I was thankful to be playing golf yesterday. First because my back had gone out and I miraculously recovered in time to play. Second, it is December here in northern Utah and it is not uncommon for the courses to be closed and under a couple feet of snow.
To celebrate the day and the unseasonably warm weather I busted out a Ave Maria Crusader Cigar courtesy of my BFF’s at Cigars City.
This Nicaraguan made cigar has Honduran/Nicaraguan filler and an Equador Habano wrapper. It is a medium-full strength cigar, so not quite for newbs or those looking for a light flavor.
I liked the body and flavor of this cigar. Very enjoyable. Not too much for my slightly-above-newb level. It had just enough of a kick to it.
Game Improvement Cigar
I fired up this cigar on the 13th hole and it obviously helped my game: par, par, par, birdie, birdie, bogey. I was five over par for the holes without the cigar and one under par with cigar. Could be my new secret weapon.
As part of the 10 year anniversary of Hooked On Golf Blog I’m going back in time to some highlights of the past.
This post will be a quick recap of the first few years in the life of Hooked On Golf Blog, 2004-2006. In those years I broke ground on many golf blog techniques and features, which many hundreds of subsequent blogs have copied in one way or another, and still do today. When I started, there were no blogs “reviewing” golf equipment, apparel, golf courses, anything else. It was the wild wild west of golf blogging.
2004
After the first post in December of 2004 I posted my first review of any golf product, which was Golf for Dummies DVD by Gary McCord.
In December 2004 I also started developing a golf community website called Web Country Club. Later WCC would die and I would create The Golf Space, which is still around and has over 6,000 members.
Jack Nicklaus and me
2005
In January of 2005 I began ranting about sappy musicians playing golf in pro-ams, like Michael Bolton. That ranting would be a craft I would spend years perfecting and I’m still getting better at it. Kenny G? Pass the barf bag.
In the spring of 2005 I posted many opinions and results from PGA Tour events. I also posted my first few golf course photos from a golf trip to Vegas. Little did I know how many courses and photos would be coming over the next 10 years.
Around March 2005 I tried something to spruce up my then Blogger blog theme. I put a Titleist golf ball up in the corner of the website. About 15 minutes later someone from TaylorMade emailed and asked if I wanted to review some prototype golf balls, and perhaps even write about it. They also “suggested” that the Titleist golf ball didn’t look that great and should be removed. A few days later I received my first product submission, a Maxfli prototype golf ball which I really liked at the time. Shortly after receiving the balls, I played 92 consecutive holes with one.
March would mark the date I would post my first golf club review, the Ping Craz-E. I would also post my first golf travel review of La Costa Resort and Spa. I was not all that great a doing those types of reviews, but how could I be? I was a golf gravel writing virgin.
Unfortunately some of the photos from 2004-2005 were on Flickr, and are no longer available. One of the lessons I would soon learn was to host and be in control of ALL of my content and media.
April 2005 was the first Masters month for HOG. Tiger Woods would win that Masters with the incredible chip-in on the par-3 16th, and it would be the last Masters which Jack Nicklaus would compete in, sniff sniff.
On April 9, 2005 HOG made a big move. I left the Google/Blogger.com domain and opened the site on WordPress with its own domain name, HookedOnGolfBlog.com. In hindsight I wish I would have found a shorter URL but it is waaaaay too late to worry about that now.
In June 2005 Travel Golf asked me to join them as a golf writer. I declined to focus on HOG. Years later they would be bought by Golf Channel.
In July 2005 The Golf Chick golf blog began, and I’d eventually build up a long and great friendship with Kristen Williams. She’s awesome.
Jack Nicklaus said farewell to competitive professional golf as he waved while standing on the Swilcan Bridge at the Old Course in the 2005 Open Championship. Sniff sniff. In the same tournament, Tiger Woods won his 10th major.
In July of 2005 I posted my 300th golf blog article. July 2005 also marked the departure of “MJ on Golf,” a nice blog by a very cool cat named Mike Jones. Mike was a good digital friend.
In August of 2005 I had the pleasure of meeting Jack Nicklaus. On the same day I met Billy Casper and helped him find his way.
In August 2005 I made it to the final championship match at Meadowbrook Golf Club. My opponent, a former pro, made five birdies in a row to close me out. Nice playing buddy.
Last story of August is when my then 8-year-old daughter was hanging out with Bill Murray at a golf tournament. He even bought her a snow cone.
In September of 2005 my proudest moment in golf happened, I won my first club championship!
2006
The first big event of 2006 was unfortunately the loss of a golf pal to cancer. RIP Bobby.
In February 2006 I received my first Google check for advertising. I think it was a little over $5.00.
The 14 Ball Putter was introduced.
The Golf Space, a golf social networking site I built, opened its doors.
TaylorMade got back into the golf ball business.
My golf stats tracker came to life online at The Golf Space for the first time.
I was one of a few people invited to play Ballyneal before it opened and during the round, a new friend carded a hole-in-one. Picture below:
Ballyneal Golf Club
Played golf through the Denver area, with golf course architect Jim Engh.
The Golf Space hit 1,000 members.
Unfortunately in November the site was hacked and completely dropped off of Google’s rankings as a result.
One of the many HOG World Tour stops, Black Mesa Golf Club in New Mexico
As of today Hooked On Golf Blog is 10 years old. TEN YEARS. Back on December 5th, 2004 I posted my first golf blog, “You can only understand if you golf.” It was certainly not award winning material. I’d give it a D+ today, but I’m sure Tiger Woods didn’t hit his best shots when he first picked up a club.
I started blogging at the suggestion of my best friend Alan Nelson. Back in 2004 he told me blogging would be big, the next big craze on the internet. Alan is a wise man and when he has a suggestion I take it to heart. This was before Facebook or Twitter. When I asked what I should blog about, he said “something you love.” I had to choose between rock & roll, strippers, pizza, and golf. I chose golf, though I think if I chose strippers I’d probably be a millionaire by now. Thanks to Alan’s suggestion, HOG exists.
The 10 years I’ve been running this blog have been amazing. I’ve worked hard to build up about 5000 golf articles, over 20,000 golf photos, hundreds of videos, several other golf sites and associated social networks. I’ve played some of the world’s most amazing golf courses, many which had not even opened to the public yet. I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing much of the world’s best golf equipment, golf apparel, and golf accessories.
Stats
At about 2-3 million hits per month by anywhere from 5,000 to 15,000 unique visitors per day, it’s hard to count how many millions of hits and visitors the site has seen in the past decade. Rough guess I’d say the site has seen 100 million hits, and probably 15-20 million unique visitors.
The HOG Photo Gallery is now at 20,381. The HOG Twitter @HOGGOLFBLOG has 2,798 followers while my personal twitter @TheGolfSpace has 4,003 followers. The HOG Facebook is at 1,587 followers. My Google+ page has 415 followers and 742,996 views. On Google+ the HOG page is at 311 followers and 74,152 views. The HOG YouTube features 438 videos, 631 subscribers, and has 5,333,049 views.
In short, I have a reach to a large audience.
You can tell Miss Universe digs me. Just look in her eyes.
People
Because of this golf blog I’ve met some of the coolest people on the planet. A few notables include Jack Nicklaus, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Robert Duval (yes the Academy Award winning actor) and Miss Universe, Stefania Fernandez. Miss Universe is a lot better looking than Chi Chi, though not as entertaining. I’ve met many stars in golf and business, but the real people in the industry are the ones who have had the biggest impact on me. I’m talking about the people who run other golf sites, work at golf courses, design golf courses, work for golf manufacturers, work in PR firms, and even caddie. These people are the heart and soul of this industry and the game. I’m thrilled to have established so many relationships and friendships. I plan to mention many of you in my people post.
I had intended to recap the last 10 years in this 10 year anniversary post, but I’ve spent a good hour on just calendar year 2005. So I’m going to break it up a bit and post some look-back posts for the last 10 years.
Next up, the birth and first years of HOG. Look for the next post.
Please be sure to tune in here for a very special announcement about this golf blog.
Majestic…
Below is a Christmas gift guide, also known as “holiday gift guide” for those who are politically correct. Unlike my recent apparel gift guide and electronic golf gadget gift guide, this one focuses on a price point. All items in this golf gift guide are under $50. Each photo slide below can be clicked to view the full Hooked On Golf Blog review and get more information.
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