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

FYI amongst my golf photo gallery of nearly 11,000 images, I have a photo gallery from my round at the Jack Nicklaus designed Reflection Bay.

This is a very cool course with many water and desert hazards.  There are some very scenic shots.

Related links

To visit the whole gallery of of over 100 photos, click here or on the photo above.

Las Vegas travel guide

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Courses, Travel TPC Las Vegas

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

Times Online is a UK publication in which I found a wild job which I may just be the guy for.  A UK company called Your Golf Travel which I’ve mentioned before, is offering a job for someone with less than a 14 handicap who wants to travel the world for a year writing about golf courses and travel.  Pick me pick me…

This sounds like a non-job just like that one running a desert island off the Queensland coast that turned out to be a big come-on for the state’s tourist industry. But I am assured it is for real. YourGolfTravel, set up four years ago by a couple of City types to arrange golf holidays, wants a redundant worker, possibly also with a City background, to go around the world for a year visiting golf courses, researching opportunities and writing reviews.

The successful candidate will be chosen by means of a golf tournament and entrants must have a handicap of less than 14. “It’s a genuine offer, with a competitive salary,” Ross Marshall, one of the founders, tells me. “A lot of my friends have been made redundant and are struggling to find jobs. We’re only offering the job to people made redundant in the last 12 months. A corporate background would be useful, but we’re not restricting it.”

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf, Golf Courses, Golf Media, Miscellaneous, Travel Golf Job, Golf Travel

Yesterday I had a blast with my new friends down here in San Diego.  Cap’n Mark took us out on his 60 foot yacht (yacht is too snooty) boat for about 9 hours.  We found a bunch of dolphins swimming and I caught this video clip:

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Life, Miscellaneous, Travel

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

Greetings from the Albuquerque Airport… pardon me…  “Sunport.”  I have just enough time before my flight to post a little video nugget from my trip to Black Mesa this week.  Below is a clip from the resort/spa I stayed at here called Ojo Caliente.  I’ll be doing a full review soon, but for now I hope you enjoy this little video.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Life, Golf Lifestyle, Golf Videos, Life, Travel Ojo Caliente

Today’s goal, break 80 at Black Mesa

The more I play Black Mesa the more I love it. This is a special golf course. I become more confident in my shots and where I want them to land or roll the more I play the course. I played probably the most solid nine holes of the year on the front today. I got up and down on #1 from a deep green side bunker. On #2, a short par-4, I used the contours to the right of the green to bounce my 100 yard approach shot to about three feet. But my putt didn’t drop as the speed was not as quick as I expected. That would be about the last bad putt I’d make for the whole day.

On with the story…

When I got to the mega cool #4 hole I was still even par. #4 is the famous “dome” hole, where a cool sand dome guards the green left. I didn’t trust my yardage. It dictated a six iron. I hit five. Good choice. It ended up about eight feet below the pin. I drained the putt to reach -1. I played solid golf the rest of the front nine. My new and improving short game and some great putting helped me turn to the back nine at even par. I shot even on the front at Black Mesa. That is good.  Could I hold it together for the difficult back nine?

I have shaky confidence in some holes which have kicked my butt every time I’ve played them, like the par-5 13th. Today I was cruising along playing well and 13 humbled me once again. I knew I couldn’t miss the green right or I’d have an impossible up and down from a very deep bunker. I missed right, 7. Ouch. I’m realizing how demanding this course is. You really can’t miss a single shot in the wrong place your you’ll have to make some incredible shots to save par. Usually errant shots will result in an “other” score. My two severely errant swings did result in double bogeys on the back.

Yesterday I melted down on the 15th, a beauty of a par three. I clanked my tee shot into the water and scored a double. I was wanting redemption today. With my good pal Eddie Peck, principal guy here at Black Mesa watching, I pulled a six iron left. The shot bounced off the contours left of the green and ran down to about five feet. I laughed and looked at Eddie and said, “I meant to do that.”  Eddie laughed.

Eddie took off to watch the other groups so he didn’t see the putt, which I drained. The first thing he asked me upon the conclusion of my round was if I made that putt. I proudly told him that yes I’d drained the putt, and that despite having my golf ship taking on heavy water on the back nine, I paddled home with a 78. To me a 78 on this course is like shooting a 73 somewhere else.

Puye Cliff Dwellings

Following the round we visited the Puye cliff Pueblo Indian ruins, about 30 minutes from Black Mesa Golf Club.  The Pueblo Indians had built an incredible set of dwellings on top of, and on the SIDE of, a cliff.  I’ll post more about this fascinating part of the trip later, but here’s an image of our tour guide (right) telling us about the dwellings for now.

I’m too tired to continue writing, though I’d love to share the rest of this great day…

Gnite.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf, Golf Courses, Golf Lifestyle, Hackers, Life, Travel Black Mesa, Black Mesa Golf Club

I’m dead tired from a long day of traveling, playing Black Mesa and then the cocktail party, dinner and lounging in the hot mineral springs here in New Mexico. Yes it sucks, but someone has to do it.

Highlights of the round include making birdie on the 9th and the 16th. I almost aced the par-3 11th hole.

Must get some sleep so until I get more time to post, here are a couple of shots from today. First is the 17th hole, which I gagged, but it is a great view….

Next is the 18th green with the clubhouse in the background. The old squeaky windmill was playin’ some great music today.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf, Golf Courses, Site News, Travel Black Mesa, Golf New Mexico

I’m still recovering from my incredible journey which caused me to miss the entire TPC tournament last week.  I have the tourney DVR’d so I’ll watch it if I get bored.

Can you see me?  I should tee up a driver from this spot at Canyonlands with a 2000 foot drop.  That would be one sure way of increasing my driving distance.

Last week I camped with my pop and my two youngest in southern Utah.  The first night we were at a remote and desolate site between Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park.  We visited Dead Horse and Canyonlands in the first 24 hours.  The picture above is of me (can you see me?) standing atop a ledge at Canyonlands.  There’s a 2000 foot drop below.

The rest of the trip we camped in Arches National Park, my favorite place on this planet.  We hiked all over and saw the incredible land formations and some of the 2000 documented arches in the park.  Arches has the highest concentration of natural bridges in the world and to be “documented” the arches must be three feet wide or bigger.   I’ve reviewed Arches before and you can read that post here.

Below I’m standing in the single most breathtaking place I’ve ever visited, Delicate Arch.  This is the arch you see on Utah’s license plates.

I’ve visited this incredible spot dozens of times.  Every time I turn that last corner of the 1.5 mile hike straight uphill in the hot desert heat and see the arch, I’m speechless and breathless.  I completely forget how tired I was and I’m filled with energy and humbled by the beauty of this place.

I only posted two images in here, but I shot 792 photos last week.  That was clearly not enough so I’m going back in two weeks…

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Life, Travel Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park