Brian is “going home” from Big Break PEI. I guess he wanted to.

Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
Categories: Golf Videos • Hackers • Miscellaneous
Tags: The Big Break

Brian Big Break PEI I haven’t chimed in on the latest Big Break lately. Big Break PEI (Prince Edward Island) has been on the low side of entertaining. Despite having my friend and mega hot golf babe Blair O’Neal on the show, I have yet to see any of the trademark Golf Channel “super slow-mo hot golf babe up skirt” shots. Come on guys. Get with the program.

About the only really entertaining part of this show is this Brian guy. He’s constantly saying how he can hit the ball farther than all the other players “if he wanted to” and how he could beat the pants of off everyone “if he wanted to.” If this show were a smack talking contest he’d be the hands down champ. I really think the strongest part of his game, and perhaps the only part, is his positive attitude.

Unfortunately for Brian, and for the entertainment value of this program, Brian couldn’t “positive think” himself out of elimination. He’s gone. I wonder why he had such skill to use in his arsenal of talent “if he wanted to” but chose never to use it. I guess he just didn’t want to.

Shank report

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
Categories: Hackers

I’ve now played two 18 hole rounds, plus five additional holes tonight since I hammered out my shank issue on the range yesterday. 77 yesterday and 78 today in a format called “Texas Toast” where you hit two tee shots and use the worst of the two. 78 in that format is pretty damn good.

My swing is feeling good right now. For that, I am thankful.

First SUMI-G products coming off the assembly line!

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf Apparel • Golf Gear
Tags: Golf Apparel • golf hats • sumi-g

Back at the PGA Show I interviewed a cat named Marius. That video is at the bottom of this post for those who haven’t seen it yet. I’d met him the year before when he was part of a top secret design project I got to see by another company who I won’t mention. That deal never happened and Marius decided to start his own company, rather than have another company putting their name on his designs.

Marius’ company is called SUMI-G and his designs are the hippest, coolest, classiest and most innovative golf products I’ve seen in a long time. And trust me, I see more golf products than just about anyone on this planet. Their stuff isn’t cheap. It isn’t cheaply built or made out of cheap materials either. You get what you pay for.

Even more, Marius and I live in the same town and have become regular golf buddies. He must think I’m the worst damn 2 handicap he’s ever seen, since we started playing when my game went entirely down the drain and I haven’t even broken 80 with him yet.

First offering which is NOW available from SUMI-G are his very hip golf hats. As you can see in these two hats below, they’re very simple, yet very stylish as well. I’ve got one of each and they’re great.

These hats are NOW available at The Golf Space SHOP as well as the SUMI-G web site. Around the 1st of June most of the remaining SUMI-G product line will be available as well. Stay tuned for the “exoskeleton” head covers which will blow your mind. Coolest head covers ever.

Here’s my interview with Marius from SUMI-G below.

Dealing with adversity and coming out with a better attitude. A.K.A. I shook the shanks.

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, May 25th, 2009
Categories: Hackers • Life

I got the shanks about five years ago. It was strange and very disturbing that I couldn’t simply make and adjustment and get rid of them. Never happened before. I went to the range for three straight days and hit jumbo bucket after jumbo bucket of shanks. Every shot. I enlisted my pro, who gave me a tip. One swing and the shanks were gone. That tip? Keep all 4 balls of your feet on the ground. Did that really solve it physically or did it just give me something else to think about?

Last Thursday I told my buddy Marius that my swing was on the verge of a complete breakdown. I could feel it slipping away from me. The hole after I told Marius of my feeling of impending doom, it happened. I shanked a pitching wedge. Then I shanked or nearly shanked every shot for the rest of the round (10 more holes).

I took a break of four days and didn’t even think about picking up a club. I have the biggest and most intense tournament of the year, the one I desperately want to play well in, coming up this Saturday and Sunday but I still felt no desire to pick up a club. I didn’t want to do it until I’d cleared my mind.

So today I finally picked up a club. First shot? A shank. 2nd? Shank… At that point I started to try some of the drills I’d gotten from two PGA pro pals and from many friends, along with the 4 balls of my feet thing.

4 balls of my feet didn’t do it this time. My buddy Dave told me my shoulders were aimed right of target and feet left. Then he said I was thrusting my hips (sorry ladies) forward and having to compensate with a pull to hit the ball on line. Thanks for telling me I’m golf’s version of a pretzel. But some of what he said made sense and I tried to adjust.

I tried my PGA Pro pal from Arizona Scott’s suggestion, hitting 7-irons with my feet together. I hit them solid and straight. Hmmm.

I then tried hitting shots with my stance open about 30-40 degrees and the ball on my right toe. Solid and on line with my intended target.

So I thought I’d reverse the last one. I closed my stance to an insane amount. I was basically standing with my left foot two feet farther forward than my right. Solid shots right on line.

So at this point I found that I could hit solid shots online with insane stances and ball positions. The only shot I couldn’t hit was with a standard setup.

BUT something happened in my swing with the open stance. For some reason I felt something click in my takeaway with the insanely open stance and ball on my right foot. The club fell into some sort of perfect position. My right elbow wasn’t a granny chicken wing and my wrist cock felt right for the first time in about a month.

I just tried to remember that feeling and kept it in my mind. I set up with my regular stance, pulled the trigger and felt the same takeaway. The ball flew straight and didn’t feel like a near shank. I looked at the clubface and the ball mark was in the center.

I had two swings as a result of today’s session. I had my old swing back, with the new feeling takeaway. And I had this crazy open stance punch something which I could almost never miss.

I played 18 holes, never made a putt under 10 feet (greens sucked) and shot 77 today. I had 8 bogeys and one birdie. NO doubles, no shanks. No shots even came close to a shank. I did however, start feeling a TON of pain in my left elbow. The pain is an all too familiar pain, that of golfer’s elbow. This is why I’m not a ball pounder. My damn elbow can’t take it.

During today’s round I tried to pretend I was under pressure and that my confidence was shaken during a tournament. I decided on the 11th tee that it was time to pull out my emergency “can’t miss” shot. I pulled a 5-iron and opened the hell out of my stance. I put the ball on my right toe. I swung the club, made solid contact and threaded it right down the middle.

City amateur, BIG tournament this weekend

I don’t expect to win this weekend’s tournament. I’m a 2 handicap in champ flight playing straight up gross against fearless -4 handi 20 year olds who can out drive me by 80 yards. The “flat bellies” if you will. Though my belly is flat these days… There will be players shooting 66, 67 over the two days. My lowest round EVER is a 68, two years ago, and I haven’t shot in the 60’s since.

I want to make a good showing and play well for my abilities and perhaps, finish IN the money for the first time ever in this event.

A report will follow.

Pueblo Indian dwellings at Puye Cliffs New Mexico

Written by: Tony Korologos | Saturday, May 23rd, 2009
Categories: Golf Lifestyle • Miscellaneous • Reviews • Travel
Tags: New Mexico • Pueblo Indians • Puye Cliff Dwellings • 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.