5th Annual Battle of the Golf Blogs Preview – $500 Fila credit to the winning blog’s READERS!
Left to right: Me (Tony Korologos), Dave Lair, John Duval, Rob Hayashida
Airport
As I sit here in the SLC International Airport, watching wannabe Sundance movie producers walk by with video cameras in their hands… wait a sec. As I’m sitting here with my laptop open a lady just asked me to help her “find her family.” I had to tell her that I don’t work for the airline…
As I was saying… As I sit here at the airport I’d better log my preview to the big event in Orlando this weekend. No I’m not talking about the PGA Merchandise Show, the golf trade show where some 50,000 people in the golf industry show their new wares. I’m talking about the Battle of the Golf Blogs.
BOGB History
The Battle of the Golf Blogs started back in I believe 2009 when Orlando Golf Blogger Dave Lair and I decided to have a golf blogger championship match when I was in town for the PGA Show. We played a Mickey Mouse course by Disney. The whole town of Orlando is Mickey Mouse really. I’m happy to say that I claimed the maiden tournament’s trophy, one of my most cherished of victories in my very, VERY modest amateur golf career. The next year Dave exacted his revenge. Over the years the tournament has expanded to include two great golf bloggers, John Duval from Into The Grain and Rob Hayashida from Sandbox8.
As golf bloggers we are all about digital media. The last few years there have been more cameras clicking and HD video recording than those that follow Tiger Woods around.
We’ve had some fantastic matches and memorable moments for sure. The most painful “BOGB” for me was the year I separated my shoulder skiing (crashed in parking lot next to my car) and had to WD.
Here’s the list of champions:
2009: Tony Korologos 🙂
2010: Dave Lair
2011: Shared championship between Dave Lair & John Duval a la 2008 the shared Presidents Cup when Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were captains.
2012: John Duval
2013: (Tony Korologos – text ready to go…hehe)
$500 prize to the champion golf blogger’s readers!
Last year’s tournament was interesting. We had many prominent golf companies requesting to sponsor the tournament. We accepted many sponsors and had a great time representing them by wearing or playing their gear. But we may have allowed a few too many…
This year we have three sponsors, Fila Golf, Bridgestone Golf and adidas. Primary sponsor Fila has volunteered to give a $500 gift certificate to their online store for the winning blogger to give to his readers! That means I’m playing for you my friends. I want to reward a HOG fan by winning the tournament and sending someone on a $500 shopping spree.
Venue
This year we are putting a new track in the BOGB rotation (you know, similar to the British Open course rotation). We are playing Black Diamond’s Quarry Course, a Tom Fazio design. This track looks very interesting from what I’ve seen of the online photos.
Live Social Feeds
All four bloggers will be posting live updates during the tournament on Twitter. Watch for the hash tag #bogb for on-the-fly happenings, photos and video from the Battle of the Golf Blogs. You can see my tweets here on HOG via the Twitter feed module or by following @thegolfspace.
BEST Booth at the 2013 PGA Merchandise Show
Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, January 25th, 2013
Categories: HOG World Tour • PGA Merchandise Show • Site News
Categories: HOG World Tour • PGA Merchandise Show • Site News
Pardon my lack of posts. I’ve been cruising the PGA Merchandise Show, spending more time doing interviews and capturing content and less on posting. That means more content in the long run. My legs feel like I’ve run the Boston Marathon, 12 times. I’ve scoured the show from TaylorMade to Titielist and every booth between. Below is a photo of my favorite booth of the show. I have NO idea who the company is or what they’re selling, but it is my favorite booth…
Click to enlarge, if that is even possible…
There you have it. Another quality golf blog post…
Bags Packed For 2013 PGA Merchandise Show
Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
Categories: HOG World Tour • PGA Merchandise Show • Site News
Categories: HOG World Tour • PGA Merchandise Show • Site News
I’m all packed for my departure tomorrow. I’m heading to my 2nd least favorite city, Orlando, and one of my favorite events in golf, the PGA Merchandise Show! More about Orlando later.
I have a new bag for the HOG World Tour ready to test out and it is looking great! All my camera stuff and my media devices (laptop, phone, iPad, cables etc) fit in there great! Lowepro is the bag.
Bags packed for the 2013 PGA Merchandise Show!
Stay tuned right here to HookedOnGolfBlog.com for show updates, interviews, photos of the cool new gear and show news. Also be sure to tune into the HOG social networks for live updates:
Review: SkyCaddie Breeze Golf GPS
Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, January 21st, 2013
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf Equipment • Golf Gear • Reviews
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf Equipment • Golf Gear • Reviews
SkyCaddie has a new, simple, inexpensive golf GPS out now called the “Breeze.”
Is it a breeze to use? Let’s dive into this golf GPS review and find out.
Features
- Out of the box the breeze is loaded with about 30,000 courses
- Courses are auto-detected. Get to the course, turn the unit on and it automatically knows what course you’re playing
- GPS yardages to front, middle and back of the greens provided instantly, updating every second
- Measure shots on the course to track club distances
- Digital scorecard tracks scores and stats
- Sharp color TFT-LCD display is easy to read, even in direct sunlight
- Upgradeable feature set
On The Course
I’ve reviewed and tested many golf GPS units. My home course is new, at least to the GPS community. It is about 10-12 years old and for some reason doesn’t “come up” on many units. I have to download the course first. This is not the case with the Breeze. As advertised, I turned the unit on and my home course came right up.
The yardages the Breeze delivers are SOLID. Some GPS units can be quite off. I’ll shoot a yardage with my laser for comparison and sometimes other GPS units are off by 5, 10 and even more yards. Not the case with the Breeze. Yardages are right.
Using the digital scorecard is a new concept for me. I’d forget to punch in scores, but once I got the hang of it the feature was nice. Nothing beats a golf pencil with no eraser and a paper scorecard though.
I really like the shot tracking functionality. You can mark where you hit your shots to/from and the unit will give you the yardages. Want to REALLY know how far your 7-iron goes? You’ll find out. The biggest problem for me was remembering to do it. I’d get a yardage, hit the shot, then halfway to the green I’d realize I forgot to mark the shot.
To truly benefit from the scorecard and shot measuring features, one needs to get the hang of doing those during the routine of the shot process.
Battery life on the unit is great. No issues with unit running out of juice in the middle of a round.
Upgradeable
My test unit from SkyCaddie does not include the upgradeable feature set. I’d love to get that functionality running and do a follow-up review. I’ll cover the additional available features here, but don’t have any on-course comments about them.
Feature pack 1 includes “IntelliGreen Pro.” This feature set gives the user reads on distances and major contours of the greens as well as false fronts.
Feature pack 2 has an “interactive hole view” which gives overviews of the hole. These zoomable features allow you to read the hole from above to read hazards, hole shapes and course routing. Quick view, part of this same feature pack, is an overview picture of the hole.
Dynamic RangeVue is part of Feature pack 3. Multiple arcs overlay across the fairway landing areas and greens to show the best club for all shot lines. PinPoint is also part of this pack. With PinPoint the user puts a mark on the green for pin placements to get better and more accurate yardages.
Critiques
I always include critiques in my reviews, even if they’re minor. I have two for this unit:
My first critique is the membership fee. Many GPS units out there do not charge a membership fee. For you penny pinchers out there, the unit may be less expensive at first but be sure to build in the cost of membership plans in factoring in the overall cost of the unit.
My second critique is with the dual navigation button. This button is a mini joystick style button used to navigate the screen and perform other functions. It is meant to give the user “one hand” style operation but I find it to be much less easy to use than a simple set of arrow keys would be.
Accessories
The unit charges with an included wall charger or via the computer’s USB cable. A clip system allows the Breeze to mount to the player’s belt, golf bag etc.
Conclusion
The Breeze is an entry-level golf GPS at a $229.95 retail price point. The features are basic but the most important a golfer needs from a GPS. The performance and features included out of the box are very solid and accurate. A high caliber player can depend on the numbers. The upgradeability of the unit is nice if one wants to get started with the basic features and add more features a la carte later.
The Breeze is like having a sprinkler head in your pocket, without getting wet pants.
Review: Royal & Awesome’s Pink Ticket Flat Cap
Written by: Tony Korologos | Sunday, January 20th, 2013
Categories: Golf Apparel • Golf Gear • Reviews
Categories: Golf Apparel • Golf Gear • Reviews
Fun but short review today. I’m not going to do a 3,000 word review on a golf hat though the comments (mostly positive) I’ve gotten about the hat on the course have exceeded 3000 words. This is the pink old school flat cap, Scottish style, from Royal and Awesome.
Features
The hat is 97% cotton and 3% spandex. Whatever the reason for those percentages is fine with me.
Speaking of fit, there are adjustable buttons on each side which allow for adjustment and a one-size-fits-all gig.
Style/Comfort
I love flat caps. I feel like Old Tom Morris when I wear one. They’re different feeling than standard golf caps. More comfortable usually. The Pink Ticket is most definitely comfortable. The fit is perfect with both of the adjustment buttons on the loose setting. If the wind kicks up (or my head shrinks for some reason) I can tighten the hat up to keep it secure.
Conclusion – I want to be Mr. Pink
Pink is the new black. I love wearing this cap for the comfort and the unique style.
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