Q: What do Jim Furyk and I have in common?
A: We both have strange golf swings and we both wear Chiliwear Performance Camp golf shirts.

About Chiliwear

Chiliwear is the producer of the “Chiliwear” brand of apparel and accessories. They’re based out of New Orleans, LA. Chiliwear’s catalog is huge and includes many cool and crazy shirts, hats, head covers, pants and Tabasco branded items. Their stuff is hot.

Chiliwear Performance Camp Golf Shirts

Before I was acquainted with Chiliwear I recall looking at Jim Furyk and noticing that he had different looking shirts than 99% of the other PGA Tour players. His shirts were button-ups and they had some cool designs. I wasn’t really hip on the button-up concept for golf but didn’t think much of it. The camp shirts look like Hawaiian shirts with more classy designs rather than those crazy flower patterns.

When I received my Performance Camp golf shirt the first thing I noticed was how nice and soft the fabric was, before I even put it on. When I did put it on it was obvious that this was the most comfortable shirt I’ve ever worn, golf shirt or other.

The buttons are nice and big, not like a dress shirt. Nothing is more odd looking than someone wearing a button-up dress shirt on the course, especially long sleeves. Mix in polyester and you’re talking a major golf bonehead… That’s a rant for another day though.

Fabric

The Chiliwear Performance Camp golf shirt is made of a super soft moisture wicking knit. I can’t really stress enough how soft and comfortable it really feels. You’ll just have to try one.

Two styles in one shirt

One cool thing about these shirts is they’re designed for a more dressy and tucked in look on the course, but you can wear the shirt un-tucked when you get to the 19th hole.

Conclusion

I love my Chiliwear Performance Camp Golf shirt. It is SO comfortable. I’m wearing it as I write this post! I really need to find a way to get my friends at Chiliwear to send me about 10 of them in exchange for some banner ads or something. I’d love to have a bunch of these shirts in my wardrobe. If they only came in black…

You can find the Chiliwear Performance Camp Golf Shirts online at Edwin Watts Golf.

I have a few Chiliwear images in the HOG Chiliwear Photo Gallery.

The newest Hooked On Golf Blog poll is up and running!

HAVE YOU EVER ATTENDED A PGA TOUR EVENT?

Vote now!

The latest Hooked On Golf Blog poll has closed and the results are in. The pundits have spoken. This is the most popular HOG poll ever with nearly 500 votes!

What is your favorite hole at Augusta National?

* 18 (5%)
* 17 (2%)
* 16 (17%)
* 15 (7%)
* 14 (1%)
* 13 (27%)
* 12 (24%)
* 11 (7%)
* 10 (3%)
* 9 (0%)
* 8 (1%)
* 7 (1%)
* 6 (0%)
* 5 (1%)
* 4 (1%)
* 3 (1%)
* 2 (0%)
* 1 (3%)

Total Votes: 471

In case you didn’t notice, I’m tweaking the template here a bit. I loved the old three column format but I have so much to squeeze in I added a fourth column. I also changed some of the fonts, titles, headers, spacing etc.

I hope it looks ok and perhaps better than before.

Tifosi Optics is a close HOG friend who “enthusiastically” makes eyewear of many types for many different activities, including golf. I’m the happy owner of several pairs of Tifosis.

Tifosi Dolomite Golf Sunglasses

The Tifosi Dolomite model glasses are sunglasses with interchangeable lenses for varying lighting and terrain conditions. You can easily switch lenses for the optimal clarity and focus while on the course, hiking, skiing or doing any outdoor activity.

The Dolomites have a very hip and aggressive design. They look like something you’d see on Terminator or X-Men movies. I like golfing and skiing in my Dolomites, or just wearing them around town on a sunny day.

Technology

Lens

For optical clarity the Dolomites use what Tifosi calls EVS or Enhanced Visual System Polycarbonate Decentered lenses. Sounds pretty fancy, but it essentially helps you see more clearly on the course or wherever you wear them.

The lenses (three included for varying conditions) provide 100% ultra violet protection as well as having a glare reducer to decrease eye fatigue.

The outside corners of the lenses have ventilation holes which increase airflow and help prevent the lenses from fogging up.

Frame

The meaty Dolomite frames are hip and stylish. Tifosi is so confident in the quality and durability of these frames that they provide a lifetime warranty on them.

Accessories

Along with the multiple sets of lenses, the Dolomites come with a nice hard case. The hard case has a zipper and would easily fit in your golf bag to protect your glasses when not in use. The interchangeable lenses have their own storage pockets inside the case as well so you have them with you.

Also included with the Slips is a microfiber cleaning bag. The glasses can be stored inside this bag which also serves as a cleaning rag for the lenses.

On The Course

The Dolomites are great for a couple of the courses I play which are very windy. With the thick frames and the near goggle-like frame configuration my eyes are protected very well from wind and dust. I can attest to the Tifosi claims of helping prevent eye fatigue.

With my Dolomites I’m able to read the subtle breaks in the greens well and I’m able to track the ball in flight several hundred yards down the fairway (or OB as the case may be).

Conclusion

As I’ve stated in previous reviews on other Tifosi models, the Dolomites provide everything you get from expensive brands but without the price. For roughly what one pair of single lens glasses would cost from other brands, you could buy 2-3 pairs of Tifosis, each coming with several lenses.

You can pick up some Tifosi Dolomite Sunglasses at HOG friend Edwin Watts Golf for a mere $59.95!

Tifosi Gallery

You can see images of Tifosi Optics products in the HOG Tifosi Photo Gallery.

Rumors have it that Jason Gore was spotted with a Cobra Staff bag. He’s a good match for Cobra and now he can play the ProV1 like he wanted.

Assignment: Evaluate the new Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007 golf game for the new Nintendo Wii game console. …Tough gig.

The Nintendo Wii Game Console

The first thing I need to cover is the Nintendo Wii game console itself. The Wii is the latest console with some very cool features. The unit itself has a very elegant and small footprint. It’s about the size of a one dozen golf ball box. The unit can lay flat or on it’s side with the included mount.

Cool Wireless Controllers Mimic Your Actions On Screen

Rather than having controllers which are tethered to the console with cables, the Wii’s controllers are wireless. There’s an antenna which connects to the main unit and is placed either above or below your screen. The wireless controller’s movement is picked up by the antenna resulting in the moving of cursors, rackets, clubs, fists or whatever on screen object you are controlling in the Wii environment. In short, you move the controller and a corresponding action happens on the screen.

The game which comes with the Wii has baseball, golf, bowling, tennis etc. In bowling for example, you hold down a button and actually swing your arm like you are throwing a bowling ball. In the Wii tennis game, you swing the controller like a tennis racket. This is very cool!

There’s a funny warning when you turn the Wii on. They suggest you use the wrist strap with comes with the remote (or as they call it “Wiimote”). If you take a big swing trying to hit a home run in the baseball game and lose your grip, the remote may fly right into your plasma screen.

The Wii Concept

Another neat part of the Wii is that you set up your own profile or identity. You literally create a virtual version of yourself within the Wii. You set up your hair color, eyes, head shape, body shape, gender and much more and the person you create is rendered withing the games you play. So the virtual Mediaguru played bowling, tennis etc. With the Wii’s networking capabilities you can play against players all over the world with an internet connection. Very fun.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour Non Wii Version

I own several versions of Tiger Woods PGA Tour for other consoles. I have fun playing them but strangely enough I play better golf on a real course than I do with the push button, two hand controllers. To swing the club with the controllers you select the club, push a button for the back swing and release the button at the right time for the down swing. This is nothing like a real golf swing.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour Wii Version - Swing the remote and swing the club!

THE best part of the Wii version of TW PGA ‘07 is the wireless controller. You hold the controller just like a golf club and swing it just like a golf club. So your physical actions are almost exactly like a true golf swing. Putting and chipping are the same as well. The harder you swing the remote, the farther the ball goes. If you use an off plane swing (like outside-in) you’ll hit a slice or a hook. This is the coolest thing I’ve seen come down the video game console line for a long time.

Custom Setup

You aren’t able to use your Wii profile in TW PGA ‘07 Wii. But just like previous versions of this game on other consoles, you can do a complete custom setup of your player profile. You can set up your appearance, clothes, game strengths, equipment etc.

Graphics And Sound

The graphics for TW PGA ‘07 Wii are decent. It’s no Doom 3 or anything but they’re more than adequate. The sounds are great, including commentary by Gary McCord and David Feherty.

Courses

TW ‘07 Wii comes with 18 courses including Pebble Beach Golf Links, St Andrews, The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island and more. Unfortunately no game will ever have the one course I’d die to play, Augusta National.

Players

There are 35 special players included in the game including John Daly, Vijay Singh, and Annika Sorenstam. The digital version of John Daly looks much better than the real thing.

Games

The are many different games you can play. You can simply play practice rounds and shots, match play, stroke play, PGA Tour Season, The Tiger Challenge and much more. You’ll be busy for a long time configuring all the options and playing all the games.

Critic’s Corner

I found playing the game quite fun. Occasionally I’d have issues with the shorter shots, namely putting. I found that you had to put a very large swing on the putts, even short ones. So while the full swing is pretty accurate, I found some inconsistencies in the short shots.

My only other critique is the lack of being able to use your Wii profile as your player in TW, rather than having to set up another one. I realize there are many more details in TW (clubs, clothes, game strengths etc) but it would be cool to at least start with your Wii identity as a template.

Conclusion

This is by far the funnest version of any Tiger Woods PGA Tour game for any console. Thanks to the Wii hardware it’s the most realistic.

For more images go to the HOG Tiger Woods PGA 2007 Nintendo Wii Photo Gallery.

A while ago I signed up for some free golf balls on “The Balls To Go For It” web site at http://www.theballstogoforit.com/. I thought hell, why not get a couple of free golf balls.

They arrived yesterday and to my surprise the Top Flite D2’s didn’t feel like the old “rock flites” I thought they would. I managed to get to the 5th hole before I lost them both on this really tough course with hazards all over the place.

I didn’t really play these balls enough to do a decent review, but they felt nice off the driver and putted nicely as well. If I get more on course time with some I’ll do a better review of them…