I’ve said many times that the best benefit of running this golf blog for close to 10 years is the fantastic people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and befriending. Yes I’ve managed to play some great golf courses and test a lot of gear, but the best part about the golf world is the people.
Eat Golf
I received a delivery yesterday, a small box. I get boxes full of random golf gadgets and such all the time, but the return address on this one meant quite a bit to me. Quite a bit. The return address was titled “EAT GOLF.” That could only mean one thing, something very special inside from my good friend Rich Hodge.
History
Back when I started my blog I looked up at other existing blogs like a young boy looking up to his father. At the time there were 3-4 golf blogs. Now there are 100’s, and most suck. I looked up to GolfBlogger.com, Bogey Lounge, and Eat Golf. Eat Golf had a certain twisted flare which really held my attention. There was an authenticity to the writing there which I still have yet to see again in the golf blogosphere.
Over time I got to know Rich Hodge, creator of Eat Golf. We became online friends, both golf blogging geeks back before most of today’s golf bloggers even knew what a blog was. I often asked Rich for advice and we both helped each other grow our followings, as the original blog crowd did. A rising tide raises all ships.
I started to dabble in PHP programming because I wanted to provide my visitors a way of punching in their golf stats and having the system spit out handicaps, fairways hit, putting stats and all that. On a nightly basis I was obsessively trying to learn a programming language with no formal training at all. Rich was (and is) a PHP pro. Almost nightly Rich and I would use some kind of online chat messenger at 2-3-4 in the morning. I’d ask Rich, “why does my screen say ‘Fatal Error:… bla bla bla?” or “why is my screen blank?” He would tell me, “put a semicolon on line 76” and like magic the errors would disappear and suddenly my program would come back to life. He was like some kind of geek oracle.
When I asked Rich what blogging software he used, he told me he wrote the software himself. Yup. Oracle.
Years went by and Rich’s interest in golf waned, and his interest in pool took off. Eventually his site Eat Golf became a shell of what it once was. It eventually disappeared.
Rich and I have kept in touch over the years on Facebook, and I’ve been hounding him to transfer the domain registration of EatGolf.com to me so I can bring it back to life. I might even move my entire blog over to that URL, as it is so much better than the lengthy and PITA HookedOnGolfBlog.com.
The Box
Inside the box where some goodies from the famous Maui Hawaii course Kapalua, home of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Obviously Rich has been there recently, and the golf bug is still in his system. You never really shake it.
Kapalua Golf Goodies from Eat
Nice to hear from Rich and the goodies are mega-cool.
Hats off. Cheers and all my best to Eat Golf, Rich Hodge, one of the pioneers in golf blogging and one of the best people I’ve met in this space.
FootJoy has a new “street” type line of shoes, crossing over between golf and daily use. The line is called “City,” as they are inspired by current popular and stylish shoe trends.
FootJoy City – Black/Mocha – click for more City images
The City shoe is available in spiked or spikeless. I’m happy to have a spikeless version, so I can wear them off the golf course.
I’m just in the initial review stages now. I’ll be posting a full review after I’ve put the City through some rounds on the course, in the office, and on the street. Until then, check out the HOG FJ City image gallery.
This Saturday morning coffee read is a new book I just received for review titled The Greatest Golf Courses and How They Are Played: North America (Greatest Courses)
. The book “gives you a unique insight into the most spectacular and important golf clubs on the continent.”
Greatest Courses of North America
Before I open it I’m thinking what courses had “better” be in there or else. So what was the first course I saw when I opened the cover? Black Mesa Golf Club, the one course that they could not miss and expect a decent review from me. I can tell I’m going to enjoy the rest of this one. Stay tuned for a full review down the fairway a bit.
Black Mesa Golf Club – Inside Cover
Someone had to do it…
Golf Hackers WRX Paradise
Hole #4 River Oaks – saw it happen
Tuesdays are one of my two men’s league days at one of my three home courses (yes I consider myself to have three) River Oaks. “River” is a super tight course with hazards in every imaginable direction. You can’t miss a tee shot or you’re hitting three somewhere. One thing which makes the course even more difficult is the winds which are usually 1-3 clubs. This past Tuesday though, the winds were enough to shave trees off at the base. The temperatures were warm for most of the round since it was a south wind, so playing in these extreme winds was actually quite fun. Balls would not stay put on the greens and any drives which had the slightest of spin would be thrown off to oblivion.
I knew the winds were strong, but didn’t realize how strong. Some winds were clocked at 70mph in the area and roughly 10,000 people ended up without power. Another oddity to this extreme weather was the giant dust cloud which covered the valley. A slight rain added to the dust cloud producing a very gross “mud rain” which covered me, my gear, and my car.
After about 12 holes of this craziness the wind shifted from a south wind to a north wind. Once that happens arctic air hits and the temps drop. We went from 75 to 40 in about 10 seconds. Do you know what the wind chill is when it is 40 degrees with a 30mph wind? I’d define it as “go home” cold.
When I got home the lawn furniture was blown into the neighbor’s yard and all the windows of the house were covered with the rain mud.
I can only conclude that I’m nuts for playing in those conditions, but it was just a wee breeze as they say in Scotland.
By the clubhouse…
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