First Look: Aris Golf Hero and Captain Golf Balls

Written by: Tony Korologos | Saturday, June 2nd, 2018
Categories: Golf Balls • Golf Equipment • Golf Gear
Tags: Aris Golf

Independent direct-sale golf ball companies are gaining a lot of traction lately. Aris Golf is a new player in the market, and interestingly located about a 20 minute drive from HOG World Headquarters. They make several models of golf balls. I’ll be testing out the “Captain” and “Hero” models soon.

Captain – $24/dozen

The Captain ball is a 3-piece ball with a urethane cover and a 332 dimple pattern. Urethane is the “magic” material found in most “tour” balls which makes the cover soft and gives the ball a lot of spin and control around the greens.

Hero – $28/dozen

The Hero ball is a 4-piece ball with a urethane cover. The Hero ball features a 332 dimple pattern as well.

The Hero and Captain are added to the summer golf ball review queue. I’ll be testing them for a few weeks, then posting my review soon.

Initial impressions are that these balls will likely compete with name-brand golf balls which cost 2x as much or more. Father’s Day is coming up, so consider some Aris balls for dad.

First Look: Bushnell Phantom GPS Rangefinder

Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, May 30th, 2018
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf For Women • Golf Gear
Tags: Bushnell Golf • Golf GPS • GPS

I’m now testing out the new Bushnell Phantom GPS Rangefinder for my full review here at Hooked on Golf Blog. I reviewed its predecessor, the Bushnell NEO a couple of years ago.

My first round of testing the Phantom was today, with great results already. I just have to get used to the very powerful magnet on the device. More on that later. Here are a few teaser shots of the Phantom, in action and in retail packaging.

Phantom showing yardages to center, front, back.

Below is the retail packaging.

And here’s the course list which pops up when you power the unit up and hit the play golf button. My course was automatically selected.

Below shows a little accuracy test. Within two yards either way works for me.

I’ll be posting my review after I have a a fair amount of rounds in the books, but so far I’m digging the Bushnell Phantom GPS. I can already tell this would make a great golf Father’s Day gift.

2017 Golf Accessory Product of the Year – Bushnell Pro X2 Laser Rangefinder

Bushnell Golf Pro X2 Laser Rangefinder Review

Top Five Phoenix/Scottsdale Golf Buddy Trip Destinations

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, May 28th, 2018
Categories: Golf • Golf Course Architecture • Golf Courses • Golf For Women • Golf Lifestyle
Tags: Arizona Golf • Phil Mickelson

I’ve had some requests for advise for the best courses to pick in the Phoenix/Scottsdale Arizona area for a golf buddy trip. I thought this would be a fun topic, and I plan on doing a few others too, like Nevada, Michigan, Oregon, Utah and so on. For now here are the Hooked on Golf Blog Phoenix/Scottsdale Golf Buddy trip recommendations below. Arizona is a great golf destination with great weather nearly all year round. If you can handle the very high summer temperatures, golf can be very inexpensive.

Troon North

Troon North features two courses, the Monument course by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish, and the Pinnacle Course by Tom Weiskopf. The Monument is rated the #1 public golf course in Arizona. Both courses epitomize Arizona/desert target golf. The Pinnacle course is rated the 3rd best course in Arizona.

Here’s a shot below of the Pinnacle course from the last time the HOG World Tour visited:

Troon North Pinnacle Course – Click for more images

Grayhawk

Grayhawk also boasts 36 holes of fantastic Arizona desert golf in the Talon and Raptor courses. The Raptor course was designed by famed golf architect Tom Fazio and features large fairways and highly undulating greens. The errant approaches at the Raptor are often met by deep bunkering. The Talon Course was designed by David Graham and Gary Pranks. The Talon is ranked as one of the “Top 100 in You Can Play U.S.” Tee shots are very challenging at the Talon, especially in the back nine which features many holes in box canyons.

Grayhawk Talon Course

Grayhawk is also known as Phil Mickelson’s home course in Arizona.

We-Ko-Pa Golf Club

We-Ko-Pa Golf Club offers 36 holes of highly popular and challenging Arizona golf in the Cholla and Saguaro courses. We-Ko-Pa is located on Indian land and the natural terrain is the foreground to views of the area’s mountains in the distance. No homes on the courses.

Cholla is designed by Scott Miller and provides a tough test with narrow fairways and thick desert to eat up errant shots. The Saguaro is the newest course, designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. “Crenshaw and Coore” are two of the top modern golf architects whose style tremendously routes their courses through natural, rugged styling.

Boulders Golf Resort

The Boulders Golf Resort offers fantastic golf and resort accommodations, renowned as one of the best in the U.S.A. Boulders features 36 holes of golf, the North Course and South Course.

The North Course was designed by Jay Morish and features dramatic panoramas as it winds through huge boulder formations. The South Course, also Jay Morrish, is slightly more challenging than the North. The South requires more accuracy off the tee and better course management.

Quintero Golf Club

Quintero is a par-72 Rees Jones design roughly a 45 minute drive from Scottsdale. Rees Jones is the son of one of golf’s all-time greatest golf architects, Robert Trent Jones.

Quintero 9th Hole

Quintero is a mountainside course featuring challenging and scenic elevation changes. The fairways are generous but strategic bunker placement puts a premium on accuracy.

Final Thoughts

Golf in Phoenix/Arizona is some of the funnest, most challenging, and certainly most scenic golf in the U.S.A. Desert target golf is extremely fun. Check here for great Arizona Golf Packages.

Zero Friction Supertubes and Spectra Golf Ball 4-pack

Written by: Tony Korologos | Saturday, May 26th, 2018
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf Balls • Golf For Women • Golf Gear
Tags: Father's Day • Father's Day Golf Gift • Golf Gifts • Holiday Golf Gift • Zero Friction

Did you know Zero Friction makes golf products other than their Zero Friction golf tees?

Below is one of the Zero Friction Supertubes. This is a very cool package with three golf balls, a hand full of matching Zero Friction tees, and a glove.

Another golf ball offering from Zero Friction is the Spectra golf ball. It is a two-piece distance ball which comes in six cool colors. They make a 4-pack which also includes a ZFTMAXX tee. Below is the matte white version, which has a very interesting look.

These fun golf packs make some interesting golf gift ideas for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, birthdays, Christmas and so on.

First Look: Cobra Golf King F8 Driver

Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Golf Gear
Tags: Cobra Golf

In for review is the new Cobra Golf King F8 driver. I’ve been watching all the great press this driver has been receiving, perhaps more than any other driver in 2018. Here are a few teaser pics.

The F8 is features an adjustable hosel for loft and face angle, as well as moveable weights for manipulating the center of gravity to promote draw, neutral, high trajectories. See below, where mine is set for 10.5 degrees of loft.

The F8 also includes Cobra Connect by Arccos, a shot tracking system. Below you can see the sensor in the end of the grip.

But perhaps the most talked about feature in the F8 is the milled face. See below.

Image tweaked to accentuate the face milling…

I’m excited to begin testing the King F8 this week. I will post my full review mostly likely toward the end of June, 2018. I won’t post any review before its time.

Stay tuned.

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