Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler listen to the soothing sounds of persimmon and balata

Rickie Fowler hits a persimmon wood during a round with Justin Thomas.

Rickie Fowler hits a persimmon wood during a round with Justin Thomas.

instagram.com/justinthomas34

Flushhhhh. Flushhhhh.  

Not diiiiiing. Not diiiiiing. 

Thummmmmp. Thummmmmp. 

Not whoop. Not whoop.  

It’s easy to see that old golf tech is different from new golf tech. Just view the distance numbers. It’s also easy to hear that old golf tech is different from new golf tech. Just listen to the videos Justin Thomas posted Sunday on Instagram after he and fellow PGA Tour pro Rickie Fowler played a round at Medalist Golf Club in Florida with persimmon woods and balata golf balls.  

“Fun game with @rickiefowler today… Persimmons and Tour Balatas,” wrote Thomas, who dressed for the occasion with a tie, much like he did at the 2017 Open Championship. “The audio on some of the shots today were niiiiiice. Safe to say, I will be asking for rick as a partner next time we do this #hecrushedme#oldschoolgolf.”

In the first video, Thomas hits a black persimmon wood. “Flushhhhh,” the club said. Not “diiiiiing” like today’s metal. “Center cut,” Fowler said in the background. 

In the second video, Fowler hits a brown persimmon wood. “Flushhhhh,” the club said. Not “diiiiiing” like today’s metal.

In the third video, Fowler hits a balata ball with an iron off the tee. “Thummmmmp,” said the ball. Not “whoop” like today’s ball. “Oooooooooooh,” Thomas said in the background. 

In the fourth video, Thomas hits a balata ball with an iron off the tee. “Thummmmmp,” said the ball. Not “whoop” like today’s ball. “About 15 feet,” Fowler said in the background. 

Justin Thomas Rickie Fowler
Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas play left-handed — and the comments fly
By: Nick Piastowski

Thomas and Fowler’s old round follows their opposite round a few weeks back, where the two played left-handed – and Thomas shot a 101, and Fowler fired a 94. 

The scores were apparently better. The winner was the same. 

“Rick shot 70 which I thought was really impressive I… didn’t shoot 70,” Thomas wrote on Instagram when asked what the scores were. 

Another athlete said he wanted to see and hear the past become the present again.

“This is sick!!” Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander wrote on Thomas’ post. “Once a year the tour should do a throwback event and make everyone play with these. Although it sounds like you may not be all for that.” 

NEWSLETTER
Nick Piastowski

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.