Hooked On Golf Blog

HOG’s close friend, local golf blogger and playing partner (when he’s not on some kind of tour) Luke Swilor has qualified for Q-School! I knew he was near Houston at the pre-qualifying school but I hadn’t written anything out of superstition.

You can see Luke’s scorecard here and the tournament scoreboard here. Luke made it by 4 shots.

I have numerous mentions and stories about Luke here so click this link to see them.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Miscellaneous, Nationwide Tour, PGA Tour

Ya gotta love golf. There are so many gadgets. Just when you think there can’t be anything new introduced someone comes up with something like The Shoe Tool. I’m not a big soft spikes fan. I loved the steel spikes. The soft spikes and crazy shoe bottom designs these days have lots of surfaces, holes, teeth (or whatever you want to call them) that pick up tons of debris. The complex shoe bottoms these days can be completely caked with mud, dirt, grass clippings. When all of this debris is on the bottom of my shoes I lose my footing, causing my normally accurate driver to go just about anywhere but down the middle. The Shoe Tool is a small device which can clamp onto your golf bag or cart or even fit in your back pocket. It looks like a tiny little garden rake, but the teeth of the rake are much stronger. You can get all the debris off your soles in a few seconds. You’ll be able to swing with confidence that your feet won’t slip and you’ll be able to walk indoors or onto the putting green without tracking unwanted materials. Promotional Shoe Tools can be great promotional items for your business. You can have your logo printed on the grip and hand them out for promotion or tee prizes etc. Colors The grip of the Shoe Tool is available in eight colors and the rake portion seven colors. You can even mix colors between the grip and the rake. Conclusion The Shoe Tool has a permanent home along side my towels on my golf bag. I can easily grab it and quickly clean my spikes to insure I have solid footing. Fall is on the way, bringing wet ground and lots of leaves. My shoe tool will be working overtime. While my opponents will be slipping all over the place and hitting errant shots, I’ll be striping it with solid footing and collecting the bets at the end of the round as a result.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Accessories, Golf Equipment, Golf Reviews

Phil Mickelson is done until 2007. We’ll have to wait until next year to see his smiling face and watch his questionable shot choices on the course.

More here

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru PGA Tour

There’s a nice Byron Nelson tribute on the Cleveland Golf web site.

Check it out here.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Equipment, PGA Tour

I was IMPRESSED today when I stopped in at one of my home courses. Posted on all the entrances, the scoreboard and miscellaneous other places I saw a notice letting course patrons know they they’re punching the greens on October 3rd and 4th. This is not only courteous but honorable for them to do.

I REALLY don’t like it when I show up to a course, pay my green fees and then get to the first green only to find out they’re freshly punched. I think courses who don’t notify their customers are ripping them off. I really don’t enjoy punched greens.

So here’s a note to you golf courses to do the honorable thing and let people know when your greens are punched or when your course conditions are not up to par. You may lose a few short term customers while the course is recovering, but you’ll win them over in the long run.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Courses, Miscellaneous

Challenge

In order for me to adequately evaluate the Pop Up Protector, or PUP, I had to try to hit a shot I haven’t hit in years. I’m thinking it’s been at least 4 and probably 5 years since I hit a sky ball. It’s been 5 years since I put a humiliating “sky mark” on one of my clubs. A sky mark is a scratch in the top of a wood or hybrid which stares right back up at you and reminds you of the horrid shot you hit which caused the mark in the first place. It’s really nice to have a reminder of horrid shots in golf……not.

First test, a 460cc driver

You really have to miss hit it to put a sky mark on one of these jumbo heads. I placed the PUP on the top and smoothed it out as best I could. I did get a little crease but I imagine with more practice that wouldn’t be a problem. Then I teed the ball up really high and came straight down for my downswing. Voila! I skied it on my first try and left a big sky mark on the PUP. After pulling off the PUP I found the top of the driver to be just as flawless as it was before my amazing “lob driver.” These PUPs work great!

2nd test, a hybrid

For this test I used one of the smaller PUPs on a 19 degree Sonar Tec. Amazingly it was much harder for me to hit a sky ball with this club than the big driver. I teed up a range ball and came down steep just like the driver swing. Amazingly I completely wiped out the tee and the ball didn’t move an inch. Two of my kids were watching me do this and they started laughing. They said “bet you can’t do that again” and laughed like crazy as I did it TWO more times.

Finally I teed it low enough and came down just right. I hit such a sky ball with this hybrid that I almost knocked my hat off. Sure enough there was a great sky mark on the PUP. When I removed the PUP, once again there was no sign of even the smallest bit of damage. I’m sold.

Uses

There are a few great reasons to use Pop Up Protectors. The obvious ones are preserving the finish on the top of your clubs and therefore retaining their aesthetic and monetary value.

As I mentioned before, I’m not big on having something remind me of bad shots. Having sky marks on a club does just that.

Conclusion

PUPs would be ideal not only for a personal use but for pro shops, club fitting and demo days. Pro shops or or demo days can put PUPs on all their rental or demo sets. Club fitters can do something other than covering the whole club head with masking tape, which alters the performance of the face and looks plain stupid.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Accessories, Golf Equipment, Golf Reviews

One Ryder Cup nugget I forgot to mention which was really funny.

During Sunday’s singles matches at last week’s Ryder Cup, Steve Williams (Tiger Woods’ caddie) dropped Tiger’s 9-iron in a green side water hazard accidentally. Steve was cleaning Tiger’s club when he slipped. He had to brace himself or he’d fall in the water.

Tiger went without a 9-iron for a while until a diver recovered it and returned it later in the round.

When asked about why his 9-iron was dropped in the lake, Tiger replied “it was either Stevie or the 9-iron.”

I would have picked the 9-iron.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru European Tour, PGA Tour

Drop by and check out The Golf Girl’s blog. She’s documenting her latest obsession… golf. She’s a pretty darn good writer too.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Media

Lord Byron Nelson passed away today at the age of 94. I love watching old video of his silky smooth swing and I love seeing that big smile he always had on his face.

How many titles would the amazing Byron Nelson have if he didn’t retire at age 34. Could you see Tiger Woods retiring in a little over 3 years?

Lord Byron holds a record that probably will never be broken by winning 11 straight tournaments on the PGA Tour. As good as Tiger is I still don’t ever see that happening.

In 1945 Byron won 18 times, including the 11 in a row. That record will probably never be broken either. The best you see in modern times is around 8-10 from Tiger and Vijay (a couple of years ago).

R.I.P. Byron and thanks.

Related articles:

Fox, PGA.com, BBC, TGC

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Life, PGA Tour

About G.R.I.P.

Introducing G.R.I.P. (Golf Research in Play). G.R.I.P. was founded in 2002 by Rob Blumberg. Rob found a forgotten niche market in the golf club industry and is now designing, manufacturing and selling directly to that niche. G.R.I.P.’s theory is to build “innovative, well-constructed clubs that add to the enjoyment of the game, while not breaking the bank.”

G.R.I.P.’s current lineup includes putters, wedges and hybrid golf clubs.

G.R.I.P. Sweetness Putter

G.R.I.P. has come up with a winner with the production of their new heavy grip Sweetness Putter. Its unique design, incorporating a bronze back and head with a milled metal sweet spot, combine to veritably almost force the putter head to stay on line, plus strike and roll the ball with an easy stroke.

Furthermore, its metal shaft is one inch longer than standard and is slightly recessed toward the hands at the top. This, along with a soft and malleable oversized rubber grip allows the putter extra feel and forces you to stand more upright and “over the ball.”

The “line of sight” on this putter is straight and true. However, as with all longer and heavier putters, the head must be swung back on a longer arc, with the consequential follow-through the same length and toward the hole. In other words, this would not be a good club for a golfer used to the short or “pop” stroke of a blade or bullseye.

I have noticed that the finish seems to be vanishing over some parts of the putter (not the face). It requires a full size, soft head cover for protection.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I have found the GRIP putter to be an excellent tool and should be looked at by anyone interested in switching to a heavy, mallet style putter.

Arnie Golf Clubs, Golf Equipment, Golf Reviews