Golf Blog by The Orlando Golf Blogger

Back in early 2010, during the PGA Merchandise Show, I had the opportunity to interview Sumi-G, or more specifically, Tony Korologos,  who started working for the company after meeting them at the 2009 PGA Merchandise show. He also writes hookedongolfblog and is one helluva guy.

Sumi-G is a golf accessory company, who’s flagship products are the hybrid, fairway and driver head covers. They’ve put a big emphasis on durability and ease of use.

Features:

• Unique mechanical closure
• Convenient one-handed operation
• Rigid exoskeleton protects both club and shaft
• Easy to pick up from ground with club
• Fits right-handed clubs only
• Fits 460cc drivers (not all square clubs)
• Patented

They’re available in black and white and now offer customers the ability to customize the head covers with embroidered logos. It broke my heart when I found out that these puppies are right-handed only, because, how awesome would it be to have the OGB logo stitched on a white driver head cover?

The MSRP on the head covers is $38.00

In addition to club head covers, Sumi-G also offers a variety of golf accessories, such as bags, hats, scorecard wallets, towel brushes, divot tools, money clips and new this year, belts.

Sumi-G Dormie Belt

In an effort to get the word out about the belts, they sent me one to try out and review, as well as the towel brush, divot tool and money clip.

I was sent the Dormie – Black belt, and no, they do not give you supernatural Kung-Fu skills, regrettably…

Cool features of the belt

• It’s ambidextrous, meaning, it can be used by both right-handed golfers and left-handed golfers (hah.. sorry, couldn’t resist).
• The belt is a two tone , black on the outside, red on the inside, not presently reversible.
• It’s a high quality belt, made out of good thick leather.
• On the buckle, there’s a removable ball marker that’s attached to the buckle by a magnet. This frees up having to fumble for it on your glove or digging through your pocket of tees, change and golf balls to find one. This ball marker is interchangeable with the ball marker on the Sumi-G divot tool.
• The belt comes with two additional ball markers.

The belt is awesome and eye catching, I noticed more than one pair of eyes glancing down to check out the buckle, at least, I think that’s what they were checking out..

There’s a few things I noticed, that one should be aware of. The thickness of the belt caused me problems when I wore it with slacks. It was too wide and I had to muscle the belt tip through the loop on the second pass.

The mirror finish on the buckle is beautiful, but it shows fingerprints and smudges. Lastly, and this is something they’re working on, the buckles/belts aren’t interchangeable, which will be a great feature.

The MSRP for the Dormy is $85.

Sumi-G Divot Tool

The Sumi-G divot tool will leave your ball marks quaking in their depressions. It’s not one of those flimsy plastic numbers, it’s made from sculpted forged stainless steel.

It’s innovative design has prongs that are curved and angled to make repairing divots simple and less harsh on your favorite putting surfaces.

It’s large enough to handle your best(or worst, however you want to view it) divots, but also small enough so it doesn’t leave puncture wounds in your thigh when carrying it in your pocket.

The divot tool is durable enough to last a lifetime, assuming of course, that it doesn’t get lost in that black hole you call a golf bag.

The MSRP of the divot tool is $24.99.

Sumi-G Towel Brush

The Sumi-G towel brush, is, as the name might imply, a brush that’s used to clean grass, dirt, sand, pieces of skull, etc.. out of the grooves in your golf clubs.

This brush uses a V-cleat nautical fastening design to fasten it to the towel on your golf bag. Being the incredibly intelligent blogger than I am, I’m using this in conjunction with the Spotless Swing Golf Towel, so I can get the majority of the gunk off my club face with the brush and use the inside of the towel for the finer turf that’s missed.

It’s made out of forged stainless steel. Being the good product reviewer that I am, I had to test just how strong the V-cleat was. My golf bag was strapped onto the golf cart and my golf towel was attached to the bag by one of those latched metal rings. I pulled so hard that it broke the metal ring and sent me tumbling onto my backside. It’s a good thing my playing partners were in the clubhouse at the time..

The bristles are hard plastic so you don’t have to worry about your towel getting tangled and shredded by coming in contact with the Sumi-G towel brush.

The MSRP of the towel brush is $26.00.

Boccieri Golf Announces ‘Wedge-A-Day Giveaway’ Promotion

Enter Online for Chance to Win Game-Enhancing Heavy Wedge

Boccieri Golf announces the “Wedge-a-Day Giveaway,” a 60-day promotion starting July 19 at boccierigolf.com through which the company will provide a game-enhancing Heavy Wedge daily to randomly selected winners.

One grand prize winner of the Boccieri Golf Wedge-A-Day Giveaway will also receive a custom-built, C2-DF Limited Edition Heavy Putter.

Open to residents of the continental U.S., the Wedge-A-Day Giveaway includes all shipping costs, with complete details available on the contest entry page.

“We’re so confident the Boccieri Heavy Wedge will immediately help any golfer’s short game that we’re letting dozens of consumers nationwide play it for free,” says Stephen Boccieri, President and CEO of Boccieri Golf. “Our unique, counter-weighting technology is the key to enhanced swing control and reliability which have a remarkable impact on scores.”

Introduced earlier this year, the Heavy Wedge is a traditionally designed blade with a head mass only slightly heavier than a conventional wedge. It is available in a variety of lofts including 52 (8 degree bounce), 56 (11 degree bounce) and 60 (4 and 7 degrees of bounce).

The added weight in the Boccieri Heavy Wedge (65 grams) is positioned in the butt of the shaft, raising the club’s balance point by nearly 40 percent. This promotes distance control, an improved swing path, tighter shot dispersion, acceleration through impact, smoother tempo and unparalleled feel.

The “Wedge-A-Day” giveaway coincides with the recent launch of Boccieri Golf’s new website and multi-faceted “Control Freak” marketing campaign. The site includes videos of players explaining how their scores significantly improved when using Boccieri Golf products. In addition to these testimonials, Boccieri – inventor of the Heavy Putter and Heavy Wedge – is shown discussing the advanced design principals behind his line’s superior on-course performance.

How the Wedge-A-Day Giveaway works..

* Giveaway runs from 07/19/2010  – 09/16/2010
* One entry per day (meaning you have to visit the site every day to register)
* One winner per day
* Winner of the day will be drawn at 12AM PST (midnight) the following day and will be notified through email
* Winners are not eligible to enter or win a second time
* Entrants are automatically eligible to win the Grand Prize, a Limited Edition Heavy Putter valued at $400
* The Grand Prize winner will be drawn at the end of the giveaway and will be notified through email
* Open only to US residents in the continental 48 states

Book your next Discount Orlando Tee Times through our new online tee times booking engine.

Just in time for the summer heat, adidas releases it’s new line of FORMOTION ClimaCool golf shirts with CoolMax® Energy Fabric.

New FORMOTION ClimaCool performance fabric works with the body to maximize performance
and help golfers play every hole as strong as their first.

Adidas Golf, one of the leading global apparel brands in golf, has elevated the performance of its highly-successful ClimaCool line with the addition of CoolMax Energy fabric, a new concept in technology aimed at balancing a golfer’s body temperature and increasing comfort.

The new FORMOTION ClimaCool golf shirts made their debut on the PGA tour at Augusta.

These next-generation golf shirts with CoolMax Energy fabric utilizes scientifically-designed microfibers to improve airflow to the skin, resulting in extra cooling and ultimately more energy to play at peak performance long into a round. Highly-synthetic construction pulls sweat away from the body and increases micro-ventilation through strategically-placed mesh patterns under the arms and on the back.

“ClimaCool with CoolMax Energy does everything a traditional ClimaCool shirt does, plus a whole lot more,” says Patricia Dahan, Senior Director of Global apparel. We first took a look at our tour pros, who are wearing their shirts for sometimes 12 hours a day, and wanted to create a polo that performed throughout the entire round.

CoolMax Energy fabric has been specially-formulated to work with the body to be more efficient, and is one of the fastest drying garment fabrications available. From the stretch properties in the fit for optimal swing freedom, to special seam technology that minimizes irritation, to its cooling properties, this shirt has everything to maximize performance.”

Available in both Men’s and Women’s styles, FORMOTION ClimaCool with CoolMax Energy fabric is available at retailers now, in two body cuts: “R” for relaxed, which has a slightly-oversized fit throughout including sleeves and shoulders; and “L” for leaner, a form-fitting, sleek fit. All are moisture-wicking and come equipped with a UPF protection of 15+.

I was sent one of the FORMOTION ClimaCool golf shirts to try out and review. Being the studly golfer that i am, I asked for the leaner, form-fitting shirt. It fit really well in the shoulders and the sleeves were the perfect length. There’s nothing that irritates me more in a shirt than if the sleeves are too long or too short. If they’re too long, I find that it can sometimes catch your elbow during a golf swing and if they’re too short, I find that they ride up my arm and bunch up in the pits.

The leaner fit design performs as expected and if you’re at all self-conscious about your midsection and slightly expanded girth, you probably want to avoid this cut. Because of the shirts lighter, thinner material and the leaner cut, it shows every imperfection ones body might be suffering. Conversely, if you’re packing a washboard under your shirt, it’ll display it proudly for all the world to see! I, unfortunately, am not…

The leaner fit is also a good cut if you’re looking for a golf shirt that you can pull off both tucked in and un-tucked.

I’ve logged five rounds with the adidas FORMOTION ClimaCool golf shirt and I believe it lives up to it’s claim of being breathable and moisture-wicking. The shirt does a good job of regulating body temperature, but it hasn’t been my experience that it helps you maintain peak performance throughout the entire round.

I played a round wearing the shirt on an especially hot Florida day and by the end of the round, even with the CoolMax technology I was utterly exausted and to make matters worse… I lost the round.

The shirt is well constructed and stylish and I was especially impressed with the shirt seams, they’re well constructed and able to withstand even the most overzealous fan tugging on your shirt.

Like I mentioned previously, overall, the shirt is great, but there’s one thing that disappointed me about the shirt. After two washes the FORMOTION decal on the left sleeve started peeling off. It looks like a professional version of those iron-on screens that you find ever present at family reunions.

Now, the peeling off of the decal doesn’t diminish the structural integrity of the shirt, I’m just a bit dismayed that a shirt with an MSRP ranging between $60 – $80 would have such a flaw.

Perhaps I just received a lemon…

Next time you’re in the local golf shop swing by the golf shirt section and take a look at the FORMOTION ClimaCool with CoolMax shirts, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Your thoughts?

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Pick a Pro and Win! Golfsmith & TaylorMade Driver Giveaway

Following on the heels of the 2010 Masters Win with Phil contest (still waiting for my driver), Golfsmith has partnered with TaylorMade to bring you the Pick a Pro and Win! TaylorMade Driver Giveaway.

To win a free TaylorMade Driver, pick the pro you think will win the 2010 U.S. Open. Your choices are Retief Goosen, Sergio Garcia or Sean O’Hair.

There are two ways to enter:

1. PURCHASE A PROMOTIONAL ITEM: Purchase any new TaylorMade R9 460, R9 460 TP, R9 SuperTri, R9 SuperTri TP, Burner SuperFast or Burner SuperFast TP driver (“Promotional Items”) at any retail location in the United States between May 27 and June 16 (the Pick a Pro and Win “Promotion Period”). Upon purchase you will be required to complete the official electronic entry form in store providing your name, address, phone, e-mail, receipt number with the qualifying promotional item on it and your TaylorMade staff pro selection. All ‘with purchase’ entry submissions must be completed and submitted by close of business June 16, 2010 through a Golfsmith retail store kiosk.
2. PARTICIPATE BY FILLING OUT THE PICK A PRO AND WIN NO PURCHASE ELECTRONIC ENTRY FORM AT A GOLFSMITH RETAIL LOCATION: To participate without making a purchase, visit any retail location and complete the Official No Purchase Electronic Entry Form by using the in-store kiosk. All non-purchase entry submissions must be completed and submitted by close of business June 16, 2010 (the ‘No Purchase Entry Period’) through a retail store kiosk.

Sweepstakes begins on May 27, 2010 and ends on June 16, 2010 or whenever 10,000 submissions have been reached, whichever comes first.

Don’t know about you guys, but I’ve got my eyes trained on the TaylorMade Burner SuperFast Driver.

What are your thoughts on the contest? Do you think any of the TaylorMade contenders have a shot?