Hooked On Golf Blog

I like the new fashions of these new guns on tour.  For one, they’re bringing more attention to the sport and they’re also creating entire product niches and markets with the white belts, fancy belt buckles, pastel and neon colors, diva sunglasses etc.

I only wish I was the brilliant one who coined the descriptive phrase “metrosexuals on tour” in reference to the Phoenix Open.  That came from a forum thread over on The Golf Space.  I’d already come up with my own name for the tournament, which I thoroughly enjoyed by the way.  “Battle of the white belts.”

We have Rickie Fowler in contention, wearing some very killer but slightly feminine Puma gear.  Those amazing Puma Cell Fusion shoes he was wearing are the same ones I’m reviewing right now.  Stay tuned.  Winner Hunter Mahan was sporting a white belt and cool sunglasses which looked to be a combination diva/Elvis style.  No sideburns though unfortunately.  Camilo Villegas was completely decked out in what I’d call “tightie whitie.”  His whole outfit was white and fit very tightly.  Ya gotta have the body for that kind of getup, like me.  Right.

Other quotes…  Hmm.  “Battle of the flat bellies” (except for Mark Calcavecchia) or the other good forum quote: “put on ice skates and they would have fit in with the Olympic Men’s Figure Skating competition.”

I think these guys are cool.  I’m really looking forward to the next few years on tour to see how they develop.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Apparel, PGA Tour Camilo Villegas, Hunter Mahan, Ricky Fowler, White Belt

I finally got to meet my pals from Tattoo Golf in person at this year’s PGA Show!

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Equipment & Accessories, Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Balls, Golf Videos Tattoo Golf

I’ve finished uploading all of my 2010 PGA Merchandise Show Photos. I’ve got shots from many booths, after hours, tear down and demo day.  Below are a few samples.

Above: Tail Of The Tiger Golf Balls which have the first 12 Tiger Woods mistresses on them

Above: Demo Day… Taping up the hands during the world record attempt at most golf balls hit in 12 hours.

Above: Titleist booth (with hot chick walking through)

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Equipment & Accessories, Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Balls, Golf Clubs, Golf Equipment PGA Merchandise Show

Last year during the PGA Show my last product interview was with Sumi-g, a very hip golf accessory company which had just launched.  As I talked to the president of the company Marius, I’d found out that we had a lot in common.  First, we’re both golf junkies with similar handicap levels.  Second, we lived in the same town.  Third, we’d been playing the same course every Thursday for years, our tee times about 45 minutes apart.

Over the last year I’ve done numerous posts and product reviews about Sumi-g head covers, belts and other accessories.  I’ve played dozens of rounds of golf with Marius, and our friendship developed over the year.

Toward the end of 2009 I’d started looking for a new gig, as my other business world, the media duplication industry, was on life support.  Technological advances (digital downloads etc) and the economy were putting that business model to sleep.  I knew I had to jump ship before the boat sank.  Then one day Marius approached me and asked if I’d join Sumi-g.  I guess he’d gotten to know me well enough and through seeing how excited I was about the product line in person and on my web sites, saw some value in what I could offer.  I decided to take a leap of faith and jump from my sinking ship into a new position as national sales manager for the company.

Not To Worry

My web ventures like Hooked On Golf Blog and The Golf Space are happy and healthy and it aren’t going anywhere.

As far as a conflict of interest goes that is an interesting thing to ponder.  If some company who competes with Sumi-g sends me a head cover or a belt or accessory to review, what will I say?  I’ve gone over that in my head for a while.  It really comes down to what I’ve always done, which is call ‘em like I see ‘em.  If the thing is awesome, I’ll write about it.  If it sucks, then I’ll write that too.

2010 PGA Show

Yes I’ll be at this year’s PGA Show.  But most of that time will be spent working the booth.  I’ll throw my press credential on a run a round a bit, but this year I won’t be able to do the massive coverage I’ve done in previous years.  I will be blogging about the show regardless so there will be plenty of info to chomp on.  I’ll also have other insights on what it is like behind the scenes and what is up at the Wednesday demo day.  I’ll be attending that for the first time.

So if you want to come by and say hello, ask for me me in booth #3629.  That’s where I’ll be most of the show.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Equipment, Life

When FootJoy announced the end of their Classic shoe line, I knew people on suicide watch.  They were stocking up, like back when Coke changed their formula.  Well fear not those of you standing on the ledge, the new FootJoy Icons are worth living for.

Icon Leathers

The Icons are made from fine calfskin and full grain leather.  Calfskin leather is attractive and is highly resistant to stretching.  Full grain leather is breathable, durable and is highly waterproof.  FootJoy is so confident in the waterproofing that they warrant it for two years.

The leather “fit bed” (what your foot rests on) morphs to the shape of your foot and provides comfort.

Last but not least in the leather department are the linings, which provide padding and more comfort.

Memory Foam

“Memory foam” (can I get some for my brain?) in the tongue and collar of the shoe produce shaping and custom fit.

Other Technologies

Other technologies the FJ Icons employ include the “Dual Optiflex Zones” which produce walking comfort and the “Torque Bar” (the silver dotted thing pictured right, in the bottom of the shoe between the heel and front of the foot) which increases stability and just plain looks cool.

I could go on and on with all the tech stuff but I’m going to just move to the next and most important heading…

On The Course

My Icons are so good looking I don’t even want to wear them for fear of scuffing them up or getting them dirty.  But I was a trooper this past season and did manage to play about 40 rounds with them.  After 40 rounds, they look the same as new when I clean them up.

I still remember the first few rounds I played with the Icons.  The pros and hot players around were all drooling over my shoes.  “Are those the new Icons?!?!”  Yup, they are.  “Ohhhhh.”

I’m not much of a “dress shoe” guy.  I prefer Vans.  Actually I’ll take that a step farther.  I’m not much of a shoe guy.  In the summer the ONLY shoes I wear are golf shoes.  Other than that it is typically bare feet or sandals. Yes I have FJ sandals.

The Icons took a few rounds to really break in, and for the memory foam to gain consciousness I suppose.  But after that I’ve hardly been aware that I’m wearing golf shoes.  They’re molded right to my feet and comfortable.  Walking a full 18 holes is no big deal.  I do need to air them out though, as my feet can get sweaty.  Thats a good reason to own two pairs Icons, so you can alternate them every other day. 

Conclusion

Though I’ve typically been more of a fan of the cushier types of golf shoes like the Contour series I reviewed here, I’m thrilled with the comfort and performance of my Icons.  Most surprising of all perhaps, is their durability and the way they look so great even after so many rounds.

Related Links

FootJoy Web Site

FootJoy Gallery (Icon gallery inside)

MyJoy Contour Review

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Equipment & Accessories, Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Equipment, Golf Reviews FootJoy, Icon

As 2009 comes to a close it is time for my annual HOG SPACE awards. For those new readers, HOG is short for my blog Hooked On Golf Blog. SPACE is short for my golf networking site called The Golf Space. The awards come in no particular order. Just how they leak out of my cranium. Drum roll please…
Player of the year & “Playa” of the year	Tiger Woods
Best golf course I played in 2009	Black Mesa in New Mexico, pictured below. And yes I played TPC Sawgrass this year and like Black Mesa better…
Black Mesa, New Mexico
Best new driver	TaylorMade r9. I would have picked the Nike STR8-Fit, but since my STR8-Fit head caved in and Nike wouldn’t replace it, I’m awarding the best new driver to TaylorMade’s r9.
Best new golf accessory	Sumi-G Head Covers
Best putter I played in 2009	Rife Hybrid Tour Mallet
Best irons	Titleist AP2
Best new golf ball	Bridgestone B330-RX
Best golf shoe (tie)	FootJoy Icon and Puma Swing GTX tie for best golf shoe of 2009. Tough choice.
Best resort, mud bath and spa I reviewed	Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs
Best new golf apparel item	Sumi-g Dormy Belt
Best new golf company	Winner of the best new apparel item and best new accessory, SUMI-G is hands down the best new golf company for 2009!
Funniest, yet useful golf gag item	MySack
Best new golf site	Home of Golf by Andy Brown. Andy is great and does great video interviews from Scotland.
Best golf site for women	The Golf Girl (needs new URL)
Best golf blog (tie)	This is a tie between Geoff Shackelford and Armchair Golf Blog
Shot of the year	I hole out a 5-iron for eagle on a par-4.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Equipment & Accessories, Golf, Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Balls, Golf Clubs, Golf Courses, Golf Equipment, Golf For Women, Golf Life, Golf Lifestyle, Golf Media, Hackers, Site News, Travel

Today I’m reviewing the SUMI-G Stymie Golf Belt.  Part of the “Tee Collection,” this is one of two different styles of belts offered by my very good friends at SUMI-G.

Buckle And Magnetic Ball Marker

I like shiny stuff.  The two piece hinged buckle is shiny.  The unique double prongs are also shiny.  The removable magnetic ball marker is shiny and very cool looking.  With a SUMI-G belt around my ever changing waist, I never find myself without a ball marker on the first green because I forgot to throw one in my pocket.

High End Leather

The belt has an Italian leather outer shell with a colorfast suede leather inner in red.  Very good looking.  The leather is soft and smooth too.  Sometimes I just sit at home in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine, stroking the soft, supple leather of my SUMI-G belts.  Enough of my personal life for now.

Style

The belt is wider than standard old style belts at 1 5/8″ wide.  This is par with all the hip new wider format belts these days.  And like I mentioned in my SUMI-G Dormy belt review, if this belt is too wide for your belt loops it is time to upgrade your pants.

It is a belt

I got a strange call the other day.  Some lady found my phone number and called me about SUMI-G belts because, well, I’m an expert on the subject.  Here’s the conversation:

Me: “Hello?”

Lady: “Yes I’m calling about the SUMI-G belts.”

Me: “What do you want to know?”

Lady: “What are they?  What do they do?”

Me: “They’re belts.  They hold your pants up.”

Sizes And Colors

The Stymie series comes in three sizes: small, medium and large.

The Stymie is available in white, black and brown as pictured in the first photo above.  My personal Stymie is black and boy does it look good with the shiny components, black leather, red liner and red stitching accents.

Conclusion

If you want to look stylish, hip, cool, neat, nifty, classic, chic, slick, elegant… the SUMI-G Stymie belt is the ticket.

Related Links

SUMI-G web site

SUMI-G products for sale at The Golf Space SHOP

SUMI-G related posts here on HOG

SUMI-G image gallery

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Reviews Golf Belt, sumi-g

To prevent rain, bring your rain gear…  (or live in Salt Lake)

I’ve had a couple of really awesome pieces of rain gear from Columbia Sportswear tucked in my golf bag just waiting to be worn.  The problem is that here in Salt Lake we’re in a desert.  Yes we’re associated with  “the greatest snow on earth (thanks to my uncle for coining that phrase by the way), but down here in the valley it hasn’t rained for months.  The old golf adage has reigned true: “The best way to prevent rain while golfing is bring your rain gear.”  I guess I should have had Columbia send me a snow suit too.  That way maybe there wouldn’t be snow on the ground right now and I’d be golfing.

I used my new Columbia Sportswear “Match Play” shell this last month or so as a wind breaker though.  This piece is so comfortable.  Even though it is waterproof, the fabric is so soft I catch myself rubbing the sleeves going “ooooohhhh.”  For fun I spilled a water on myself to see how waterproof it was.  Sure enough the water beaded up perfectly and none got through.  The water just rolled off the jacket like little marbles.

Looks

For a plain old black jacket this thing is good looking.  How an apparel designer can make one black item look better than another is beyond my brain’s capacity, but they did it.  Must have something to do with the stitching…

I can swing a club with it on!

One reason I hate wearing too many layers and/or long sleeves, is the restriction I feel during my golf swing.  I’m happy to say that I didn’t feel any restriction with the Columbia Match Play shell on.  My hack “granny over the top cross the line steep epileptic seizure on crack” swing is free to do what it wants to!

Nice touches

There are some nice little touches in the Match Play shell:

1. Velcro on the sleeves to tighten them up.  This is nice to keep the rain out, or keep the sleeve from creeping down too far over your hand.  That really helped with my putting, keeping the sleeve out of the way.

2. The waist tie is very nice to tighten up the waist and keep the rain and wind out.  Nothing worse than a cold or cold & wet draft.

3. Vented pockets.  You put your tees and divot tool in your pocket and they often have dirt on them.  The vents keep you “fresh” (so to speak) and they also allow dirt and debris to fall back to where it came from (provided the waist tie isn’t too tight, haha).

Availability

This unit is coming out soon.  You can’t really find it on Columbia’s web site, but you will soon.  Oh and it is a mere $23 retail!  What a deal! Never mind.  Typo!  Didn’t mean to get you too excited.

Related links

HOG Columbia Sportswear image gallery

Columbia Sportswear’s web site

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Apparel, Golf Reviews Columbia Sportswear, Golf Rain Gear

Jan 28-30 in Orlando, Florida is the 2010 PGA Merchandise Show.  For the 2nd year in a row after a period of not participating, Titleist will have a presence there as well as at the demo day.  Demo day is the day before the show starts on the show floor.

I plan on attending the show this year so I should once again be getting the scoop on the latest and greatest from Titleist and hundreds of other golf companies in Orlando.

UPDATE: Typo fixed.  Thanks to those who pounded it through my thick cranium

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Equipment & Accessories, Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Balls, Golf Clubs, Golf Equipment PGA Merchandise Show

How many golf hats do you have?  If you are like me, that is a triple digit number.  I can’t go anywhere in my house, garage, car, bathroom, deprivation chamber… without tripping over a golf hat.

I’ve been trying to figure out some way of storing all these billions of hats without smashing them and ruining their shape.  I finally found the Ikea Skubb.  This $6.99 closet organizer is perfect for storing golf hats.  The Skubb (who thinks of these names?) hangs from the bar in the closet and extends 47 inches down, 6 inches across and has 10 individual compartments which are almost 14 inches deep.

If I store my hats with the back half folded in, I can easily store three hats per chamber.  If I cram them in I could insert 4-5 easily.  So one Skubb could hold 30-50 hats.

Next Ikea post

Stay tuned for my next post related to Ikea, which involves deciphering the stick figure drawings in their assembly instructions:  “No humping a broken desk with one hand behind your back…”

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Equipment & Accessories, Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Reviews golf hat storage, Ikea