CC is there for 2 reasons... protect the artwork from friction off the ball and to present a hard barrier between ball and timber. Playfields were ALWAYS made from Grade A ply - a maple top with a hard wood sandwich with all voids ( air spaces) compressed out.. theres a good reason for this.. it greatly reduces ball damage.
Reduce the quality of the ply to a softer mix and a hard steel ball will dent it. You could chuck a ton of CC on top to make a rock hard barrier but if the timber is soft, then its prone to expansion also and would lead to the CC cracking or lifting over time... a balance would be to make the CC not as thick as it needs to be but expect some dimpling.
Its well known that Stern PFs are prone to dimpling.. no argument there and basic sense will tell you that if the timber is HARD then damage is less prone.
All down to the quality of the ply..
