April Golf Up North HeadingWelcome to our April Newsletter!

Congratulations to

Ryan M.

You are the winner of the March Newsletter – You gave the correct answer

Yes, golf balls expire.

Thank you for including your address. Your Golf Up North Schwag will be on the way!

If you would like a chance to win some Golf Up North schwag, you have to subscribe to the newsletter. Subscribe at Golf Up North Newsletter and be on the mailing list for our next issue.

Crazy Spring

What a crazy spring we are having! One day you are golfing, the next day you are snow blowing. Love that we could golf in February and March, but starting to feel like Mother Nature is a big ole tease!

Hopefully, the April showers will be just enough with plenty of sunshine and we will be golfing regularly before the end of the month. Guy had hand surgery mid-February and figured his hand would be fine by the time league starts in early May (fingers crossed). If it takes longer to heal, this could be the year I beat him stroke for stroke (muwhahaha).

We are still assuming he will be good to go for league, but because he is still healing he has missed out on the numerous opportunities for early spring golf. He will be at a big disadvantage as many of the other league members are out there golfing now and getting early practice in.

Open for the Season

We are still keeping our “Open for the Season” section of the website updated the best we can. Reminder that golf courses that are open are making decisions daily on whether they are accepting walkers and/or carts. This time of year, it is always best to call ahead. If we are missing anyone on the open or opening soon list, please email us at contact@golfupnorth.com and let us know.

Direct Links for Regional Open for the Season Pages

Did You Know?

Kaede Golf Ball close to holeThe dimples on a golf ball are designed to make it more aerodynamic, allowing it to travel further in the air?

Of course, Dimples are aerodynamic, my dimples have let me sail through some rough air. 😊 Another dimple fact and it just so happens that our main stories focus is aerodynamic dimples.

The Search Engines have ears!

We all joke that Google, Microsoft and others are listening to us and we are constantly seeing weird coincidences. Ever since that night where the discussion about golf balls expiring turned into talk about Balata golf balls, I am being bombarded with golf balls ads. I am seeing mainly the typical Titleist, Callaway, Bridgestone, etc.

I have mentioned before that Guy is a ProV1 fan and I prefer Callaway, but this is where I act like a teenage girl, I love pretty golf balls. So, when I find balls with cute logos, pretty colors or fun sayings they go home with me for eventual display in a table one of my kids has said he would design/build for me.

Dozen Kaede Plus+ golf balls in different colorsBefore paying that much I thought maybe I could buy just a sleeve instead of a dozen and searched for them on Amazon. To my delight I found numerous sellers asking around $20 for a dozen. There were several in the$50-$100 range, but I could not see any difference other than price.

Okay, they were definitely $20 adorable, of course I had to have extras for gifts, so I placed an order for several dozen.

Show me the Golf Balls

Earlier this month as I am innocently browsing online for chocolate Easter bunnies I see an ad for a golf ball that is adorable! I click on the link and was taken to a place to buy them. This link was asking almost $100 for a dozen. Well, they were not that adorable and I went back to browsing for bunnies.

Of course, since I clicked on the link signaling my interest the algorithms were hitting me hard with this ball. I waffled several times about breaking down and buying them. Each time I saw them they became more adorably worth it.

What ball caused all this excitement?

The ball is a Kaede Golf Ball made in Japan and has one of the cutest dimple patterns I have ever seen. The dimple pattern is based on the Japanese Maple known as Kaede (means frog hands). I think the dimples look like a flower, but the manufacturer says otherwise.

Why are the dimples so special

Created with the help of aerodynamicists from Japan, Kaede golf balls are the first in the world to feature a revolutionary dimple pattern that mimics the shape of maple leaves.

There are 270 dimples on the Kaede ball that deflects air flow at an angle, thus reducing drag by 18% and increasing distance

The balls are offered in solid color or two-tone with the dimples as white and the rest color. They offer them in champagne, pink, silvery, blue, orange, and red.

Someone is pushing the narrative that this is a premium ball using high quality materials. The key selling point seems to be that the advanced aerodynamics is what sets Kaede apart from other golf ball options. Not sure I believe this.

 

The features of Kaede Ball

The back of the box all in Japanese. The top image is the original and the bottom is the translation using Google Translate. Click on image to enlarge.

Image show construction of Kaede Golf Balls

The top image is the original and the bottom is the translation using Google Translate. Click on image to enlarge.

What are they made of?

The golf balls have a cover formulation that gives you an enhanced soft feel. They claim that you will get “amazing long-distance shots with a consistent flight in every drive.” The ball will “grab the green very efficiently so you can enjoy drop and stop short game control.”

Each KAEDE golf ball features a dual layer, 3-piece construction. Premium quality outer wool coating ensures a smoother flight for achieving extra ordinary distance. The inner cover is made of Dupont HPF 1000 material. The highest elasticity and more hardness making the ball achieve longer flight distance.

The large core increases absorbency and rebound force on impact which will also increase distance

Kaede Golf Balls In Japan

In Japan they have done a good job of positioning the ball as a high-end, technologically advanced golf ball and command a premium price.

I read stories where folks were claiming they were $25 per ball. I have not been able to confirm the pricing in Japan. The most expensive I saw in the U.S. was the previously mentioned $100 a dozen ($25 a sleeve). I did not find any for $25 per ball.

Is it a legal Ball

Sleeve of Kaede Plus+ Golf balls showing that they conform with USGA and R&A RulesI am not sure. I have found information that says it is and information that says it is non-conforming.

The sleeve says it conforms with USGA and R&A rules (see image). There was a thread talking about Kaede balls and someone said they were listed in the USGA’s Conforming Golf Ball List.

I did try going through the PDF but the list is not arranged in a logical order (i.e. by name) and has 80 pages of conforming balls in small print.

Searched the PDF for Kaede and it showed results for similar sounding names. I did not have the patience to go through 80 pages (at least double that if I enlarged the type to be readable).

For me, whether they are legal or not is irrelevant. I am either playing by myself or with family. Nobody cares about my golf ball. Plus, the whole point of buying them was that they were unique and I thought cute. At the very least I will know which ball is mine should I do well with them.

Are Kaede Golf Balls any good?

I did look for reviews from people that are smarter than me about golf and that play well enough to be able to make a fair assessment. I went to Rick Shiels Golf YouTube Channel and found a video he did comparing them to Pro V1s (see video below). He was not impressed, but then again, he is driving 300+ yards! You will also notice that his box is Kaede Pros, mine are Kaede Plus+. He also cuts one of the balls in half.

I couldn’t find any other type of Kaede balls on Amazon so I looked on eBay. There I found white Kaede Pro and pink Kaede Fly but they were more than twice the price. One of the sellers wanted another $20 for shipping. I am not convinced that any of them have any difference based on a lot of the golf threads I read.

Everything I read suggested that for the average golfer they may see improvement in their drive possibly short game. If you are a good golfer with a crazy fast golf swing they probably are not the ball for you because you won’t see much improvement.

I will let you know how I do once I try them out!

Golf Quote of the Month

This was comparing the irregular ‘feather stuffed’ to the smooth gutta balls. Gutta balls were handmade by heating up the dried sap of the Sapodilla Tree. It was then rolled on board into a ball.

They were smooth and had three coats of paint. Gutta’s replaced the more expensive Feathery Balls.

Quote by William Park Jr

William Park Jr. (1864 – 1925) was a Scottish professional golfer. He won The Open Championship twice. He was also a successful golf equipment maker and golf writer. Park built a significant career as one of the world’s best golf course architects. In 2013 he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.


Click here to see all the pictures we have taken of courses over the years.


Follow us on Social Media

Join the discussion on Golf Up North Facebook Group

Let us know your favorite course, tips or anything golf related! We encourage golf courses to share their news and specials with our group.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X(formerly Twitter), Pinterest, and/or Tumbler. We share information on golf courses Up North and what we think are funny or interesting tidbits about golf.


Share Your Favorite Course With Us

We would love to hear about your favorite Course in the Upper Peninsula or Northern Lower Michigan. Send pictures of golfing your favorite course and a couple of sentences about why you love the course. We will share your pictures and recommendations with our readers and on our social media accounts. If you include a mailing address, we will send you some Golf Up North schwag as a thank you!! Send your pictures and comments to marisa@golfupnorth.com

Find your Up North Golf Course

If you would like to find your perfect Up North golf course visit Golf Up North.

Disclosure: We never tell a course who we are when we book and play a course. We do not ask, nor will we accept free rounds to write about a course. We pay full price for our rounds for everyone in our group.

Golf Up North is part of the Up North Entertainment Group.
Our family of sites also includes Up North Entertainment, Up North Wineries, Up North Breweries, Up North Distilleries, Adventures in Northern Michigan, and Northern Michigan History