Hooked On Golf Blog

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

I’m a hot sauce snob.  I’ve tried hundreds of hot sauces.  The latest I’ve tried is Half Moon Bay Trading Co’s Iguana Special Blend Habanero Hot Sauce.  Say that 10x real fast….

About Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay imports sauces from Costa Rica and their sauces are made from all natural ingredients.  They use no artificial colors either.  Nice.

Habanero

Habanero chiles are HOT.  They’re way hotter than jalapenos.  Habeneros tend to have a little darker flavor than jalapenos as well.

When I taste habanero hot sauces many taste all to similar, as the chile overpowers the rest of the ingredients.  This isn’t the case with the Iguana Special Blend.  The hab balances well with the other ingredients for an enjoyable taste.

Pretty darn hot?

The label on the Iguana Special Blend says “pretty darn not” but I beg to differ.  This sauce has a kick, but isn’t what I’d call “hot.”  Now bear in mind that I like it so hot that the waiter in the Mexican restaurant thinks I’m insane.  I can drink their hottest sauce like it is water.  So this sauce may be “hot” to you but it isn’t going to burn a hole in your mouth.

Sweet

This blend of salsa has a very nice sweet taste.  I find it compliments everything from plain old tortilla chips to tacos to fajitas.

Half Moon’s web site is cool, well hot actually

As a web designer (for one of my other gigs) I’m often critical of companies’ web sites, or the fact that they don’t have one.  Half Mooon’s web site is COOL.  No complaints, except for the fact that I can’t find this particular blend of salsas in their list of products.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Life, Golf Lifestyle, Golf Reviews hot sauce

Everyone knows that golf and green chile sauce go hand in hand.  The secret to lower golf scores and solid ball striking is eating tons of green chile.

This weekend I had some great smothered burritos I made with Jubes Firehouse BBQ Green Chile sauce.  Their green chile sauce is great.  These burritos couldn’t be easier to make.  Here’s what you need:

1. Flour tortillas
2. Refried beans
3. Mexican cheese
4. Jubes Firehouse BBQ green chile sauce
5. An oven
6. A fork and a plate
7. An appetite

Instructions: Go play golf.  When done, put beans, cheese and some chile sauce inside a rolled up flour tortilla.  Put more sauce on top of the burrito and more cheese (always more cheese).  Cook in oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Eat it.  When done eating, go play more golf and shoot lower scores.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Life, Golf Lifestyle, Golf Reviews Food

Sometimes being a golf blogger can really suck.  I should quit.  How bad is it to have to go to a fine resort for three days, eat great food, bathe in four different types of hot mineral springs and get massages?  Bad bad bad.  I guess I’d better at least finish this review of Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort and Spa before I submit my resignation.

About Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs

Location

Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs is located in Ojo Caliente, New Mexico, about 50 miles outside of Santa Fe.  The nearest decent airport is 111 miles away in Albuquerque.

History

The waters at Ojo have been a haven for many different peoples, from the ancestors of Native American Tewa Indian tribes, to the Spaniards in the 1500’s, to golf bloggers in 2009.  There’s much more detailed history, sans the golf blogger part, here.

Four different mineral springs

Ojo Caliente has the distinction of being the only hot springs on our planet with four distinct types of mineral water:  iron, lithium, soda and arsenic.

There are 10 different pools, some private, filled with these varying waters or combinations of them.  The pool temperatures range from 80-109 degrees F.

Read more…

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Lifestyle, Golf Reviews, Travel minteral sping, New Mexico, Ojo Caliente, spa, Travel

I’m continuing my food theme today with a small review of Alamo Salt Works Original seasonings.  I just got back from a camping trip to southern Utah, where I used my Alamo rub to top some awesome steaks I cooked by the camp fire.  Man were they good.

I’ve received many spice submissions, surprisingly, and I’ve tried many on slabs of meat.  The Alamo is one of the best I’ve tried. My fellow campers (dad and two offspring) loved it too.

This original rub-shake-mix would be great on any kind of meat, fish or veggies.  I’m going to make some homemade french fries tonight and I’ll be testing out the Alamo on them as well.  I’m sure my taste buds will be happy.

Links:

• Alamo Salt Works Web Site

• Photos

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Life, Golf Lifestyle Alamo Salt Works, seasonings, spices

Golf and barbecue sauce.  No two things go better together. 

I just polished off, checked off, a batch of BBQ sauce from my massive golf BBQ sauce queue.   I guarantee you nobody has a larger golf BBQ sauce queue than me!

Seriously though, this one was pretty nice.  I put some Simmie J’s Spicy Gourmet Hickory BarBQ on a whole chicken baked in the oven, chicken breasts, ribs at my buddy’s place on the barbie, and had a bunch of it atop of some chicken nuggets.   All tests excellent.

Simmie J’s recipe dates back to the 1840’s, proving that many good things stand the test of time.

The Simmie J web site isn’t as good as their sauce, obviously because their focus is on their tasty sauce and not their web design!  Maybe for a few bottles I can clean it up for them…

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Life, Golf Lifestyle, Life BBQ Sauce, Simmie J

My other site is The Golf Space, a 100% free online golf community or social networking site. It is basically a site built strictly for golfers like Facebook or MySpace (without the strippers or the spam).

At The Golf Space members have free profiles with blogs, photo galleries, golf stat trackers, networking tools, forums, golf instruction, videos and a zillion other online tools designed for golfers. Below is one sample image of a member profile:

“TGS” has now gone over the SIX MILLION unique visitor mark since opening Masters week 2006!

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf, Golf Life, Golf Lifestyle, Golf Media, Life, Miscellaneous, Site News Golf Networking, The Golf Space

This is yet another of what are sure to be glowing reviews of a product by my new golf buddy Marius, the gray matter behind the new hip golf company called SUMI-G. Marius and I met at this year’s PGA Show and have become golf pals, with weekly grudge matches to determine who reigns supreme, at least for one week. For the first time in our playing history, we both played decent last week.  To this date all our battles have been pig fights.  Somehow this week the bugger Marius beat me out of $1.00 despite the fact that I beat him by one stroke.

SUMI-G Dormy Belt

Part of the SUMI-G “Tee Collection,” the Dormy belt is a very hip and stylish belt for golf or just everyday life, unless looking cool isn’t on your list.

The Dormy belt sports that new wider footprint we’re seeing in golf belts these days worn by many of the “in” golf crowd. The width is 1 5/8″ wide.  Note: if you are wearing some old school style golf pants or golf shorts from years ago, this belt may be too wide to fit through the loops. If you pick up one of these belts and it is too wide to fit through the belt loops, that’s a tell tale sign that the “hipness level” of your belt is beyond that of your pants. You’ll need upgrade your pants to match the quality and style of the belt!

The buckle is super stylish and shiny and features a unique double prong to latch it into the belt. Within the buckle is a magnetic SUMI-G ball marker. Using this marker during play is easy and is referred to “Sumigizing.” If you misplace the marker, the belt comes with two backups.

The leather of the belt is very soft. When I have strangers comment on the looks of the belt, I have them feel how soft the leather is. That looks a bit strange to passers by I must admit, but I feel a duty to spread the word on how nice and supple the belt is. It isn’t like a “biker” belt with the cheap hard Tijuana leather. This is Italian leather baby.

Conclusion

The Dormy Belt is yet another mega-stylish, elegant and useful product from my new favorite company SUMI-G.

Just a few minutes ago while sitting here in the San Diego airport withing for a flight, I had someone tell me how cool my belt was (I’m wearing the white one right now). This happens daily.

Related Links

HOG SUMI-G image gallery.

The entire SUMI-G line may be purchased online now at The Golf Space SHOP or at the SUMI-G web site.

My review of the super cool SUMI-G golf head covers which feature rigid exoskeletons.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Equipment & Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Life, Golf Lifestyle, Golf Reviews father's day, Father's Day Golf Gift, Golf Belt, sumi-g

On my recent trip to New Mexico I was honored to visit an incredible archaeological site at the Puye Cliffs, which was opened to the public just about one week ago.  At 7040 feet above sea level, a tribe of 1500 Pueblo Indians inhabited a plateau and cliff area here from the 1100’s to roughly 1580.  They then moved to the Rio Grand River valley due to drought conditions.

Location

The Puye Cliff Dwellings are located on a plateau in the Santa Clara Pueblo reservation, near a town called Espanola.  Espanola is about a 45 minute drive northwest of Santa Fe.  The plateau sits above much of the surrounding area with an incredible view in all directions.  The vegetation in the area turns to pine in this higher area as opposed to the more sparse New Mexico desert plants, bushes and cacti.

Summer homes

There were two separate areas the Pueblos lived in.  The first would be their summer homes, located atop the plateau (pictured right).  The homes were several stories high and organized into families.  The women owned and maintained the homes, while the men hunted and gathered to provide for the homes.

The homes were constructed mostly of rock bricks.  The outsides of the homes were plastered every year, giving them that trademark New Mexico look.  You can’t see any of the plaster in my images as years of erosion have worn it all away.

The complex of buildings is knows as the Community House or Great House.

Winter homes

Living atop a plateau at 7040 feet could get cold and windy in the winter.  This is when they occupied their winter homes, in the cliff area below.  The cliff area provided better shelter from the wind as well as more warmth from the sun as its rays hit the cliff side.

There are two rows of dwellings on the cliff.  One spans over a mile long and the 2nd 2100 feet.

The cliff dwellings also had several floors.   The dwellings where inside the cliff, as well as in an area built onto the cliff side.  You can see rows of holes in some of my images.  This is where logs were inserted, providing the framing for each floor.

Each family had its own mark or logo which would be carved into the rock as a petroglyph in the wall above their home.  A spiral circle near their mark would show where they came from.  I show some of these petroglyphs below and I’ve enhanced the contrast to better show the detail.  Left is an animal which is a family mark with the spiral I mentioned next to it.  On the right is a humanoid (that’s what the tour guide called it!).

Above each home you could see small holes with black stains rising up from them.  Those holes?  Chimneys!  The black stain is from years of smoke from their fires.  How incredible would it be to travel back in time and see?

Peep show, circa 1224

There were, and still are, many traditions in the Pueblo culture.  Unmarried women used to grind the corn in an area, using their family smoothing stones.  Those stones were passed down from generation to generation and still are around today.  The unmarried men would peek in at the unmarried women to check them out and evaluate them as mates. An ancient peep show, if you will.

Touching history

Hiking and exploring the Puye Cliff Dwellings is a humbling experience.  How they lived and functioned as a community is incredible.

You can find hundreds of pieces of pottery everywhere (image right).  To pick up a piece of pottery which had been there since the 1300’s is amazing.  It was even more amazing to think that some of the pottery was glazed.  The ingenuity.

Guides

You must have a guide with you to tour Puye Cliffs, and it will be well worth it.  My tour guide was Porter (pictured below left with me on the right) and he was incredibly knowledgeable and able to answer every possible question.

Though the park had only been open a week it was amazing how well versed Porter was.  That was because for years he’s been listening to his grandparents and great grandparents tell the stories which had been passed on for generations.

Conclusion

The Pueblos were/are a peaceful people whom modern civilizations could learn a great deal from. Their community was very well organized, each member having specific roles which contributed to the greater good.  The tourist center which the Santa Clara Pueblo put together, along with the great tour guides make the Puye Cliff Dwellings and incredible and humbling place to visit.

Related Links

Hooked On Golf Blog Puye Cliff Dwellings Photo Gallery (over 100 images)
Puye Cliff Dwellings Web Site
Santa Clara Development Corporation
Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa

Photo credits: Aerial photo courtesy of Santa Clara Development Corporation. Final photo by Lynn DeBruin.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Lifestyle, Golf Reviews, Miscellaneous, Travel New Mexico, Pueblo Indians, Puye Cliff Dwellings, Travel

I love my new “Lifestyle” section here, because it opens up a whole world of possibilities as far as subject matter.  Golfers eat food, drink wine, get massages and travel to play golf.

One thing a golfer really needs is tasty garlic dill pickle spears and bread ‘n butter pickles.  They’re a sure way to shave strokes off your game, or at least cure a bit of hunger you have when you get home from the course and dinner is a few hours away.

Thankfully ‘Tis Tasty makes both of those products as well as everything from jams to salad dressings!  What a coincidence.

I’ve now polished off my bottles of Tis Tasty Old Fashioned Bread ‘N Butter Pickles and Hot Garlic Dill Pickle Spears.   Polished off is too light of a term for what I did.  I inhaled them.  Let me tell you, they were very tasty.

The Bread ‘N Butter Pickles were very yummy and buttery tasting.  The Hot Garlic Dill Pickle Spears were nice and spicy, but not so hot that the heat drowned out the garlic and pickle’s flavor.

About Tis Tasty

Tis Tasty is based in Oregon and makes these products in an all natural fashion, with no additives.  I’m skeptical of “natural” foods.  Usually “natural” or “organic” means no flavor or no fun.  Not the case with Tis Tasty’s offerings.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Lifestyle, Golf Reviews, Life, Miscellaneous Tis Tasty