First Look: GolfBuddy VS4 Talking Golf GPS

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, August 29th, 2014
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf Gear • Site News
Tags: Golf Buddy • Golf GPS • GPS

In for review here at Hooked on Golf Blog is the new GolfBuddy VS4 talking golf GPS. This is a tiny, watch-sized golf GPS which speaks your yardages to you. See the video below for a sample.

I’ve used the unit for two full 18 hole rounds now and it is very solid. At times when the pin has been center-green, I’ve checked the distances with my laser rangefinder and they are exact.

GolfBuddy VS4 Golf GPS

Stay tuned for the full review in a week or two when I’ve had the opportunity to complete my comprehensive review.

Today’s Coffee Cup Scripting

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, August 29th, 2014
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf For Women • Golf Gear • Golf Life • Miscellaneous • Reviews

After a long afternoon of tailgating and watching my Utah Utes football team’s season opener yesterday, the only thing on my mind this morning other than my headache was consuming mass amounts of coffee, stat. I had to check my coffee cup scripting first though. You see, like PGA Tour pros, all elements of my life are “scripted” by my PR agencies. Included in my scripting? Apparel, underwear, toothpaste, coffee cups, lunch, cigars, wine…

Letter-shaped sand traps spell out the word GOLF!

Today’s coffee cup scripting comes courtesy of In The Sand Golf. They make customized golf gift items which feature aerial photos of sand traps shaped like letters. My coffee mug features four sand traps which spell out the word “golf.” When ordering, customers can put their own text on the mug.

These mugs and other promotional items by In The Sand Golf would make great Father’s Day gifts, Mother’s Day gifts, golf birthday gifts, or golf themed Christmas gifts.

The mug is very nice and has a little extra. Most standard mugs can hold 10 ounces of joe. This one “goes to 11.” Brilliant.

How I Recovered My Stolen Android Smartphone, Which Had Traveled to Jefferson City, MO

Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, August 28th, 2014
Categories: Boneheads • HOG World Tour • Miscellaneous

I’m going to cover a non golf related subject today, but one which I think is very important: what to do if your smartphone is lost or stolen and how to recover it. I hope someone out there can benefit from what I learned and the tools needed pull off what I did. Here’s the story:

The last HOG World Tour trip was to Black Mesa Golf Club in New Mexico. It is a short flight from here in Salt Lake. While waiting at the gate for my flight, I utilized a cell phone charging station to charge up my Samsung Galaxy SIII. The Galaxy SIII phone is based on Google’s Android operating system.

In the rush to get to the gate when called, I apparently left my phone at the charging station. I didn’t realize I’d done so until I was on the rental car shuttle in New Mexico, some 2-3 hours later. I called my phone from a friend’s phone and even sent text messages to it, but there was no response. I immediately contacted Delta Airlines and also checked with the airport lost and found. Nothing.

When I arrived at my hotel in the evening I powered up my laptop and jumped online. I loaded up the Android Device Manager in my browser, which is located here: https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager. The device manager can also be loaded onto an Android unit and run as an application. I used the device manager to lock the phone with a password to prevent whoever had it from using it. I also put a message saying “Return this phone to its owner by calling…” and put the wife’s phone number. Of course, nobody called.

Device Manager located my phone on a Google map. It was in Jefferson City, Missouri. It should be noted that in order for Android Device Manager to actually locate your phone, the phone must be powered on. Fortunately for me, whoever had the phone left it turned on.

Android Device Manager – Phone Located

I zoomed the map in as far as it would go and noted the exact location and cross streets. I then loaded up Google maps in another browser window and navigated to that same location. I then switched the map view to Google Earth, where I could see that at my phone’s location was a single family home. This was good, rather than it being at a large apartment complex, or in an office building, or on the street somewhere. In Google Earth I was able to simply click the mouse on the home and it showed the home’s address. From there I punched in the address to a regular Google search. The information I was able to gather at that point was quite amazing, clear down to the yearly property taxes on that home.

My phone was here…

Armed with this information, I contacted the Jefferson City police department. Despite all the information I gave them, they were not willing to do anything because the phone was stolen from the Salt Lake International Airport. I had to first establish a case with Salt Lake, then they told me Salt Lake would have to contact them.

I called the Salt Lake International Airport Police and they were quite helpful. One officer asked me the exact time and location I was waiting for my flight. He cued up their surveillance footage and found me sitting there. He said he would have to scan to see when someone took the phone and would call me back. He gave me a case number. The officer did call back to tell me he found the video footage showing the thief taking the phone. A younger male, perhaps late teens, walked up to my phone and looked all around. He then unplugged it and put it in his shirt pocket and walked away.

The next morning I was golfing at Black Mesa golf club when I received a call from the Jefferson City police at about eight in the morning. “Sir we have recovered your phone.” I was thrilled. They told me they’d paid a visit on the home where my phone was located and recovered it at 7 a.m. local from an elderly lady. That seemed odd but I didn’t care. My phone was found.

Later I spoke with my wife who had received a call from the elderly lady. The lady told my wife she saw the phone at the airport and took it because she knew it was lost and did not trust that the airport lost and found would get the phone’s owner back his/her phone. She had intended to take it home to Missouri and mail it to the owner. She told my wife the police frightened her, pounding on her door at seven in the morning. My wife bought this BS story but that was until I told her that airport surveillance video showed a young male taking the phone. The stories didn’t jive.

It took eight days to get my phone back. I’m very glad to have it back because on it are some special photos and videos of my baby boy, and of course all the other things one digitally stores in a smartphone.

As for the case, I’ve heard nothing else. My theory is that a teenager stole the phone and his mother or grandmother made up the story of taking it to cover his ass and keep him out of trouble. I may never know the real story, but I do know how to recover a stolen Android phone now.

I hope this story helps someone who may end up in a similar situation with a lost or stolen Android device.

TaylorMade’s First FootGolf Shoe? The R15 FGZLDR Tour 360 SuperMegaOcto

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, August 26th, 2014
Categories: Boneheads • Golf Gear
Tags: FootGolf

As recent press releases have touted, FootGolf is growing rapidly. FootGolf is a game where soccer balls are kicked into 21 inch holes on golf courses. A Hooked On Golf Blog patron who asked to remain anonymous sent in this photo of what appears to be the the first shoe TaylorMade/adidas will bring into the emerging Foot Golf market. The photo appears to be authentic, since it has the “WRX” watermarking on it.

R15_FGZLDR_Tour360_SuperMegaOcto

The revolutionary FootGolf shoe is the “R15 FGZLDR Tour 360 SuperMegaOcto” and the anonymous source tells HOG availability will be in the future.

R15 FGZLDR Tour 360 SuperMegaOcto Features:

Fully adjustable from 180 degrees open to 180 degrees closed (Tour 360)
Waterproof all-leather upper
Built in compass
Hybrid street spikes or standard soft spikes
Low center of gravity which helps launch the soccer ball higher and easier, with less spin
Highest MOI available produces higher soccer ball launch angle and massive distance
Eight individual movable weights per shoe
Three sliders per shoe

Retail pricing on the regular model will be $199. The forthcoming R15 FGZLDR Tour 360 SuperMegaOcto “TP” model will feature all the same options as above and run $499. For those who are on a limited budget there’s good news. After six months the pricing for these FootGolf shoes will drop to $99 and $199 (TP model) when the next model, the R15 FGZLDR Tour 360 SuperMegaOcto Stage Duo is released.

Custom fitting is recommended.

Underwent Treatment for Tennis Elbow

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, August 26th, 2014
Categories: Golf • Golf For Women • Hackers • Miscellaneous

Now that the majority of the golf season here in northern Utah is over, and since my final club championship competition is finished (say hello to the 2014 champ!), I decided it was time to go to the doctor to address my tennis elbow problems.

Earlier this season I switched to some great, albeit harder golf grips. I loved the performance of the grips, but a month into using them tennis elbow flared up. The pain got so bad that I could not pick up the coffee pot to pour myself a cup of coffee. Even lifting my putter up a few inches to tap down a repaired ball mark was impossible without a ton of pain. It is a bad world to live in when there is no coffee and ball marks are not fixed.

Solutions

Everyone and their dog has given me their advice and experience on the subject of curing tennis elbow. Resting the elbow, icing, and eating ibuprofen three meals a day didn’t help. Two swings and it was back instantly, even after two weeks of not playing.

New arm band and bandaid over shot area

I went into the doc’s yesterday and opted for a cortisone shot. I’ve never had one. It hurt like hell and hurts like hell right now. Some say one shot is all they needed and I’m hoping that’s the case for me. I do know it isn’t a good idea to depend on these shots and over time they’ll cause damage. Others suggested DMSO, a treatment given to horses. I’ll consider that down the road if necessary.

So I’ve had the cortisone shot and will take a week or so off to let it do its magic. In the meantime I’ll be switching grips. I’ll also consider adjusting some techniques to lessen the impact of the swing on my elbow. I have an arm brace which should help that, and another special brace on its way.

Note: I’ve had golfer’s elbow as well, and do have a bit of that since the grip change. The doctor did an x-ray on my elbow and it shows some damage on the underside, where golfer’s elbow is. I can feel a touch of it.

I the past I did the following to help cure/prevent the golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow and I got away from some of these:

Play softer, bigger golf grips. It is a consensus that larger and softer golf grips will help, and I have a set ready to put on my clubs this week.
Play a softer golf ball. Balls with a urethane cover and soft core like a Bridgestone B330 or a ProV1 are best.
Pick clubs which insulate and isolate vibration better.
Use golf club vibration dampeners on the clubs if necessary.
Try like hell to hit the sweet spot. Center hits don’t jar the arm as much. Off-center shots are very bad!
Swing slower and more relaxed.
Pick the ball off the turf and take smaller divots.
No more “ball pounding” on the practice range. The repetitive shock as well as the hard range balls are horrible for golfer’s or tennis elbow.

Final Thoughts

From a numbers and results standpoint, this is possibly my best amateur golf season yet with winning the club championship and coming in 2nd place at the Salt Lake Ameteur. Like most golfers I’m never satisfied, but the season has been a success.

September is nearly here, a great month in Utah for golf with the temps cool and the trees changing colors. Once October comes it is hit and miss (pun intended) on the weather and the temperatures really start to cool off. I hope to make it through to some time in October, then hang the clubs up for the winter in order for the injury to completely heal.

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