On December 5th, 2004 I wrote my first golf blog post. Little did I know that I’d still be at it 14+ years later. I had no idea how many great friends and associates I would make in the industry, how many of the world’s greatest golf courses I would play, how many of the worlds best golf destinations I would visit, and how many great pieces of golf gear I’d review.
Mazagan Golf Club, Morocco
Lucky? Nope.
People say I’m “lucky” to have these great experiences and opportunities. I disagree. Luck has nothing to do with it. It’s all about hard work and dedication.
There have been hundreds of golf blogs over the last 14 years which have come and gone. People think running a quality blog is easy. It isn’t. I work hard to produce original, quality, honest content. I take pride in capturing my own pictures for 99.9% of my features, whether it is a fantastic golf resort in the Bahamas or a bag of golf tees. I spend a lot of time testing equipment. Weeks. Months even. I don’t do the “three swings on the practice range” type of reviews.
Perhaps that’s why HOG is trusted by its patrons.
Without a doubt the best part of my 14 years of golf blogging, is the tremendous friendships I’ve made. From tour pros, course pros, equipment makers, PR people, fellow bloggers, to caddies on the Old Course in St. Andrews, I’ve got special friends all over the world I would have never met had I not started this humble blog back in 2004.
My pal Boynie (left) and myself at the Home of Golf, the Old Course in St. Andrews
The Future
I’m anxious to see what the future holds for HOG. What new countries will I visit this year? What new world class golf course will I review? Who will I have the pleasure of getting to know next? What groundbreaking golf gear will I test out this year?
Thank YOU
To you, my patrons (not readers… you know, like the Masters), I greatly appreciate your loyalty and patronage.
Tis the season to give generously to the golfer on your Christmas, um, er…. “holiday” gift list. Hooked on Golf Blog has you covered. Below are a few great golf gift ideas which will run over $75 and let’s face it, not much in golf is less than $75, except the HOG golf gift ideas under $75.
In the list below I’ll post the item, a photo, and a quick comment on each. You can visit the full HOG feature by clicking on them.
The tune driver cranks! The sound quality is great too. And if you break your driver, the tune driver could be a substitute in a pinch. But please, for the love of golf, do NOT play Coldplay with this thing or I’ll wrap my driver around your head. While I’m at it, lay off the Kenny G too.
After about 12 years of playing the same wedges I finally have a new fun set I’m working with from Indi Golf. The StingRayTT wedges have full grooves all the way out to the toe, lots of mass in the upper outside part of the head, and make hitting out of the sand easier than ever.
The Bushnell Phantom GPS is so awesome and so compact that you need to make sure you don’t have it stolen, like I did. Talk about infuriating. Anyway the Phantom is a great GPS which has a super powerful magnet so you can attach it to the frame of a golf cart or other metallic surfaces. The numbers are super accurate.
Like getting granular with your golf stats? Track everything you can imagine, from fairways to greens to putts, while also getting GPS yardages. Did I mention this is all on a watch?
Ever wonder if the ball you fished out of the lake is good? Not sure what ball fits your swing speed? Live on a golf course and find lots of used balls? Test them out with ProCheck.
The latest stop on the HOG World Tour was TPC Danzante Bay, about 40 minutes from the town of Loreto, Mexico. Loreto is on the east coast of the Baja Peninsula, looking over the Gulf of California.
Looking down at Villa del Palmar Resort from near the 18th tee of TPC Danzante Bay
TPC Danzante Bay is a Rees Jones design which takes advantage of the local mountains to produce dramatic views, challenging carries, and elevation changes.
The course is part of the Villa del Palmar resort, which offers other great vacationing activities like great beaches, snorkeling, boating, hiking and more.
Fredrik Lindenblom tees off on the par-3 13th hole
Stay tuned for my full review of TPC Danzante Bay, and my review of the Villa del Palmar resort soon.
It’s that time of year again. Time for the annual Hooked on Golf Blog Christmas gift guides, “holiday” gift guides for you politically correct types. Today’s focus is affordable golf gifts. In my guides I feature products I’ve reviewed in the previous year, and provide links to the full review. Let’s get this one started!
Wallarroo hats makes some very stylish, comfortable hats which also provide great protection from the sun. I use the Shelton hat regularly when golfing, camping, hiking, or working in the yard. Okay, I admit it. I don’t work in the yard.
Monthly subscription gift boxes are hot in the golf world right now. Mullybox puts together a great package with lots of very cool and useful golf accessories.
Vegas Golf is a fun game with chips that are awarded for good and bad plays in your golf group. Add ’em up at the end of the round and collect your bets!
Srixon has been advertising a special rate of $29 for their Z-Star golf balls. The Z-Star is fantastic and every bit as good as any other tour ball out there like the ProV1, ChromeSoft etc.
Editor’s Note: This is a thrill for me. I’ve managed to get my 81 year old dad to write his first real blog post, an in-depth review of the Cobra Golf F-Max Complete Set! The complete set includes irons, hybrids, woods, a driver, a sand wedge, a putter, and a full-feature cart bag. The F-Max series is designed for golfers with slower swing speeds ike seniors or lady golfers.
Pops was a sports writer and editor at the Salt Lake Tribune for years and I’m thrilled to to have gotten his hands on this great gear from Cobra. I’m pleased that the F-Max Complete Set has added some spark to his golf game, which has been a struggle in recent years.
Cobra Golf F-Max Complete Golf Set Review By Mike Korologos Salt Lake City
After admiring in awe the beauty of my first complete set of golf gear since I can’t remember when, I took a few practice swings with Cobra’s sparkling F-MAX 7-iron to get the feel for its weight and flex. My initial ball contact found it sailing about as straight and as long as any I’d hit a 7-iron in a long, long time.
“I didn’t feel a thing,” I marveled in joy to son, Tony, who was at the next hitting bay on the driving range at Salt Lake City’s Hidden Valley Country Club.
“That’s a good sign,” he offered.
After a few more similar results with the other irons and the bulbous driver, I knew that I was about regenerate my enthusiasm for the game after seeing it dwindle all season-long due to the obvious decline in distance I have been experiencing in recent seasons.
Cobra F-Max Superlight Driver
After admiring the almost straight-back tee “skid marks” on the soles of the woods, I realized even though I’m not a swing analyst, that these clubs’ lighter weight, flexible graphite shafts, and offset face were helping me make straight-away contact with the ball.
With all that techno-wizardry affording me a faster swing speed through the ball, guess what … the ball has a higher trajectory and lots more forward roll once on the ground, not the roll-limiting spin as was the case with fades and pushed shots.
Thus, more distance with the same swing. Hurray!
But before I let my enthusiasm sound like Cobra’s F-MAX clubs are the Fountain of Youth or the panacea for old golfers (OK, senior golfers), it becomes obvious rather quickly that they are not magic wands.
They will not help me hit the ball as far as the young-guns or like I did as a single-digit handicapper in days of yore.
I still have to put a decent swing to them.
That stark reminder came to mind in a nanosecond as I applied my anxious-to-hit-the-ball-hard swing. The result: A worm-burning, topped dribble a few yards down the fairway. Your miss-hits are still miss-hits, even with F-MAX woods that have extra heel weighting to facilitate more loft.
F-Max Combo Set
With each F-MAX club I swing, I keep reminding myself “even with these beauties, you still have to give it a long, smooth backswing, and stay down, through the ball. Then turn your belt buckle to the target on the follow through.”
In my case, I’m delighted with the accuracy these clubs bring me – more fairways, more greens. As for added distance, I was hoping for a lot more, but it is noticeably better than it has been of late, especially on with the 8, 9 and PW clubs.
I’ve found that in my address I look down at the club adjacent to the ball and that visual image conveys a sense of confidence in me: “These clubs are going to help me make good contact — so go for it.”
That thought process usually works! (Notice the word usually.)
The lightweight F-MAX bag (photo below) that handily houses the clubs in individual slots, is as attractive as its contents. Its numerous, easily-accessible pockets have large, silent, easy-flow zippers on the pockets, including one that is insulated to accommodate cool or warm drinks.
An over-sized slot on the front of the bag makes access and housing of the putter a no-effort task and its two large handles on the collar make for easy of handling on and off the cart or in and out of the auto trunk.
Cobra’s blade putter, for me, will take some adjusting as I’ve used a heavier mallet putter for years. The lighter-weight Cobra requires me to strike the ball firmer, a task I find causes me to pull putts.
My biggest frustration with the Cobra gear? The head covers.
Made of attractive black vinyl, they fit so tightly over the clubs that they are nearly impossible to pull off and put them back on. Putting them on, I discovered if I turn the sleeve sideways and slip it over the club head and then firmly pull down on the cover it will eventually slide into place.
Bottom Line
A big shout-out is due Cobra Golf for providing an entire club system for those of us in our golden years who love the game but whose swing skills are more tarnished brass than golden.
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