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

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, December 26th, 2017
Categories: Golf • Golf Accessories • Golf For Women • Golf Gear • Product of the Year
Tags: Bushnell Golf • Golf Laser Range Finder

It’s the end of the year and time to look back at some awesome golf products and golf courses I’ve covered, and award the cream of the crop with the Hooked on Golf Blog Product of the Year. To qualify for this award the product has to have been reviewed here at Hooked on Golf Blog during the calendar 2017.

For the first Hooked on Golf Blog Product of the Year award of 2017 I’m starting with the golf accessory category. This award goes to the golf accessory I found to be the best, most important, and most go-to new accessory to my golf gamer bag of 2017. The envelope please…

Bushnell Pro X2 Laser Rangefinder

Hands down the most crucial and by far the most used accessory in my bag is my laser rangefinder. Boy is my gamer a good one, the Bushnell Golf Pro X2. The Bushnell Pro X2 uses “pinseeker” technology to nail the pin very quickly and give me solid yardages instantly.

Bushnell Golf Pro X2 Laser Rangefinder

This unit is fast, small, easy to use, accurate, well built, and dependable.

Features include rock solid yardages in yards or meters, vibration when locked onto the pin, bright red LED readout or standard black, slope (enable or disable easily for legal play), and a great carrying case.

Check out my Bushnell Pro X2 review for more details.

Congratulations

I get a LOT of golf accessories submitted here for review from golf GPS’s to lasers to training devices, apps, and countless other gadgets. The X2 stood out above the rest and deserves the great honor of winning a HOG Accessory Product of the Year.

Hit Your Local Course for Last Minute Christmas Golf Gifts

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, December 22nd, 2017
Categories: Golf For Women • Miscellaneous
Tags: Christmas Golf Gift • Golf Gifts • Holiday Golf Gift

You’re in trouble, so you think. You’ve waited far too long to get that golf gift for the golfer on your Christmas list. Now it’s too late to order anything from Amazon.

Fear not. There’s probably a local golf course somewhere near you or even better, the home course of your gift recipient.

Last Minute Golf Christmas Gifts

Gift Card

If you know your golfer’s home course, a great gift is simply a gift card to the course. Then your recipient can choose exactly what he/she wants. Some courses separate pro shop apparel and equipment from golf green fees, so make sure you get them the card for whichever one you prefer.

Range Pass

Some courses also offer range passes or punch passes for buckets. A gift of game improvement is a great idea.

Lesson(s)

Speaking of game improvement, consider buying a lesson from a PGA Pro at your local course as a Christmas golf gift. The course can likely work that into a gift card of some kind or gift certificate.

Balls

If you’d like to be a little more personal take a sneaky peek at your golfer’s golf bag if you can. See what kind of golf balls they have in the pocket. There’s probably a hodge podge of balls, but look closely and try to figure out his/her preferred brand and model, or perhaps you already know it. Your local golf shop should have them.

Accessories

Some other ideas for golf gifts you’ll easily find at any local golf shop include golf towels, umbrellas, head covers,

Apparel

Golfers can never have too many golf shirts, shorts, hats, outerwear or golf socks. Most local golf course pro shops have great selections. Many regional shops have team logo items for your favorite college or pro team.

Course Review: Punta Espada Golf Club, Dominican Republic

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, December 12th, 2017
Categories: Course Reviews • Golf Courses • Golf For Women • Golf Lifestyle • HOG World Tour • Reviews • Travel
Tags: Dominican Golf • Dominican Republic • Dominican Republic Golf • Luxury • Luxury Travel • Punta Espada Golf Club • Travel Blog • Travel Influencer

I’ve sat here for about 10 minutes staring at my blank screen. Nope this review isn’t going to write itself. I’ve been a bit stumped because I know it’s going to be hard to express how fantastic a time I had at Punta Espada Golf Club, and just how amazing the course is. I’ll give it a shot.

Punta Espada Golf Club Overview

Punta Espada is a Jack Nicklaus signature design golf course located on the east coast of Dominican Republic. The course is oceanside and features hole after hole of fantastic views of the Caribbean. We’re not just talking a hole or two. Most of the course is on the water.

The course plays to a par value of 72 (36 front, 36 back) with a slope of 137 and rating of 77.0. In other words, the course is difficult, but not extreme. There are five sets of tees. The longest tee (Black) plays to a total of 7,396 yards.

Tee

The best club to pull off of most of the tees at Punta Espada may be your camera. Every tee my camera was my first instinct before picking a club! I walked to every tee with a camera and a club or two. Every one.

Playability wise the tee shots at Punta Espada are fun and challenging. The fairways are wide enough to accept moderately accurate drives. Players who want to play away from trouble, like the Caribbean, can be smart and save themselves from potential danger, a.k.a. big numbers. There are some definite proper places in the fairway to place the tee shot for the best approach angle to the green. There are several situations where proper placement means a shot over land, not an all-carry shot over water.

Case in point is the 2nd hole above, a par-5. The 2nd shot (if not going for it) can be placed to the far left of the fairway for the best approach. The green juts out to a sliver of land, with water on both sides, but mostly short right. That left placement puts land between the 2nd shot and the green, and saves strokes if the shot comes up short because it ends up on grass instead of wet.

Fairway

Once on the fairway, the lies and stances aren’t too bad. Not a ton of sloping, humps bumps, or craziness. The condition and health of the grass is so nice that there’s never a bad lie. The ball feels like it’s teed up just right.

Fairways missed can mean a wide variance of rough, bunkers, desert style waste areas, or the Caribbean. Shots from the rough are very manageable, provided there’s a clear shot at the target. Shots from the Caribbean? Not so much, unless your 15th club is a snorkel.

Green

The areas around the greens at Punta Espada allow the golfer to be creative. This is one point I’m very sticky on. I’m not keen on architects who force the golfer into one shot or way of getting the ball on the green. Personally I prefer a Scottish style low-game with the putter or low bump-and-run shots, but I’m not afraid to lay open a 60 and take a full swing either. At Punta Espada the golfer can choose either most of the time, unless there’s a carry of some sort over a bunker or hazard.

I found the putting surfaces at Punta Espada to be fantastic. See the photo below and look closely at the cut and quality of the green. There were some tricky reads where the grain went one way, and the slope went the other. How putts can break uphill is still hard to fathom for me, a bent grass no-grain-playing mountain golfer from northern Utah. It can happen, so that’s when relying on the caddie or some course knowledge comes in.

Photo by Greg Corbo

The sloping of the greens for the most part was not to crazy. Very manageable. That’s not to say there weren’t some places that had some insanity to them. The sloping of those areas of the greens was extreme enough to allow the golfer some creative ways of approaching lines. One could putt off the edge and bring it back down the slope, or take a straighter line and end up close to the same place. That was more the exception though.

Overall putting was enjoyable and controllable. I won’t say “fair” because I’ve decided to try to use some less, shall we say, “overused” descriptions in my course reviews.

Amenities

Punta Espada offers a full driving range, practice green, pro shop, locker room, library, snack bar, 19th Hole Bar, Restaurant, and Members Room.

Final Thoughts

I’ve played more Jack Nicklaus designs than I can remember. Many of them are easy to spot as they share architectural similarities, typical “Nicklaus” features or styles. Punta Espada has those, but the course does not scream “Jack” to me. The course is the least “Jack” of any of Jack’s designs I’ve played. This is neither good or bad, just an observation. What does scream out to me is that this golf course is as scenically pleasing as any I’ve played, yet provides a perfect balance in it’s challenge, playability, and its use of the terrain. Some courses look fantastic but sacrifice playability or playing qualities, while others may play great but don’t cut it aesthetically. Punta Cana is tops across the board.

There’s a reason Punta Cana is the new #1 course in the Caribbean and Latin America, it’s that good. I strongly suggest putting Punta Cana on your must play list, your bucket list, your golf buddy trip list, or your golf getaway list. I don’t even need a list. I just need to get back there and play it again, as soon as possible!

Nearby is a fantastic all-inclusive Caribbean resort, Secrets Cap Cana Resort and Spa. Check out my review.

La Cana Golf Club Review

Teeth of the Dog (Pete Dye) Course Review

Used Golf Balls From Two Guys With Balls

Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, December 6th, 2017
Categories: Golf Balls • Golf For Women • Golf Gear • Reviews
Tags: Two Guys With Balls

It’s a great day when you find that brand new Titleist ProV1 or other expensive “tour” ball in the bushes. Mint condition! #winning! Just made $5.00. It’s no big deal that some other golfer hit that ball before you. It’s got plenty of great shots left in it. So why not consider that when purchasing golf balls? There are options out there to allow you to get your golf balls, premium pro lines or others, for a fraction of the original retail price. One great example is “Two Guys With Balls.”

Two Guys With Balls is a seller of pre-owned golf balls. I’ve just picked up a couple dozen myself, and I’ll be damned if I can tell the difference between most of them and a brand new one.

Ordering

The ordering process is easy. Find your ball, choose the quality level, pay a very reasonable price, and the product shows up at your door a few days later.

The Two Guys With Balls website has a very friendly and easy to use interface. From the home page, pick your pellet. Once on the ball page you can select how many and what quality level you want. There are three quality levels in their grading scale: Eagle, Birdie, and Par. Eagles are the highest quality, like new. Birdie has some signs of use. Par has definite signs of use which may also affect the performance. The levels are priced accordingly.

I chose the Eagle grade for some Bridgestone B330’s. It doesn’t cost that much more to go first class (unless you’re flying, then it actually does cost a lot more). They’re sweet. They were only $23.99 per dozen, almost half the price of a new box. I’m thrilled with the quality.

Giving Back

One great aspect to giving Two Guys some business is that they’ll donate a portion of the profit from your purchase to the Arnie’s Army Charitable Foundation.” We believe that children and youth should be given the opportunity to develop the tools and values that will allow them to achieve success in life.” Amen Two Guys.

Conclusion

I dig what Two Guys With Balls is doing and wish them the best of luck in their golf venture. They have an easy to use shopping cart, excellent product quality, and I can get some feel-goods knowing a portion of the profit is going to a good cause. That’s two good causes: my golf game and Arnie’s Army Charitable Foundation! Well played. #winning

Course Review: Pete Dye’s Teeth of the Dog in the Dominican Republic

Written by: Tony Korologos | Sunday, December 3rd, 2017
Categories: Course Reviews • Golf • Golf Course Architecture • Golf Courses • Golf For Women • Golf Lifestyle • HOG World Tour • Reviews • Travel
Tags: Caribbean • Caribbean Golf • Casa de Campo • Luxury • Luxury Travel • Pete Dye • Travel Blog • Travel Influencer

I’m truly thankful for the opportunities my hard work on this blog has produced. Case in point today is a course review I’ve been hoping to be able to do for a long, long time. Teeth of the Dog is a Pete Dye design, considered by most to be his masterpiece. That means it beats out other amazing courses Pete Dye designed like TPC Sawgrass (home of THE PLAYERS Championship), Harbour Town Golf Links, Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort, Dye Course at French Lick Resort, Straits Course at Whistling Straits, and Southern Hills Plantation Course. Let’s take a look.

Teeth of the Dog Par-3 5th Hole

Location Location Location

A masterpiece has to start with a great canvas, and boy does this one. The canvas is the southeast shores of the Dominican Republic at the Casa de Campo Resort and Villas. What a place. Casa de Campo is a tropical paradise with tremendous weather, unmatched ocean views, and stunning topography.

Getting there is fairly easy. The Punta Cana International airport is a mere 45 minute drive away. Punta Cana International is a destination most major airlines service, only a few hour flight from the east coast of the USA.

Teeth of the Dog Overview

Ranked #43 in the world and #1 in the Caribbean many times, Teeth of the Dog is 18 salivating inducing holes of great golf, with seven holes right on the water like the par-3 fifth hole pictured above. The course rating from the tips is 76.4 with a slope of 137. That rating means the course is very tough. Thus the “teeth” part. The course features six sets of men’s tees and two sets of women’s tees. Total yardage from the tips is 7,471. I didn’t play the tips. With the high humidity and sea level, that 7,471 would probably play more like 8,500 for Mr. high altitude desert golfer.

Tee

Tee shot after tee shot I found myself humbled and amazed and the scenery and course architecture. Pete doesn’t use as much deception off the tee as I thought he would. It isn’t necessary. The golfer can choose to be aggressive or take the conservative route. Executing either strategy properly produces great rewards while poor execution of either strategy comes with the proper level of punishment.

The tee shots on the first few holes aren’t tremendously difficult unless one plays particularly poor shots. Upon reaching the 5th hole that changes. On the par-3 5th there’s no bail-out. Nowhere to miss. It’s either on the green or in the bunker surrounding it and anything worse is watery Caribbean grave.

Tee shots for the next three holes run by the water. Conservative players aim well away while those who want to take a bite off can give it a shot and hope they have enough power to carry their intended line. Holes 9-14 are inland holes the golfer can play more aggressively off the tee. 15-17 require very good tee shots to avoid ocean hazards, a good example is the par-3 16th below.

Teeth of the Dog Hole 16

Fairway

I found the fairways at TOD to be less sloped and narrow than I thought they would be. If one is able to find the fairway, a good lie is highly likely with very few shots blocked by trees.

Caddies wait in the fairway

The fairways are fairly wide. Missing a fairway will often mean finding the Dye-esque super-long waste bunkers, or the Caribbean.

Green

Here I am below, happy to be on the green!

Putter? I don’t need a putter!

Having played a few of the more “extreme” Pete Dye courses like the Dye Course at French Lick, I found the greens at Teeth of the Dog to be quite manageable. Putting them was enjoyable. Breaks were as they looked like they should be. Not too extreme.

I found the green complexes to be challenging and creative. Strategic bunkering was in play on most approaches to the greens.

Par-5 3rd Green Complex

Perhaps the best part of the the greens for me as that Pete Dye gives the golfer numerous options. The golfer could choose to hit a high shot with a lofted club, or like me, play a more Scottish approach with a putter or bump-and-run type shot.

Caddies

Golf is best experienced with a great caddie who can support your golf game, gives valuable course management advice, helps with green reading, and provides friendship. I had a great caddie named Soni Pache, who came highly recommended by a friend.

Soni and I are ready to take on Teeth of the Dog!

Soni was fantastic. He helped me keep in in play, gave me great reads on the greens, and clubbed me very well. WHEN you play Teeth of the Dog, get Soni on your bag and give him a real big tip.

Amenities

The amenities available at Teeth of the Dog and Casa de Campo are endless. The course boasts a great clubhouse, restaurant, locker room, practice facilities and more for the golfer. At about 90 degrees and 90% humidity, I was so thrilled to find showers in the locker room to clean up before going on with my day.

Once the golf is over, there are so many other fantastic ways to enjoy the Caribbean like spending time at the private Casa de Campo beach area (below), exploring the resort, boating, fishing, hiking, working out, shopping and more.

Casa de Campo Private Beach

Final Thoughts

Teeth of the Dog is a golf bucket list item without a doubt. Make it a point to get to the Dominican Republic and play this stellar golf course. I suggest turning it into a golf buddy trip or a golf getaway with the significant other. The Dominican boasts a ton of great golf courses other than Teeth of the Dog, many are Dye designs.

Related

Secrets Cap Cana Resort and Spa Review

Hooked on Golf Blog Teeth of the Dog Photo Gallery

La Cana Golf Club Review

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