I’ve said it many times before and I’m going to say it again. The BEST thing about running this blog is not the gear or the golf, it is the cool people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Case in point here is my pal James Lepp, founder of Kikkor Golf. You may know James for his “awesome” golf accomplishments, winning the NCAA Individual Championship in 2005 and most recently was the runner-up in Golf Channel’s Big Break Greenbrier.
James made his “saucer pass” golf shot famous on Big Break Greenbrier. The Saucer Pass came about as a result of James’s hockey background combined with a need to find some way of improving his short game. In the video below from the 2013 PGA Merchandise Show, James shows us the saucer pass as well as the cool new Kikkor saucer boxes.
I tried the saucer pass in the setup shown in the video and let me tell you the saucer chip-pass it is FAR from easy. In fact, while aiming at the big box on the left, I toe-shanked it into the box on the right.
Golf. Skulls. ‘Nuff said. Tattoo Golf is one of the best. Over the years I’ve reviewed a ton of Tattoo Golf gear and loved every item. Not only does their golf gear have skulls on it, the quality and style is brilliant. My pals at TG have become good friends over the years and I do what I can to support them, knowing what it is like to be an entrepreneur in a tough, tough industry.
This year I visited Tattoo Golf as usual for a video interview at the PGA Merchandise Show. The new polos look killer. Very stylish and classy, but still have skulls. Well played…
Left to right: Me (Tony Korologos), Dave Lair, John Duval, Rob Hayashida
Airport
As I sit here in the SLC International Airport, watching wannabe Sundance movie producers walk by with video cameras in their hands… wait a sec. As I’m sitting here with my laptop open a lady just asked me to help her “find her family.” I had to tell her that I don’t work for the airline…
As I was saying… As I sit here at the airport I’d better log my preview to the big event in Orlando this weekend. No I’m not talking about the PGA Merchandise Show, the golf trade show where some 50,000 people in the golf industry show their new wares. I’m talking about the Battle of the Golf Blogs.
BOGB History
The Battle of the Golf Blogs started back in I believe 2009 when Orlando Golf Blogger Dave Lair and I decided to have a golf blogger championship match when I was in town for the PGA Show. We played a Mickey Mouse course by Disney. The whole town of Orlando is Mickey Mouse really. I’m happy to say that I claimed the maiden tournament’s trophy, one of my most cherished of victories in my very, VERY modest amateur golf career. The next year Dave exacted his revenge. Over the years the tournament has expanded to include two great golf bloggers, John Duval from Into The Grain and Rob Hayashida from Sandbox8.
As golf bloggers we are all about digital media. The last few years there have been more cameras clicking and HD video recording than those that follow Tiger Woods around.
We’ve had some fantastic matches and memorable moments for sure. The most painful “BOGB” for me was the year I separated my shoulder skiing (crashed in parking lot next to my car) and had to WD.
Here’s the list of champions:
2009: Tony Korologos 🙂
2010: Dave Lair
2011: Shared championship between Dave Lair & John Duval a la 2008 the shared Presidents Cup when Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were captains.
2012: John Duval
2013: (Tony Korologos – text ready to go…hehe)
$500 prize to the champion golf blogger’s readers!
Last year’s tournament was interesting. We had many prominent golf companies requesting to sponsor the tournament. We accepted many sponsors and had a great time representing them by wearing or playing their gear. But we may have allowed a few too many…
This year we have three sponsors, Fila Golf, Bridgestone Golf and adidas. Primary sponsor Fila has volunteered to give a $500 gift certificate to their online store for the winning blogger to give to his readers! That means I’m playing for you my friends. I want to reward a HOG fan by winning the tournament and sending someone on a $500 shopping spree.
Venue
This year we are putting a new track in the BOGB rotation (you know, similar to the British Open course rotation). We are playing Black Diamond’s Quarry Course, a Tom Fazio design. This track looks very interesting from what I’ve seen of the online photos.
Live Social Feeds
All four bloggers will be posting live updates during the tournament on Twitter. Watch for the hash tag #bogb for on-the-fly happenings, photos and video from the Battle of the Golf Blogs. You can see my tweets here on HOG via the Twitter feed module or by following @thegolfspace.
Pardon my lack of posts. I’ve been cruising the PGA Merchandise Show, spending more time doing interviews and capturing content and less on posting. That means more content in the long run. My legs feel like I’ve run the Boston Marathon, 12 times. I’ve scoured the show from TaylorMade to Titielist and every booth between. Below is a photo of my favorite booth of the show. I have NO idea who the company is or what they’re selling, but it is my favorite booth…
Click to enlarge, if that is even possible…
I’m all packed for my departure tomorrow. I’m heading to my 2nd least favorite city, Orlando, and one of my favorite events in golf, the PGA Merchandise Show! More about Orlando later.
I have a new bag for the HOG World Tour ready to test out and it is looking great! All my camera stuff and my media devices (laptop, phone, iPad, cables etc) fit in there great! Lowepro is the bag.
Bags packed for the 2013 PGA Merchandise Show!
Stay tuned right here to HookedOnGolfBlog.com for show updates, interviews, photos of the cool new gear and show news. Also be sure to tune into the HOG social networks for live updates:
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