In 1924 Behr proposed a "championship" ball but for the rest he suggested they should be allowed to use whatever they wanted. Was Behr the first to propose a specific and standard golf ball just for "championship" play?
www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/GolfIllustrated/1924/gi215q.pdf The ball Behr proposed for the "championship" ball was a "floater". Apparently he felt a ball that floated would offer sufficient challenge in the game for the "skilled" golfer but he apparently did not necessarily think a "floater" was the ideal ball to maximally challenge the skill of the championship golfer. He seemed to imply he felt it was sufficient enough. What he seemed to like most about the "floater" was the fact that the test of its conformance, or the fact that it floated was such a "natural" test and he tried to explain in his usual labrynthian way why that was so. I guess anyone could say it certainly was a simple test of conformance that could be used anywhere, and at any time, but he didn't exactly say that!
Apparently less than ten years later the USGA decided to require a lighter golf ball for all but it was not at all popular with all golfers and the requirement was dropped after around a year.
It seems at this point the idea of a "unified" set of requirements on the ball for all golfers was locked in for the future.
ALSO---see "The Ball Problem by Max Behr" in the "In My Opinion" section of this website by Geoff Shackelford