiment mirrors my experience with old balls, not as old as those you experimented with but 40 or 50 years old. I find that the shorter shot distances are not too different to modern balls but when longer shots are attempted the modern ball far exceeds the older ball distances. Which I guess proves that modern balls are developed for spin around the greens and maximum distance on the long shots.
Were the ball weights similar?
Your experiment mirrors my experience with old balls, not as old as those you experimented with but 40 or 50 years old. I find that the shorter shot distances are not too different to modern balls but when longer shots are attempted the modern ball far exceeds the older ball distances. Which I guess proves that modern balls are developed for spin around the greens and maximum distance on the long shots.
there are quite similar to modern balls ... within a couple of grams.