Welcome to our March Newsletter!
Congratulations to
Beth V.
You are the winner of the February Newsletter – You gave the correct answer
I was rooting for the 49ers and yes, my heart was and still is with the Lions.
Thank you for including your address. Your Golf Up North Schwag will be on the way!
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Is it Spring?
What a weird week here in Northern Michigan. We had been in the 60’s and less than 24 hours later the temperature dropped into the 20’s. This is just plain cruel. The least Mother Nature could have done was to send in the 20’s first. These teases are just not right!
Open for the Season
Three golf courses officially opened for the season. One of them in the Upper Peninsula!
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906 Golf Course in Stephenson announced that they were open on Sunday, February 25th for walkers for now.
- Mallard Golf Club – East Jordan announced they were opening today March, 1
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Springbrook Golf Club in Boyne Falls opened on Tuesday, February 27th with carts and online tee booking was available.
All three courses stated they would be operating on a day to day schedule.
More Course Openings
If the weather continues warming up, we will most likely see a lot more courses opening this month. Once again, this year the staff at Golf Up North will be monitoring websites and social media for course openings, as well as calling and emailing the courses.
You can check for sites that are open by visiting Golf Up North and scrolling down the home page to just below the search boxes. There you can click on the region you are interested in and if any courses are open they will be listed there. That said, if you know of a course in Northern Michigan that has opened and is not on our list, please email us at contact@golfupnorth.com.
Did You Know?
That is the average number of dimples on a golf ball. The number usually varies between 300 and 500 depending on the manufacturer. For example, Titleist Pro V1 has 352 dimples while the V1X has 328. Most of Callaway balls have 332 and hexagon shaped dimples. Most Bridgestone balls have 330 dimples, the Tour B RX and B RXS have 338 dimples. The balls with the most dimples that I could find are the Mizuno RB566 and RB566V with a whopping 566 dimples. Although those are micro dimples.
This is a good lead in for our main story that just happens to be about golf balls. 😊
Expiring Golf Balls
This past weekend I published an article on Golf Up North about golf balls expiring. I was surprised to learn that yes; golf balls do have a shelf life. You can read that article by visiting Do Golf Balls Expire?
As I mentioned in the article this topic was raised in a conversation with some friends. Guy had mentioned an article he read about using today’s more advanced clubs with once popular golf balls that are no longer made and see how the balls compare now.
He said the article talked about how many of the balls performance would have been compromised because of age.
Balata Golf Balls
The one ball Guy mentioned, and everyone wanted to talk about, was the Balata ball. Based on folks reaction, this was at one time a popular ball.
I had never heard of the Balata ball and I immediately Googled it. After reading a little bit about it and listening to everyone talk about them, I wanted to know more. After researching them more I wanted to share what I found out. They are definitely a different type of ball, and the constructions was interesting.
How many of you have heard of or better yet played with the Balata ball? I would love to hear about your experience with it. Even though I have a high handicap, I am debating buying a box for the heck of it off of eBay.
If like me you are not familiar with Balata balls, you are in for a treat.
What is Balata
Balata is a naturally occurring, rubber-like material from a tree. The tree grows in the Caribbean and Central and South America. The tree is tapped and the sap, a soft, viscous, is harvested. Similar to harvesting sap for syrup from a maple tree. Unlike Maple syrup the Balata sap is not boiled. Left alone it will harden into a rubber-like material.
Bouncy Balls
In the late 1890s a visitor to B.F. Goodrich’s Rubber Goods factory, Coburn Haskell, had a golf appointment with Bertram Work, a Goodrich superintendent.
While waiting for Mr. Work, Haskell wound a bunch of rubber bands into a ball shape. Playing with the ball by bouncing it on the floor, Haskell realized that it contained a high amount of energy.
The wound-up rubber bands were covered with the hardened sap. Spalding first started producing the Balata balls in 1903. American Brands(now Fortune Brands) bought Acushnet Process Company (Titleist manufacturer) in1976.
Titleist Tour Balata Golf Balls
In the 1980s, Titleist tour balata golf balls came into playas Titleist experimented with balata golf balls again. The Balata had a liquid filled center and was very soft.
The ball offered an exceptionally soft feel and unbelievable control on shots on and around the green.
The balata cover generated higher spin rates on iron and wedge shots thus offering greater control over ball flight for highly skilled golfers.
Popular with the Pros
Balata golf balls were popular amongst professionals and the best amateur golfers as they strike the ball solidly on a regular basis which prevents the ball from scuffing and cutting frequently. They were thought of as the “Pro’s Ball.”
One of the main reasons balata was thought of as a “pro’s ball” was that the soft cover could be easily damaged. Higher handicap golfers tend to not make good, proper contact on a regular basis, blading the ball often resulted in the cover being cut or creating a “smile” on it. Dents, scratches, hitting trees and cart paths often made the ball unplayable.
In the 1990s Balata balls disappeared as golf manufacturers found more durable materials to cover golf balls with. The durable materials still offered the soft feel of Balata but held up much better with all golfers. Urethane and surlyn used in the outer cover was cheaper and could take some abuse.
Are Balata Balls Still Manufactured?
I could not find any company in my search that is still making Balata balls. The articles I found suggested that the balls were not financially viable to produce. Between the price and durability, the demand was not there.
Although Balata balls are no longer made you can find them on eBay and other ecommerce sites. They are not cheap; I have seen them for as much as $40 for a sleeve.
Other than the novelty of them, there is not a reason to buy them for daily play. The deterioration they would have experienced would make them even more susceptible to damage. Why play with outdated technology when there are so many options for great balls for every skill level?
Cutting Open Balata Golf Balls
While researching for this story I ran across several videos of Balata balls being cut open. Seems everyone wanted to see the liquid center. Below are three videos that show different aspects of the Balata ball.
Normally I would not load up with so many videos, but each video offered different views that I found interesting. You can find all 3 videos at the bottom of this page.
Golf Quote of the Month
This month’s quote is slightly off color, but we have been talking about balls for most of the article. 😊
Henny Youngman was a stand-up comedian that started performing in vaudeville acts. He performed for over 70 years, working almost every day. Henny was the master of rapid fire one liners while holding his trademark violin and bow in his hand. He would occasionally play short pieces from Smoke gets in your eyes between jokes. His most famous line was “Take my wife, please.” Youngman died in 1998 at the age of 91.
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