Near Ace
Man was this close. Hole #6, 195 yards, 5-iron into a cold wind.
Ogio Shoester Golf Shoe Bag Review
Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, April 19th, 2007
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf Equipment • Reviews
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf Equipment • Reviews
I’ve dealt with dozens of great golf companies in my years as a golf blogger. Of all the great companies I’ve worked with the absolute coolest is Ogio. Ogio’s designers take every day products which haven’t changed in decades and turn them into amazingly hip, modern, useful, ergonomic and very reasonably priced pieces.
The Ogio Shoester
A golf shoe bag on steroids
We all have the basic golf shoe bag. You know the fabric ones with a draw string which may or may not have a divide down the middle of the bag? I’ve got three or four of them. They don’t really protect the shoe from impact or help keep the shoe’s shape. Those old school golf shoe bags just keep your shoes together and prevent them from getting dirty in the trunk of your car.
The Shoester is a golf shoe bag. Not much you can do with “technology” and design, right? Wrong! Once again Ogio took an every day item and transformed it.
No draw string
The first thing Ogio did was get rid of that damn draw string. Thank you very much. In it’s place you have a zipper which closes the top of the Shoester. Rather than a draw string, a reinforced neoprene handle is what you use to carry this industrial strength golf shoe bag.
Compartments made for shoes, not marbles
I always felt like my other shoe bags were more like marble bags. Just shove the shoes in any way they’d fit and draw the string. The spikes would catch on the sides of the fabric and make the shoes hard to get in sometimes. Getting the shoes out would be just as much of a pain, and the shoes would be bent into all sorts of funky shapes when they came out. One shoe bag I had was very irritating. It had a wimpy divider which hooked on my shoe spikes. Every time I’d put the shoes in, the spikes would snag on it and rip it more down the middle.
The Shoester has actual compartments specially designed for shoes. There’s no shoving, pushing, cramming the shoes in. The shoes easily lay down on their bottoms since the zippered opening is several times bigger than the average draw string bag. The footprint of the Shoester has the same profile as the shoes so there’s no smashing or bending of the shoes. A divider goes down the middle to keep the shoes organized and prevent them from scuffing each other up.
The compartment has a no slip PVC lining which is ventilated. The case would otherwise be fairly air tight and a total breeding ground for foot odor. Ogio recommends you put a dryer sheet in with your shoes: “Do us a favor though – toss in one of those dryer sheets so the stank doesn’t get all over this great bag.” Pretty smart…
Air ’em out
There’s a 2nd loop on the opposite end of the bag from the handle. With this loop you can open the bag and hang your shoe bag in the open position from your locker, a door knob or anywhere in order to air them out. The pic I have is of a door in my hotel room on a golf trip when I was airing out my shoes for the next day.
Colors and specs
The 14.5″ x 11″ x 5″ Shoester is available in four colors: Black (pictured), Fire (red), Indigo (blue) and Tweed (tan). The Shoester can hold shoes up to size 14.
Critic’s corner
Ogio’s warranty on it’s product line is for the lifetime of the product, unless you are a golfer. What? Ogio’s golf product line only carries a one year warranty. Isn’t that some form of discrimination or something?
Conclusion
If Ogio made toilet paper I’d stop using Charmin. If Ogio built cars I’d sell the BMW. If Ogio made coffee I’d stop going to Starbucks. If Ogio made condoms… well I think you get the point.
You can find Ogio products online at Edwin Watts Golf.
Check out the Hooked On Golf Blog Ogio Gallery for photos of dozens of Ogio products.
GRIP – Golf Research In Play 3H Hybrid Review
Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, April 18th, 2007
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Reviews
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Reviews
About G.R.I.P.
G.R.I.P. (Golf Research in Play) was founded in 2002 by my friend Rob Blumberg. Rob found a forgotten niche market in the golf club industry and is now designing, manufacturing and selling directly to that niche. G.R.I.P.’s theory is to build “innovative, well-constructed clubs that add to the enjoyment of the game, while not breaking the bank.”
G.R.I.P.’s current lineup includes a new 460cc driver, new fairway woods, new wide sole irons, putters, wedges and hybrid golf clubs.
GRIP Hypersteel 3H
Having played with a GRIP Hypersteel 4H for a while I was anxious to get my 3H in play. As I’ve gotten more used to the 3H (and 4H) I’m becoming more and more happy with leaving my three and four irons in the garage.
Technology
GRIP uses what they call “hyper steel” in their hybrids. Hyper steel is a heat-treated, cast steel which is stronger than the steel found in most golf clubs. Hyper steel makes that nice ping noise which gives you feedback on your shots.
The 3H is slightly offset to provide forgiveness and make it easier to hit for the average player. Personally I prefer a neutral club face so sometimes I have to be careful not to hook it or pull it since my normal shot is straight or a draw.
Movable Weights
There are two weights, a six-gram brass screw and a three-gram aluminum screw. The default configuration is draw enhancing, with the six gram in the heel and the three gram in the toe.
Given the offset of the club and my natural draw I decided to put the weights in my 3H in fade bias mode. This (at least in my head) counteracts the draw bias of the face and helps me hit a straight ball.
Get A Grip
Each GRIP hybrid comes with a very nice ultra-soft, all-weather polyurethane, two-piece grip. I can’t see a brand name on the grip but it’s similar to the soft offerings from Winn, like the V17.
Shaft
The shaft on the 3H is a uni-flex. In English I suppose that means one size fits all. You see this in wedge shafts too. The specially designed shaft has a mid/low kick point which helps launch the ball higher and more easily. There is low torque in the 3H shaft, providing minimal twisting of the club face at impact and thus helping you hit more accurate shots.
As I mentioned in my 4H review, there is no steel shaft option. But if you really want steel you could pick up a 3H and have it re-shafted. Even with the expense you’d still be ahead of the game on price versus other hybrids.
Head Cover
I do like to write a paragraph or two about the head cover of clubs if they have one. How irritating is it when you have a poorly designed head cover? How irritating is it when you can’t get the cover off or put it on? No problems with the GRIP 3H head cover. It’s fully functional, easy to put on and remove and perhaps best of all it doesn’t take up too much space in your bag.
On The Course
I guess I’m a bit behind the times but I’m now on the hybrid bandwagon. Maybe it was just the fact that I hadn’t found the right hybrid for my “unfolding lawn chair” swing.
The 3H is very easy to hit, goes very high and travels about as far as a solid 2-iron or 5 wood for me. That’s around 240-250 yards. I airmailed a 230 yard par three with the 3H last week!
I’ve wondered if “shot making” was possible with hybrids. Well last week I found out it is with my 3H. I had a 210 yard shot uphill with a large pine tree right in front of me. I had to put the ball way back in my stance and play a huge punch-fade. I needed the ball to stay about five feet off the ground and slice about 50 yards. Not only did I pull off the shot, I put the ball five feet behind the pin!
Conclusion
For $69.95, and as low as around $50 in quantity you can have a hybrid with movable weights and some great performance. For the price of one movable weight version from a big name company, you could buy a whole set of GRIP hybrids.
I recommend any GRIP hybrid or even a whole set for any golfer, low or high handicap.
GRIP Photo Gallery
I have a whole photo gallery dedicated to Golf Research In Play and many other companies in the HOG Photo Gallery’s equipment section.
GRIP’s Golf Space profile: http://www.thegolfspace.com/gogrip
The Golf Space Golf Social Networking :: One Year Birthday
Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, April 16th, 2007
Categories: Golf Media • Miscellaneous • Site News
Categories: Golf Media • Miscellaneous • Site News
A little over a year ago during Masters week, I opened my “other” site. That other site is The Golf Space at www.thegolfspace.com. The Golf Space is the original and (in my biased opinion) best “golf social networking” site. Social networking is similar to the community based sites like Myspace and Orkut. I like to say The Golf Space is golf’s version of myspace only without the strippers.
Since it’s opening, The Golf Space golf community has registered over 1700 members. Not bad for having no advertising budget. The Golf Space has had over 600,000 unique visitors, over 1000 golf gallery images posted, over 800 golf related articles posted, tracked hundreds of golf rounds and handicaps, and connected hundreds of golfers around the world.
Features:
1. Individual user profiles for personal, business or golf courses. Golf courses and business have special contextual profile fields.
2. User blogs.
3. User photo galleries.
4. Networking features like friends, profile comments, private messages, karma ratings and more.
5. Golf scores, handicaps and statistics.
6. Golf discussion forums.
7. Golf chat room.
8. User generated golf web links.
9. Latest golf news.
10. Individual URLS (www.thegolfspace.com/yourname)
11. Matchmaker: find your golf mate.
12. Golf articles relating to course reviews, product reviews, training, fitness and more.
13. Many more features in development.
Perhaps the best part of The Golf Space is that it is FREE. Free blogs, chat, golf stats and handicap etc… And the site has had NO advertising in the first year.
Golf Social Networking Sites Are Popping Up Like Acne On A 14 Year Old Girl
Lately golf social networking sites are popping up left and right. Many are all about the all mighty dollar and though they don’t even have 50 users they have ads. Many think they’re the next coming of Jack Nicklaus… I wish them luck, but The Golf Space has a big head start and a couple of things many of them don’t have: 1. A person running the with a passion for GOLF. 2. A great URL which is easy to remember: www.thegolfspace.com.
Screen Shots
Profile:
Golf Scores & Stats:
Post Office:
Blog in profile:
Nike claiming #1 “new driver brand”??? WTF?
Written by: Tony Korologos | Sunday, April 15th, 2007
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Golf Media
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Golf Media
Just watched a Nike Sumo driver ad on TV. They claim the “Number one new driver brand.” Just what exactly does that mean?
The fine print says it’s based on February’s on/off course unit sales for new 2007 drivers. So in English they only counted February sales of new drivers that were released in 2007? Wanna bet February 2007 is when those drivers were released to the public? Give me a break. And they forgot to mention “during a full moon, on a Tuesday, the year before a leap year… bla bla bla.”
This is typical of Nike, like last year when they paid a bunch of the old timers who play in The Masters to play Nike irons. That way they could claim #1 iron at The Masters.
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