Welcome to part dos of the 2013 Hooked On Golf Blog Year in Review. The 2nd half of this great year started off in golf mecca…
Carnoustie Golf Links – click for more images
July
On July 1, 2013 I played the Old Course in St. Andrews with my best friend in the world, and the best Old Course caddie John “Boynie” Boyne of Caddie Golf Tours. I made a tactical error by reducing the loft of my driver one degree because it was so bloody windy. That made my driving accuracy awful as I had more sidespin. Consequently the Old Lady ate my lunch and crushed my confidence! I gained new respect for the Old Course.
Through the first week of July my Scotland golf trip continued. I played the absolutely fabulous Kingsbarns Golf Links in mega-wind. I hit a downhill 4-iron 128 yards and a crushed hybrid 132 yards! Solid!
I played Carnoustie, considered the toughest golf course in the world. I was even par after passing through Hogan’s Alley! I was -1 through 4. Solid 82.
Played two rounds on the Castle Course, another on the Old Course, and a round on the Torrance Course.
The final round of the Scotland trip was special, and the first round I broke 80. We played the wonderful Balcomie Golf Links in Crail. That round changed my perspective with regards to what I’d like to do the next time I’m golfing in Scotland. The next trip will be a tour of the coastline, playing every course which comes along the way.
Two weeks after I got back from Scotland my heart was aching to be back in Scotland as I watched Phil Mickelson win the Scottish Open, then the Open Championship a week later.
Continuing on with possibly the best July on record for me, I did a media trip to Cabo San Lucas and played the #1 (Diamante Dunes) and #2 (Cabo Del Sol) courses in Mexico. So in a one month period I played 4-5 of the top 50 courses in the WORLD.
Yeah, July did not suck.
Homestead Resort – Midway, Utah
August
Forgot to mention that starting at Kingsbarns in Scotland, I proceeded to play every round from the first week of July to August 8th without losing a golf ball. In total I played 199 holes of golf without losing a ball. Yeah, I couldn’t get to 200. Idiot. Choker.
In the most groundbreaking golf apparel event EVER, I posted my PGA Championship apparel script.
Jason Dufner won the PGA Championship in boring fashion. Then, the most exciting part of the week was when he grabbed his wife’s ass on the 18th green in front of about 20 billion people. Nicely played.
Sadly, the new club president at my men’s association ran the club into the ground. Only six people showed up for the championship.
The HOG World Tour went to Midway, Utah.
Diamante Dunes 16 Green
September
I released a new Hooked On Golf Blog site design which adapts to the screen size of the device, such as desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones.
I did a lot of apparel reviews in September, including underwear guaranteed to shave strokes.
I posted my review of Mexico’s #1 golf course, Diamante Dunes. Fabulous.
Jack Nicklaus released his own golf balls. Ironically they were not “rolled back.”
Nice shoes…
October
In a yawner, the USA Team won the Presidents Cup. The International Team has only won the event once, EVER.
A skinny female streaker who wasn’t quite naked ran at the Presidents Cup because “golf is boring.”
Somehow, someone stole a 200 pound 3×3 foot golf ball. FORE!
Sadly, one of my home clubs, Hidden Valley CC, was sabotaged and many trees killed. Around the same time the club members voted down a Rees Jones redesign. Smart!
My wife bought me a gift for my birthday which changed my whole perspective on photography and video, literally. It is a remote control helicopter with camera mount.
My son Seve’s 1st birthday. What a special time.
Aerial Golf Photos!
November
Caught the first look at the new HOG headcovers from Ecktron Performance. Coolest head covers ever.
Started posting aerial photos of golf courses.
HOG World Tour visited Kanab, Utah and the Grand Canyon.
I reviewed the Cleveland Golf Smart Square putter.
I called out golf media for their shameless objectification of hot lady golfers like Natalie Gulbis, Anna Rawson, Blair O’Neal, and Holly Saunders.
Chi Chi Rodriguez hit himself in the chi-chis. OUCH.
In possibly my best and most in-depth review ever, I wrote about the Little Tikes golf set my 1 year old baby plays with.
December
Posted the 2013 Hooked On Golf Blog Turkey of the Year Awards. The winner was not Tiger Woods…
I reviewed The Ball, the Ecco Street Evo One shoes, the Cobra Baffler XL Hybrid, and the Under Armour Phenom sunglasses.
Jason Dufner won the inaugural “Most Entertaining Golfer of the Year” award.
I posted a reality check for golf inventors after finding about 50 versions of a ground breaking invention on ebay and online.
2013 was quite a year for Hooked On Golf Blog and me, Tony Korologos. This article is part one of two (part two tomorrow), looking back at 2013 from at HOG viewpoint.
January
Ah the beginning of a new year and the hopes that my short game would improve. There’s always 2014…
Rory McIlory switched to Nike Golf. Personal issues, business issues, and perhaps the equipment switch would contribute to a less-than-satisfying year on the course for Rory.
Attended the PGA Show for the billionth time. Orlando hates me and my body. Had a great time seeing the new gear, meeting old golf friends and battling in the Battle of the Golf Blogs.
February
February I posted a bunch of golf videos from the PGA Merchandise Show.
Asher Golf’s James Roundy, a local friend, passed. Sad.
The Hooked On Golf Blog World Tour traveled to Bogota, Colombia. What a fantastic trip! I got to play golf with Web.com Tour star Kevin Foley in the Web.com Tour Colombia Championship Pro-Am. Kevin would later gain his PGA Tour card for 2014! He must have learned from my dual chicken wing granny over the top swing.
March
While in Colombia I played golf at La Cima Golf Course, 10,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains. Wow. Ball go far.
Met Web.com Tour player Dusty Fielding. Nice kid.
A fun blog post was “Filtering Out the Noise: Golf Social Networking’s Top 10 Overused Status Updates.”
I reviewed the Cobra Amp Cell driver.
April
Bubba’s Hover was the video rage. Bubba Watson released a golf cart hovercraft!
Of course, April is Masters month. Not a month is busier for me or HOG. Lots of Masters related articles. Adam Scott won the Masters in dramatic fashion. Angel Cabrera hit what I consider the shot of the year with his approach on the final hole to about two feet. That shot resulted in a birdie to tie Adam Scott and force a playoff.
I reviewed the Cobra Amp Cell irons.
May
Ecco Golf came out with hybrid wingtip shoes. Some of the coolest crossover shoes ever.
Tiger Woods won THE PLAYERS (always write “The Players” in ALL CAPS, it is what they do). Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods had a little tiff which the media went into a feeding frenzy over. Sergio eventually apologized for some not-so-nice comments.
HOG poll results told us that Delta Airlines is the worst airline for golf travel.
Good thing Adam Scott won the Masters when he did. The USGA and R&A announced the ban on anchored golf clubs, beginning January 1st, 2016. Bye bye belly.
Eric/Tom sent in some great fan mail, calling me an “asshole who sucks at golf and couldn’t break 100” all because of a golf bag I reviewed. Thanks Eric/Tom!
I fell down a volcano and suffered volcanic road rash. Thankfully my Nikon survived.
June
I played in the Salt Lake Amateur golf tournament. I was right in the mix through 27 holes until my back went out on the 10th tee. I finished, but the last nine was not pretty. Bugger. Kill me.
HOG readers voted Southwest Airlines as the best airline for golf travel by a landslide.
I reviewed a very cool book: An American Caddie in St. Andrews: Growing Up, Girls, and Looping on the Old Course.
Posted an article on golf CHEATERS. That’s what sandbaggers are.
Justin Rose won the U.S. Open in amazing fashion. That was one of the best ball striking displays I’ve ever seen.
On June 30, I boarded an airplane bound for St. Andrews, Scotland.
Tom Morris Golf Shop – St. Andrews
I love to keep close tabs on the “Auld Grey Toon” of St. Andrews. It is my home away from home, even though I’ve only been there twice…
Good friend and Old Course caddie John Boyne tipped me off about a very neat and historic golf discovery by Roger McStravick. Mr. McStravick has been researching in the University of St. Andrews for an upcoming book, “St. Andrews, In the Footsteps of Old Tom Morris.”
The discovery was found through the reading of manuscripts from the Golf Collection in the University of St. Andrews Special Collections Department. In statements written by Old Tom Morris was information pertaining to Tom’s building of his first golf shop next to the 18th green of the Old Course in 1878.
I hope to get in touch with Mr. McStravick and do a small interview about this discovery, and also pick his brain for other great information about Old Tom, the Old Course, and the Old Gray Town. Stay tuned.
For more information check out this article in Golf Business News.
The Hooked On Golf Blog World Tour was rolling this past few days in northern Arizona and southern Utah, with stops at Bryce Canyon National Park, the north rim of the Grand Canyon, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and Kanab, Utah.
Coral Cliffs Golf Course – Kanab, Utah
Home base this week was at a pal’s place in Kanab, Utah. Kanab is just on the Arizona/Utah border, about 1.5 hours north of the north rim of the Grand Canyon, This small town of about 5,000 is in a fantastic location with the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park all from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours away.
Kanab has a small and relatively unknown 9-hole golf course called Coral Cliffs. Of course, the name comes from the red rock cliffs which serve as a beautiful backdrop. The fine managment at Coral Cliffs allowed me to ride the course on a cart and bring my photo gear, including my aerial imagery rig (toy helicopter). Here’s one shot of the 5th, 6th and 7th holes from above. I’m still working on processing the rest of my images, but for now enjoy this one.
For more on Coral Cliffs, visit the Kahab page at Utah Golf Guru, a Hooked On Golf Blog sister site. Utah Golf Guru provides a list of every course in the state of Utah with photos, course details and even playing tips from yours truly!
I’m only a few weeks into piloting my toy helicopter aerial imagery setup. I’ve been working on building up my flying skills and also working on my photo/video setup so that I can capture higher quality images and video. There are still some big pieces to the puzzle like a new camera and some stabilization gear. Below is a photo video from last night’s flight around sunset at one of my home courses, River Oaks.
River Oaks GC, Sandy, Utah – Hole 3 (right) and Hole 5 (left)
One item I’ve ordered and am anxiously waiting for is a camera “gimbal” which will keep the camera level, even when the copter is pitching any direction. This will make the flyover videos of the golf holes much more stable and pleasurable to watch.
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
