You are correct, no one in the industry still produces wound balls for a lot of reasons. It was hard to get the core balanced and like you said, the rubber inner layer breaks down too easily and the balls get a distorted shape when the wound bands break. Distance was good when they were new and spin as about the same on the DT and other surlyn covered balls as today's but the balata covered did spin a lot more but were much easier to damage. The modern ball has changed the game of golf as much as tennis changed when moving away from wooden rackets. Many argue that the game is better or worse but one things for sure, the game is now different. Hang on to those and maybe in another 30 years that will provide $$$ internet gold. Cheers.

The DT(Durable Titleist) 90 was the ball I played when I graduated from Pinnacle up until the Titleist tour ball was no longer a wound ball. The thing with a wound ball for an amateur was the added side spin off the driver or 3 wood on a mishit. You could really crank out a big banana. The balata had a liquid filled center and was very soft. If you bladed a balata ball , goodbye, as the cover would have a big "smile" on it. The DT was also wound, but with a solid center and a surlyn cover that had less spin and was more cut resistant, yet, still had a soft feel, putting and around the green. Believe me, the Pro V1 and 1x is the best thing Titleist ever did to a golf ball.

Played those in the 70’s and 80’s. Way better than the other durable balls of the time and way more durable than the Pro Trajectory.