BALATA WEEKLY DISPATCH EDITION VOL 1. WELCOME
Starting off a new experiment and trying to not let an old hobby die.
Good morning and welcome to a new chapter for The Balata. If you’re here, you at some point submitted your email address at the balata.club for further updates from me. Over the years, I’ve sent very few emails—a product launch or two, but that was about it. Starting with this note my intention is to change that and to share more. In the below, I’ll be outlining a bit of what to expect. I imagine for some of you, this won’t be what you want. No hard feelings! For those interested in sticking it out, I appreciate you. For your time, here is a 25% discount code: LIQUIDCORE. For the rest of you, please do share your feedback and pass along to anyone you think might be interested.
When I first started the Instagram account for The Balata in 2016, then again with some dedication in 2018, the golf world looked very different. I wanted a small ‘art project’ to find some space at the intersection of culture and what I felt like was missing for a game I loved. I work in a creative field and always felt that the artistry of the game wasn’t articulated well on the outside. Bad apparel. Expected images. A negative cultural positioning.
Fast forward to 2025, a lot has changed: Golf has more voices than ever and what was a novel experiment with some carabiners and a hat or two is now a small drop in a large bucket of the changing face of the game. It was never about building something huge, but an outlet of expression. Something I’m trying to get back.
Through this little project I’ve met incredible people and watched them all grow—from Sugarloaf to Public Drip, from The Fliers Club to Golfers Journal. The Balata has connected me to a game more than I really, truly, appreciated but I felt like as Instagram evolved and video took hold, my contribution was less platform right. I wanted to continue to curate, to bridge a bigger connection, to showcase that appreciation. But the medium no longer matched my message.
Zooming beyond social, media in general has changed. Despite more stories than ever, there are less quality outlets and the dynamic has shifted from trusted entities to empowered voices. I want to add a new POV without cluttering things up with another recycled take. Over the next few months, that will be the new chapter in the experiment—translating that original want of connecting art & culture to my favorite game through writing & curation.
So yes, this is a substack. I’m guessing for many of you, a now normal part of your media habit. This one will continue to focus on golf and my direct experience and connection to it. I hope it will be one you look forward to as I target a once a week cadence to start. Content wise I want to keep the spirit of what The Balata began as. Highlighting a lot of the things I shared early on—great vintage equipment, branding & imagery, unique golf retail, and destination experiences—but through a mix of words and pictures. It will be a WIP and likely evolve as time goes.
Yes, there will be some more products. I have a small collection with V2 in Brooklyn to share and some art prints I’ve been sitting on (for years) I’m finally ready to share. I’m hoping that in creating this new outlet for myself, I can find new and different ways to spotlight the best of what has become an ever so crowded space but with a real focus on only highlighting what is worth the time vs responding to the wants and needs of an algorithm that insists on scaling and posting more.
This will be a free letter to start but if you want to pay, you’ll get at least your annual fee in credit for the store. Maybe eventually something special or exclusive. I’ll send the first actual letter next Friday—an ode to one of my favorite clubs in the Nike Vapor Fly long iron—with others coming each week, covering those prints mentioned prior, L8 love, Te Arai appreciation, and searching for a new club upstate. Expect more pictures along the way too.
For now, enjoy this Masters weekend. If you’re up north, sorry about the bad weather. At least we have Jim Nantz and the world's greatest app to keep us busy.
