I’d Rather Play Golf Than Watch It

Jordan Spieth

Anything interesting happen in professional golf over the last few weeks? Actually, I wouldn’t know much other than Jordan Spieth set the record for most prize money ever, at somewhere around $22 million. He won the ~~FedEx Cup~~ Reset Cup. When I saw him play as an amateur at the age of 16 (picture) I was sure he was amazing, but had no idea anyone could rake in that kind of dough in prize money in one year.

Yes, a great year. Player of the year for sure. I have/had no interest in the Reset Cup.

Recently Comcast, or as I like to call them “Crapcast,” doubled my TV bill. That was the deciding factor in my cutting the cable and going to NO TV. None. No golf. Nothing. It has been quite nice.

Though I’ve attended and covered many professional “tour” events, I find it quite uninteresting to watch other people play golf, as good as they may be. I’ve watched many greats up close and personal including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Jordan Spieth, Fred Couples, Rory McIlroy, Chi Chi Rodriguez, John Duval (I know what I’m typing), Lee Trevino…. dozens of others.

The pros are great but after I watch them hit a few shots in person I realize one thing:

I’d rather play golf than watch other people play it.

There are some occasions where that’s not the case. The Masters? I’d rather watch it. British Open? Watch it. U.S. Open? Maybe. PGA Championship? Meh. Presidents Cup? Not interested. Ryder Cup? Okay, I watch that…

Where am I going with this drivel? This is a blog. I don’t have to go anywhere. As much as I’ve struggled this year with my game and my attitude, I’ve not watched much golf nor played as much. My last round, one of those nuggets the golf gods throw struggling golfers, might keep me in the game for a bit. Even par. Kind of like making a blackjack on the last hand in Vegas, that round will get me coming back, but golf hasn’t fooled me this time.

Worth Another Look: Custom Embroidered Imperial Coolcore Golf Hats

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, September 25th, 2015
Categories: Golf Apparel • Golf Gear
Tags: golf hat • Imperial Headwear

While settling up and collecting my winnings last Sunday over a celebratory frosty beverage, I couldn’t help admiring my Hooked On Golf Blog hat, made by Imperial Headwear.

Best Golf Hat EVER Made? I Think So

This hat is Imperial’s “Coolcore” line, even in black and 95 degrees my head was nice and cool and the sweat seemed to evaporate away nicely. Even better, the brilliant logo and precise embroidery on the black background made my apparel script the best on the course, and the best across several counties.

I’ve already posted my Imperial Headwear Coolcore Golf Hat review, but she’s such a beauty I had to show her off again.

This Week on Tour – Tour Championship and the $10 Million Prize

Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, September 23rd, 2015
Categories: Champions Tour • European Tour • FedEx Cup • Jordan Spieth • PGA Tour • Pro Golf • Rory McIlory • Web.com Tour
Tags: FedEx Cup

TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola
Dates: Sept. 24-27
Venue: East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Ga.

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 1-6 p.m. (Live) / 8:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. (Replay)
Friday 1-6 p.m. (Live) / 11 p.m.-4 a.m. (Replay)
Saturday 10 a.m.-Noon (Live) / 10 p.m.-3:30 a.m. (Replay)
Sunday Noon-1:30 p.m. (Live) / 10 p.m.-3 a.m. (Replay)

Tournament Airtimes on NBC (Eastern):
Saturday Noon-3:30 p.m. (Live)
Sunday 1:30-6 p.m. (Live)

Broadcast Notes:
$10 million prize up for grabs: The 2014-15 PGA TOUR season culminates this week with the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola. The 30-man field will compete for a chance to win the 2015 FedExCup, and the accompanying $10 million prize. Players sitting in the top-5 in the current standings are in position to automatically claim the FedExCup with a win this week, while those outside of the top-5 will have to rely on how others finish to have any chance at winning the title. The 30 players having qualified for the TOUR Championship have earned invitations/exemptions into the 2016 Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship. Players in the field also are guaranteed at least $300,000 (30th place) and could earn as much as $11,485,000 (winning both the tournament and overall FedExCup).

Payne Stewart Award Ceremony, Airing Tonight on Golf Channel at 7 p.m. ET: Four-time major champion Ernie Els will receive the 2015 Payne Stewart Award – presented annually to a professional golfer who best exemplifies Payne Stewart’s steadfast values of character, charity and sportsmanship – during a special ceremony airing live on Golf Channel as a Golf Central special, tonight at 7 p.m. ET. Hosted by Dan Hicks and Todd Lewis, coverage of the award ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. ET within Golf Central, featuring interviews with Stewart’s wife and daughter, Tracey and Chelsea Stewart; Els’ wife and co-founder of the Els for Autism Foundation, Liezl Els; PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem; PGA TOUR professionals Jordan Spieth and Jimmy Walker; and Southern Company Chairman and CEO Thomas A. Fanning. During the award ceremony (beginning at 7 p.m. ET), Els will sit down with Lewis to discuss the award and his accomplishments off the course. Rich Lerner will conclude the special in delivering a tribute essay to Els and his family. Following the ceremony at 8 p.m. ET, Golf Channel will air a special encore presentation of Payne, the critically-acclaimed one-hour documentary chronicling Stewart’s life and career and remembering the dedicated family man, entertainer, jokester and golf fashion-icon.

Golf Central Special on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. ET featuring news conferences with Commissioner Finchem, Spieth: Tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. ET Golf Channel will air a Golf Central Special from East Lake Golf Club, featuring news conferences with PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem (11:30 a.m.) and Jordan Spieth (Noon).
Headlining the field (current FedExCup rankings): Jason Day (1); Jordan Spieth (2); Rickie Fowler (3); Henrik Stenson (4); Bubba Watson (5); Zach Johnson (6); Dustin Johnson (7); Charley Hoffman (8); Daniel Berger (9); Patrick Reed (10); Rory McIlroy (11); Justin Rose (12); Jimmy Walker (13); Robert Streb (14); Hideki Matsuyama (15); Jim Furyk (16); J.B. Holmes (17); Kevin Kisner (18); Danny Lee (19); Scott Piercy (20); Matt Kuchar (21); Paul Casey (22); Brandt Snedeker (23); Steven Bowditch (24); Brooks Koepka (25); Bill Haas (26); Kevin Na (27); Sangmoon Bae (28); Louis Oosthuizen (29); Harris English (30).

CHAMPIONS TOUR
Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach
Dates: Sept. 25-27
Venues: Pebble Beach Golf Links; Poppy Hills Golf Course, Pebble Beach, Calif.

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Friday 6-8:30 p.m. (Live) / 4-6 a.m. (Saturday replay)
Saturday 6-9 p.m. (Live) / 3:30-6 a.m. (Sunday replay)
Sunday 6:30-9 p.m. (Live) / 3-5 a.m. (Monday replay)

Broadcast Notes:
Format: 81 professionals will compete alongside one junior golfer and two other amateurs on Friday and Saturday, playing once at each of the course venues, Pebble Beach and Poppy Hills. 23 pro-junior teams, as well as 10 two-player amateur teams will make the cut to compete in the final round at Pebble Beach. The 81 juniors in the field were selected from 55 First Tee chapters throughout the United States. At the conclusion of this week, only three events remain on the Champions Tour schedule prior to the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Scottsdale, Ariz., Nov. 5-8.
Cook defends: John Cook defeated Tom Byrum by one stroke for his 10th career Champions Tour win.
Headlining the field: Fred Couples, Tom Watson, Davis Love III, Colin Montgomerie, Jay Haas, Vijay Singh, Jeff Maggert, Marco Dawson, Billy Andrade and Kevin Sutherland.

WEB.COM TOUR
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship
Dates: Sept. 24-27
Venue: The Ohio State University Golf Club (Scarlet Course), Columbus, Ohio

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 6-8 p.m. (Tape delay) / 4-6 p.m. (Streaming on Golf Live Extra)
Friday 8:30-10:30 p.m. (Tape delay) / 4-6 p.m. (Streaming on Golf Live Extra)
Saturday 4-6 p.m. (Live)
Sunday 1:30-4:30 p.m. (Live)

Broadcast Notes:
Web.com Tour Finals continue: This week the Web.com Tour stages the penultimate tournament of the four-event Web.com Tour Finals, as eligible players finishing 126-200 in the PGA TOUR FedExCup standings and players finishing 26-100 on the Web.com Tour season money list will compete for a chance at securing one of 25 additional 2015-16 PGA TOUR cards up for grabs at the conclusion of the Web.com Tour Championship. Players having finished in the top-25 on the Web.com Tour money list already having secured their 2015-16 PGA TOUR card also are eligible to complete in the Web.com Tour Finals to try and improve their playing status for next season.
Headlining the field: Jason Allred, Tommy Gainey, Oliver Goss, Cody Gribble, Trey Mullinax, Rob Oppenheim, Kevin Tway, Lucas Glover, Sam Saunders, Billy Hurley and Scott Langley.

EUROPEAN TOUR
Porsche European Open
Dates: Sept. 24-27
Venue: Hartl Resort at Bad Griesbach (Beckenbauer Course), Bad Griesbach, Germany

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 5-7 a.m. / 9 a.m.-Noon (Live)
Friday 5-7 a.m. / 9 a.m.-Noon (Live)
Saturday Noon-3:30 p.m. (Tape delay) / 7-11 a.m. (Streaming on Golf Live Extra)
Sunday 9-11 a.m. (Live)

Broadcast Notes:
Cevaer defends: Christian Cevaer finished one stroke ahead of the field for his second European Tour victory.
Headlining the field: Hunter Mahan, Graeme McDowell, Bernhard Langer, Charl Schwartzel, Ben An, Jamie Donaldson, Morgan Hoffmann, Thongchai Jaidee and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Dear Golf: You Can’t Fool Me This Time

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015
Categories: Golf • Hackers
Tags: Utah

Yesterday I played a round of golf at one of my all-time favorite courses here in northern Utah, Valley View Golf Course. Valley View is a tree-lined course, always plush and healthy, with a lot of very interesting elevation changes. It’s a fairly difficult course as well.

I’ve been struggling so bad with my game lately that I’ve been fantasizing about quitting golf. As a (now former) 1 handicap I had some real struggles and couldn’t even break 80 for a whole month. Very frustrating, and I was beginning to feel like I was wasting my time on the course.

Then out of the blue yesterday at VV I shoot an even-par 72, including a double bogey on the par-3 16th. I made birdie on the 18th to get it back to even. The only other real booboo besides the 16th was making par on the par-5 2nd, when I was chipping from the back of the green for eagle, about 20 feet from the pin. A bad chip led to a par.

So I shot even par. I guess that means I won’t be quitting the game this week. I feel like the game knows your state of mind, and throws you a little tiny nugget at just the right time. It’s like gambling in Vegas. You lose your ass and that one small win keeps you there, giving you hope.

So I’ll be staying in the game this week at least but you can’t fool me, golf. I know what you’re doing.

THE BEACON from X18 – Water Resistant Bluetooth Speaker

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, September 18th, 2015
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf Gear • Reviews
Tags: Golf Accessories

I’m changing my tune a bit regarding tunes on the course, but with some limitations. I really can’t stand it when someone I don’t know has a speaker on during their golf round playing Coldplay or some other wrist-slit-inducing music I don’t want to hear. The one way to get me to wrap my 460cc driver around someone’s head is to play Margaritaville, for the billionth time.

THE_BEACON_Bluetooth_Speaker

But if I’m playing golf by myself or practicing on the range I’m totally cool with playing some tunes. That’s when I use THE BEACON bluetooth speaker. This this is a badass and it lasts forever.

THE BEACON From X18 Features

Drop proof up to 1.2 meters (so be sure to measure the distance to the ground before you accidentally drop it)
Water resistant
Internal battery lasts up to 15 hours at FULL VOLUME. And a former rock and roll drummer like me needs full volume.
Dual 400mm speakers
Dual passive radiator for enhanced bass and superior sound quality
Rated power 6W
360 degree surround stereo sound
Frequency Response: 90Hz-20kHz (90Hz isn’t terribly low, but you can’t change the laws of physics. More speaker area is needed to produce super low bass)
Doubles as a boat bumper
Top hook and carabiner allow unit to be hung from golf bag or in other suitable places for tunes

When not hanging from my golf bag or my boat as a boat bumper, THE BEACON from X18 sits by my Mac Mini and serves as my speaker for listening to tunes while blogging about golf and drones. I take it into the garage to listen to music in there, or in the basement lab where I build my drones or work on my putting stroke. I’ve even taken the unit to the beach and with a 15 hour battery life I had power to last longer than the sun was shining.

The sound quality of this unit is great. I prefer to pump in an equalized signal though as the un EQ’d sound is a little off to me. But once I have the tone tweaked THE BEACON is great.

Retail price on this great bluetooth speaker is $99, but I’ve seen THE BEACON as low as $65 on Amazon.

Conclusion

Enjoy the great sound and convenience of THE BEACON on and off the course. Stay clear of me if you intend to pump Hootie and the Blowfish, Coldplay, or any of that other sappy yuppie music.

Heavy metal? Come on over, and TURN IT UP.

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