How many golf clubs do we really need to use in a round of golf? When I was president of my local men’s association for seven long years, we did a 4-club tournament every season. The player scores in the 4-club tournament were practically identical to the events in which they could play the full 14 clubs. I’m going to experiment with lightening the load and walking the course with fewer clubs. The new Sunday Bag from Sunday Golf is the perfect solution. Compared to this bag my “medium-small” stand bag seems gigantic!
About
The new Sunday Bag is a super small bag designed to hold up to eight clubs. Eight is plenty to get the job done, but I managed to cram 12 into the bag with minimal hassle this afternoon. Must be because it is Sunday! I may settle in on 10 clubs with this setup eventually.
The bag I chose is the sharp looking “Loma” gray bag. It features an amazing number of pockets for such a small footprint, and tons of space. No, it isn’t as much as a full sized bag but there is way more space than most bags I’ve used in this genre. The zippers are waterproof and there is a lined pocket called the “Frosty Pocket” for keeping beverages cool.
Did I mention this is a stand bag? Most bags of this type that I’ve checked out do not have a stand.
Review Pending
I just put this bag in play today. Switched out my whole bag. That damn hybrid I can’t hit didn’t make the cut and neither did my 50 degree wedge. Hoping just 3 wedges is enough. I may also can one long iron and maybe leave the 3-wood and/or driver in the trunk depending on the course or the tees I’m playing that day.
When I’ve had ample testing time for a bunch of golf rounds I’ll post my full review and findings.
Stay tuned.
The downturn in the golf industry the past several years has taken a toll on Utah golf courses. We have been shrinking here. Fortunately there’s some good news on that front. A new course called Copper Rock opened this past February. Copper Rock is located in Hurricane, Utah. Hurricane is the home of one of Utah’s best golf courses, Sand Hollow. Also located in Hurricane is one of Utah’s best municipal courses, Sky Mountain.
The Course
I have yet to play Copper Rock. In fact I didn’t even know about it until I heard some discussion on my trip to Sand Hollow.
The course plays to a par of 72 (36/36) with a maximum yardage of 6,823 yards. Not long for a new golf course. The course rating is 72.9 with a slope of 134. Translation: it can be a challenge but won’t beat you to death.
The course architect is Dale Beddo.
It’s a Real Estate Play
I saw the master plan. This is a real estate play. There are dozens and dozens of lots for homes lining most of the holes. Play it now while it is still mostly a natural setting. In a few years that won’t be the case.
HOG World Tour Visit Soon, Hopefully
I hope to bring the HOG World Tour down there and check out Copper Rock Golf Course soon. A couple of buddies of mine have played it and said they liked it.
HOG Exclusive! Special announcement during the 2020 PGA Championship:
We are the first outlet to get our hands on a photo of the latest limited edition “PP” irons from Parsons Extreme Golf (PXG). These irons feature a ridiculous number of tungsten weights, none of which are movable or configurable.
PXG PP Irons
The PP model is the first PXG club to feature the straight row of “micro” weights. These can be seen in the middle of the club head, and provide extra mass behind the impact zone. That extra mass improves the CGI, MOI, and BMI.
I like the design for the most part. But I’d probably go with one more 2.4 gram weight toward the toe of the club to help balance it out. I might also think they could squeeze in one more micro weight if they made the center muscle area of the head a little more narrow.
Pricing
No word on pricing as of yet, but I’ve heard their pricing model will be based on the number of tungsten weights, somewhere around $25 per weight, per club.
For the last 1.5 years I’ve been recovering and doing rehab for major shoulder surgery. I had a torn rotator cuff, torn labrum, torn bicep tendon repaired on the right shoulder on Valentine’s Day 2019. The last time I hit a golf ball was November of 2018 at TPC Danzante Bay. Following the surgery I suffered from frozen shoulder, an extremely annoying and painful condition where scar tissue and inflammation makes recovering from the surgery difficult. The shoulder was very tight, sore, and highly reactive in a negative way to rehab or general use. Thanks to my latest passion, mountain biking, I broke up most of the scar tissue and have enjoyed about a month of pain-free shoulder. So I finally got some confidence to start swinging the clubs again.
Sand Hollow
Thinks to some lucky timing, I managed to have my first round back on the course at one of my favorite courses, Sand Hollow. Golf blog buddy John Duval of Into The Grain was working the ALD long drive event in Mesquite, Nevada so I thought it would be great to drive down and meet up with him. He already had Sand Hollow on his agenda, which helped make my decision very easy.
Sand Hollow Golf Course Aerial Photo by Tony Korologos – © Copyright 2020
The round went as expected in terms of rust and bad shots. I had low expectations. I did hit a lot of fairways, but alas, my driving distance has been greatly reduced. My irons also are now 1-2 clubs shorter. I don’t have the club head speed I used to. I did manage to record my first birdie of the decade, on the par-4 15th hole after knocking a gap wedge approach to about 10 inches. I also managed many other shots I wish not to discuss, or remember.
Unfortunately my back tweaked on the 3rd tee and from that point on the rest of the trip, finishing a golf swing produced a stabbing muscle pain. Real lame. Golf is hard on the body, and most golfers know we use muscles and combinations of muscles that are not used elsewhere.
On the way south the day before the round, I used my drone to catch some new images of the golf course. I was one of the first ever to fly a drone over Sand Hollow way back around 2013 or 14. It was nice to get some cleaner shots (first photo).
Falcon Ridge
On the 2nd day we played Falcon Ridge. The back was pretty unhappy and that made it so I couldn’t stay down. It was a defensive move to keep from having that stabbing pain. The result unfortunately was a lot of thin shots and dribblers. Really horrible stuff. Throw in a couple of shanks too. Well, three actually. Yikes. I’m bummed the back couldn’t take it.
Falcon Ridge Golf Course Aerial Photo by Tony Korologos – © Copyright 2020
Falcon was fun despite the back pain, with Duval and my buddy Guy Lester from my River Oaks days. I reached a par-5 in two with two three-woods and made a nice 2-putt birdie. That’s the highlight of the day.
Drone Flights
I managed some drone flights around numerous golf courses in Utah and Nevada while on the trip. Some of the photos are pretty amazing. Some photos prove that a lame golf course doesn’t necessarily look cool with drone photos.
Oasis Palmer Course – @ Copyright 2020 by Tony Korologos
I’ll post a few more aerials in future posts.
Final Thoughts
Golf is hard. Hard on the body. By the end of the two days I had some major back pain and a nasty blister on my right heel. But thankfully the right shoulder held up fine. There was a tiny bit of soreness but that’s just about gone.
I need to evaluate what golf means to me at this point. In order for me to get back to the level of playing I was once at, it will take a lot of time, practice, effort, money. Do I want to do that? Or do I simply want to become a casual golfer that plays a few times a year? Can I stand to play bogey golf? That’s what it would be. It’s hard to play at a high level (for amateurs that is), then find satisfaction from playing at a lower level. It’s like playing $100 per had blackjack in Vegas. When you go back to $5 per hand it is just plain boring.
It’s going to be interesting to see where this ends up.
I’ve recently started hitting the beautiful looking new Honma TR20 driver. The TR20 is Honma’s “Tour Release” line. The line is designed to perform up to the high standards of PGA Tour pros, but still be playable for amateur golfers.
The TR20 is a titanium face driver with maximum carbon in the body, which is assembled on a minimal titanium frame.
The driver comes with three adjustable weights as well as an adjustable non-rotating hosel system.
The base models come in lofts of 8.5, 9.5 and 10.5 and each can be adjusted up or down by one degree through the hosel adjustment system.
I’m back in the game following shoulder surgery and I’ve had a few range sessions with the TR20. I’m dialing in the settings and getting used to it. I’l be putting it in play this weekend. After I’ve had enough rounds to formulate some solid takes, I’ll be posting a full review. Stay tuned.
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