Review: GoBe Prodigy Golf Shoes

Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013
Categories: Golf Apparel • Golf Gear • Reviews
Tags: Golf Apparel • Golf Equipment Review • Golf Shoes

Introducing GoBe

GoBe is a new company I found at this last year’s PGA Merchandise Show. They have a cool new golf shoe line with some unique styles which run in the hybrid/casual genre. No dress shoes with spikes. These are stylish golf treads players could wear on or off the course.

GoBe Prodigy Golf Shoes – click for more

Though they’re hybrids (shoes which cross between golf and casual use), performance is the most important feature for GoBe. Do they perform? Read on to find out.

GoBe Prodigy Golf Shoe

My first GoBe shoe is the Prodigy in Black/Red (pictured through this review). This is a very unique looking golf shoe with its semi glossy black finish and cool black/red color scheme, accented with silver.

Prodigy Features

The semi-gloss black upper I mentioned previously is made of a material GoBe calls “PurTEC.” PurTEC is 20x more water resistant than treated leather. Despite the high water resistance, the upper is very breathable.

The platform the shoe provides is nice and roomy, with plenty of space for the toes to spread when the player walks.

Star atTRACTION – click for more

The treads on the Prodigy feature GoBe’s “Talon” traction system. Looks like simple stars to me, but there’s much more to those hybrid treads. The star shapes increase the surface area of the hybrid spikes, giving the shoe amazing traction. The sole material is a very durable Grade A material so the traction should last long time.

Colors – Sizes

The $159.99 retail Prodigy comes in two color schemes: The first is the black/red pictured in this article. The second is white version with black and orange accents.

Sizes range from USA 7.5 to 12.5, 41-46 UK.

On The Course – On The Town

Sadly, I took my time getting to this review. The shoes sat in my garage for quite a while. The primary reason was that I doubted the soles would have enough traction for my spastic swing, especially with all the rain which has hit my area recently. That was a mistake.

GoBe Prodigy Golf Shoes – click for more

I quickly noticed that I was mistaken about the traction. My feet felt like they were glued to the ground, even in wet conditions. The Talon system works brilliantly. With that better traction came more accuracy and more power. What golfer doesn’t want that?

The looks and style of the Prodigy are great. The color scheme is perfect for my college team, the Utah Utes. I’ll be sporting these babies tomorrow night with when I watch the football game in forecasted rain. I’ll be taking advantage of that water resistance.

The Prodigy is very comfortable too. Walking the course is a joy. The feet don’t ache and the knees feel great. The support is just right.

Critiques

I do have a strong critique for the GoBe shoe brand, and it is the same I’ve had for Ecco golf shoes. The sizing selection needs work. GoBe uses a european sizing scheme. So the sizes come in ranges of full USA halves. For instance, my shoe size is a 9. GoBe’s selection is either a 9 to 9.5 or an 8 to 8.5. I don’t understand how a size 9 shoe can also be a size 9.5 shoe. Why not just make a size 15 shoe and say it’s any size between 1 and 15?

Being a 9, a shoe which sizes “up to” a 9.5 is too big for me. I felt like I was wearing clown shoes when I first tried on the 9.5’s. I had to send them back try out the 8 to 8.5 size, in hopes that the 8.5 ran larger than 8.5. Fortunately for me the 8.5 did run larger and fits just right.

Conclusion

Sizing issues aside, the GoBe look is really unique yet classy enough to wear to the office in business casual style.

My three top requirements for golf shoes, in order of importance are: performance, comfort, style. In all three areas the GoBe Prodigy does a fantastic job.

Well played GoBe. Looking forward to seeing what the future holds for this new company.

Related Links

Hooked On Golf Blog GoBe photos

GoBe website

New Nicklaus Golf Balls Focus on Giving Back

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, September 30th, 2013
Categories: Golf Balls • Golf Equipment • Golf Gear

Nicklaus Golf Balls

Jack Nicklaus is now in the golf ball business. But Jack’s focus isn’t just selling product. The focus of Nicklaus Golf Balls is philanthropic. See the quote below from this Nicklaus Golf press release.

“A percentage from every golf ball sold in those shops will be donated directly back to the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation to support pediatric programs and hospitals nationwide, while visitors to Nicklaus.com will have the ability to support the Foundation with voluntary contributions.”

The concept is simple. There are three golf ball colors: black, blue and white. The colors represent the tee the golfer plays from, making selecting a ball easier.

I hope to get my hands on some of the new Nicklaus golf balls soon for review. Stay tuned.

Great or Disappointing? Comments on Tiger Woods’s 2013 Season

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, September 30th, 2013
Categories: PGA Tour • Pro Golf • Tiger Woods
Tags: FedEx Cup • John Daly • PGA Tour • Phil Mickelson • The Masters • Tiger Woods

Will Tiger Break Jack’s record? I might break your jaw if you ask that question one more time…

The results are in… Love it or hate it, Tiger Woods has won his 11th PGA Tour Player of the Year award, as voted on by his peers. While I may have preferred to see Adam Scott or Phil Mickelson win POY, based on the pure numbers I can’t say I disagree with the outcome.

The Numbers

Tiger won five times on tour in 2013: Farmers Insurance Open, WGC Cadillac, Arnold Palmer Invitational, THE PLAYERS (always write “The Players” in ALL CAPS, it’s what they do) Championship, WGC Bridgestone. Two of the five events were World Golf Championships events. These events have stronger fields in terms of world rankings.

Five wins makes a great career for most tour players. For perspective, these PGA Tour players have recorded five wins in their entire careers: Nick Watney, Justin Rose, Scott Verplank, Billy Mayfair, Hunter Mahan, Tom Lehman, Padraig Harrington, Bill Haas, Luke Donald, John Daly.

Tiger led the season long FedEx Cup points standings until the final round of the playoffs where he “ran out of gas.”

Woods led the world golf rankings by a large margin over #2 Adam Scott.

Woods also led the money race, finishing at $8,553,439. The closest competitor was Henrik Stenson at $6,388,230.

Tiger also won the Vardon Trophy for adjusted scoring average at 68.985.

Looking at these numbers it is an easy pick, as Scott and Mickelson both only had two wins.

No Majors

The funny thing about this season is that most Tiger Woods fans would call his season disappointing. I can’t say I disagree there, based on the standard which has been set.

I believe that major championships, just like in FedEx Cup points and world rankings, should have considerably more weight in calculating awards like Player of the Year. A major in my mind is worth several regular tour victories. How many? I’d say at least three. That’s why I would have had no problem voting for Adam Scott or Phil Mickelson, if I had a vote to begin with.

Rules Infractions

2013 was quite a year for Tiger with regards to rules infractions. First was the bizarre situation at The Masters where Tiger’s approach on the par-5 15th doinked off the pin and into the water. He then made an improper drop and later signed an incorrect score card as he did not assess himself the penalty. Nobody would have known about the improper drop had Woods not commented that he dropped his ball farther away from the original position. But the Masters rules committed ruled in his favor before his round concluded and Woods was not disqualified. Tiger haters were throwing fits online, calling for him to be disqualified, while fans argued the opposing view.

Then there was the drop on the 14th hole at THE PLAYERS (always write “The Players” in ALL CAPS, it’s what they do) Championship. Woods pulled his tee shot left into a water hazard. The position which he dropped was harshly questioned on the air by Johnny Miller.

Finally there was the infamous ball moving problem on Friday of the final FedEx Cup event at East Lake. Tiger was in some trees and moving loose impediments from near his ball. His ball moved at which time he immediately stopped as if to say “uh, oh. I just caused the ball to move.” But he didn’t call a penalty on himself, nor did he call a rules official over. After video review, PGA Tour rules official Slugger White tacked on two more shots to the already double-bogey Woods scored on the hole. Despite seeing the video several times, Woods still refused to admit moving the ball.

Final Comments

Tiger is a very polarizing figure no doubt. Reading social networking threads and blog comments regarding Tiger can be quite entertaining as the fans and haters tend to go at each other’s throats digitally.

I was quite surprised to hear Tiger cite “running out of gas” as a reason for his poor performance down the stretch of the FedEx Cup playoffs. When I first heard that statement I thought, “what the #$&? He’s a world class athlete!”

But Woods is not getting any younger. Perhaps all the wear and tear on those knees and back are catching up to him? Maybe. I suspect the bulk of the fatigue Woods was referring to was mental. Anyone who plays golf would understand that.

How many majors Tiger wins from this point on, if any at all, remains to be seen. Any conjecture is just that, conjecture. Personally I’m very tired of the constant “will Tiger break Jack’s record?” dribble from the mainstream golf media. Its so old, and its getting older. Maybe that dribble will “run out of gas” too.

I hope so.

First Look: Cross Golf Apparel

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, September 27th, 2013
Categories: Golf Apparel • Golf Gear • Site News
Tags: Golf Apparel

I’ve got some new fall golf apparel items in the HOG review queue from Cross Golf. This is some nice looking stuff. Here are a couple of photos. I’ll be putting these pieces through the regular stringent battery of tests and posting my review soon.

Stay tuned for my reviews coming soon…

Top 50 World Golf Rankings Post 2013 FedEx Cup – Stenson and McIlory Going Opposite Directions

Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, September 26th, 2013
Categories: European Tour • FedEx Cup • PGA Tour • Pro Golf • Rory McIlory • Tiger Woods
Tags: Bubba Watson • Dustin Johnson • Lee Westwood • Phil Mickelson • Rory McIlory • Tiger Woods

Below is a table containing the most recently updated top 50 golfers in the world rankings following the conclusion of the 2013 FedEx Cup. Tiger Woods remains at #1. Notable movements over the last while are Henrik Stenson moving up to #4 while former world #1 Rory McIlory drops to #6.

Rank	Player / Country	Points	Events
1	Tiger Woods, USA	13.22	42
2	Adam Scott, AUS	9.25	41
3	Phil Mickelson, USA	8.52	49
4	Henrik Stenson, SWE	8.23	52
5	Justin Rose, ENG	7.78	52
6	Rory McIlroy, NIR	7.50	48
7	Steve Stricker, USA	6.88	40
8	Matt Kuchar, USA	6.64	52
9	Brandt Snedeker, USA	6.27	52
10	Jason Dufner, USA	6.08	52
11	Graeme McDowell, NIR	5.52	52
12	Zach Johnson, USA	5.52	52
13	Jim Furyk, USA	5.21	50
14	Keegan Bradley, USA	5.11	52
15	Luke Donald, ENG	5.10	51
16	Jason Day, AUS	4.91	45
17	Sergio Garcia, ESP	4.65	50
18	Lee Westwood, ENG	4.62	52
19	Charl Schwartzel, RSA	4.51	52
20	Ian Poulter, ENG	4.47	48
21	Jordan Spieth, USA	4.37	40
22	Ernie Els, RSA	4.31	52
23	Dustin Johnson, USA	4.26	48
24	Webb Simpson, USA	4.18	52
25	Hunter Mahan, USA	4.09	52
26	Bubba Watson, USA	4.06	47
27	Nick Watney, USA	3.99	52
28	Louis Oosthuizen, RSA	3.99	52
29	Bill Haas, USA	3.96	52
30	Hideki Matsuyama, JPN	3.63	40
31	Matteo Manassero, ITA	3.10	52
32	Graham Delaet, CAN	3.01	50
33	Rickie Fowler, USA	2.98	50
34	Billy Horschel, USA	2.91	52
35	Jonas Blixt, SWE	2.91	52
36	Branden Grace, RSA	2.90	52
37	Kevin Streelman, USA	2.90	52
38	Richard Sterne, RSA	2.85	44
39	Peter Hanson, SWE	2.84	52
40	Scott Piercy, USA	2.80	52
41	Bo Van Pelt, USA	2.78	52
42	Martin Kaymer, GER	2.77	52
43	Jamie Donaldson, WAL	2.66	48
44	Ryan Moore, USA	2.62	48
45	Miguel A Jimenez, ESP	2.59	48
46	Thomas Bjorn, DEN	2.58	50
47	Francesco Molinari, ITA	2.56	52
48	Boo Weekley, USA	2.47	52
49	Thorbjorn Olesen, DEN	2.46	52
50	D.A. Points, USA	2.40	52