Ben

I've got a sizebale collection of Hogan iron sets that have been locked away collecting dust. Are there any Hogan junkies possibly interested? My initial goal was to acquire every set the Hogan company produced. I got pretty dang close. I do have a few sets that I won't part with (the 1972 Apex irons in particular), but like those few gems, I'm willing to hear your offers. Of the sets I would considered parting with, all have matching serial numbers, most sets with the original grips too! Typical 3-E, a few sets with a bonus 2iron. Some, but not many sets without the E. For some reason the Hogan company didn't stamp serial numbers on the hozzles of the Equalizers?? I do have a few pre-Hogan Golf Company era irons, as well as some pretty nice persimmon woods sets buried away. Anyhow, if you are a collector looking for a particular set, or just starting out, shoot me a reply with what you're looking for and I'll check what I've got. Thanks ??

So, who's out there keeping their dream alive?

Wow! That's pretty cool!

[sarcasm] Wanna know the best part(s) from start/week one on tour? Friday: Woke up with a sore throat, missed the cut, found out we can't change our 4/1 departure because all flights back to LA are full. Saturday: sore throat turns into full-on Death Cold. Sunday: have to change hotels to something cheaper/closer to the airport, cold just as bad. Although I did manage to get myself out of bed to take in a little bit of Jakarta an do a little souvenir shopping. Monday: check out in 1pm, flight is 10pm. Cold is a little better. What's ahead besides that time in the Soekarno Hatta Intl Airport? 7 hours to Seoul/Incheon Aiport, 7 hour layover, 10.5 hours to LA. And here I am, 8am on 4/1 In the KAL Prestige Lounge at Incheon INTL. The cold has turned into a brutally dry/sore throat cough attack every 30minutes or so. Saving graces. I've racked up 68K miles traveling around with Sam over the last year so I've got Korean Air Morning Calm status which gets me in the lounge, so I've got food and "drink!" on call. Incheon is an AWESOME airport. There are cute girls everywhere. And I've got a Xanax in my pocket waiting for the 10hour part of this journey! 검배

Hahahah let me expand. "Real golf" meaning golf at the highest level. Vijay peaked in his early 40s. Kenny Perry got a second wind in his mid 40s and Tom Watson made it all the way to his 60s I got a taste of golf beyond that when I played in my boot after breaking an ankle. Playing for pars was a lot more fun then I ever thought it would be.

Prolly +4

I think I can answer that. I did get pretty good. At my peak I'd say I was playing to a +2.5. Which, is enough to play a tour, any tour, the problem is getting there. Sam literally had to win QSchool to get a full year of play on OneAsia. (66,69,66,74) Second and third place only got conditional status and maybe seven of the twelve available starts. The PGA Tour QSchool was so brutal because it was over four stages consisting of seventeen rounds. Slip up once and maybe you can recover. But slip up two rounds, and you're all but done. Now was you all may know PGA doesn't even offer a start straight to the big tour. QSchool gets you on the Web.com where you can fight it out for a season before maybe earning a spot to the big time. There is Monday Qulifying and trying to be that Cinderella story. It's very possible. But you've got to pick your spots. the SoCal spots are not the spot for a +2.5. There are so many people trying that route that there is pre-qualifying to get a spot into Monday qualifying. 100s of players playing for 4 spots. Sam shot 66 to get a Monday spot at Farmers. But didn't get passed that. Sam tells me a few weeks back in Texas 10 people got a spot and pre-qual took a score of over par to get to Monday. That's my type of spot. Back to the subject at hand. I honestly think a +2 could do it. So long as that player can keep a steady head. Sam's main coach is Pat Burke, who had spent some time on the PGA Tour. He says shoot -1 each nine holes of golf and you'll be able to have a solid career. Granted that won't win one many events. But think about that, -1 each nine is really all it takes. The main reason why it's me caddying for Sam and not a friend of mine caddying for me as we'll, is that I simply lost the fire. The mini-tours got bigger then what I could keep up with, which is great for the full-time players but I do have a job to keep and bills to pay, although they are quite minimal and I do work on a course to pay those bills. There is a dynamic at my club that doesn't allow me to take time off for my golf and also Sams golf. So I took the time to think which would be best and I chose Sam. Because he can and does treat this like a full time job, and I could see the future of his game and fully believe in his abilities. I am 38, only 38. I figure I've got 17 years of real golf ahead of me so who knows. Maybe my time is still yet to come.

Yeah thanks. He Took it really hard yesterday. But as Stephen Leaney said in out practice round, this is one event of what will hopefully be a 30 year career. The events are about a month apart on this tour. Next is a pretty big one. The Volvo China Open.

Well, that sucked... [Lack of] Anger management combined with frustration combined with uncontrollably sweaty/slippery grips sorta sums up the day. Thankfully we aren't DFL! All was not lost as he did card two pretty solid birdies, and, I managed to sneak a couple "no no, I'm just taking a picture of our golf bag" photos with Yang YE next to us on the range. Oh, and I got some nice color going. Don't ask about the sock line though...

Round 1 and first things first. This bag was like nothing on my back. Maybe it was the excitement of our first round, the mystery of the unknown propelling both of us along today. It certainly wasn't the BLISTERING heat! I was practically running the course. Our comeback finish maybe had something to do with it too. So, paired with Michael Long and Young Kim. Long being a vet in the twilight of a solid steady career of global golf. And Kim being just 22 like Sam and also happened to finish runner-up in this event last year. Long finished at Even. Ran hot and cold all day. And when approachable was more then willing to share stories with Sam. Kim came out blazing. I think he shot -4 on the front finishing at -3 on the day. Sam... We'll as the old baseball cliche goes, it's not how you start it's how you finish. And as Stepehn Leaney put it in the practice round. This is just one round of a career that can quite possibly last another 30 years. Don't sweat a round or two. That being said he finished at +2, 74. +4 after the front and as Sam likes to do, finished strong with a -2 back. We talked at dinner, along with his Dad who is also here with us. We didn't call it nervousness, not really choke, nor over-enthusiastic. He's played plenty of events, has pulled in a few wins and more then often has a solid showing. We're gonna go with, first real tournament and the start of his adult life's work. Sam put it into other words, and I apologize to any female members reading along, he was swinging like a bitch. Once he figured that out, he didn't really catch any breaks for a while. One other key, sweat. I'm lucky, my pals don't sweat at all and I play without a glove. Even today my hands were as dry as could be. My head was another story. Sam's arms on the other hand were drenched. Once we wised up and started wiping down after each shot. Things def made a turn for the better. Here's the breakdown, in pictures. I'd imagine some of you may want to see what our yardage book looks like. So I'll attach the pages that were the shining highlights. "D" with a check mark means driver tee shots hit the fairway. The numbers next to that are the yardages "F" for Front, "P" for Pin and "B" for Back. and maybe a club selection the check in that section meaning he hit the green. UAD is Up And Down. And the last number are his putts. I'll start with the back 9 since that's where we started... Maybe I'll write a little bigger tomorrow; Hole 12, D - 104y 56* - 1 putt Hole 4 , D - 211F/228P 4i - UAD - 1putt That's that. 7:30 tee time tomorrow. We're up and to the course at 5:30... bleh. Time for bed.

Yeah Fluff also Faldo's old caddy Fanny kind of set the unspoken standard of "if they can do it..." I'm very friendly with John Huhs past caddy Zeke. If I had to guess, Zeke is about 5'8" and about 220lbs. He hoofed it around Augusta National which is notoriously hilly. Another prime case of " if he can..." The thing is heavy, but only by a few more pounds. okay, maybe 10 pounds. I've got two rounds under my belt and it's already getting more tollerable. I suppose I could suggest a carry bag for practice rounds, one problem, ain't no room for it in his travel bag. I guess I could sneak a Sunday bag through. Imma email my Callaway guy right now

Wednesday and Day 2 for practice rounds. In pictures. Got to play with Bio on the back 9.

Nah. I don't get to play at all. Don't really need to lug my clubs around the world. Hardest thing... This freakin staff bag! Wait no, this freaking bag plus 85* heat with 85+% of humidity.

So it's been a while. Lots of ups and downs with golf and personal life. My life as a playing professional has taken a backseat for now, and if you've been around here long enough you may remember reading about Sam Yi. I've been caddying for Sam for some time now. Some success with amateur stuff. The last few years moderate success on mini tours and numerous attempts at Monday qualifying as well as QSchools spanning the globe. Well, he finally hit, earning himself a spot on the OneAsia Tour for the 2014 season by winning their QSchool. And I type this out in out room at Hotel Santika in Indonesia. The site of our first event on a real circuit. The Indonesia PGA Championship cosanctioned with the Japan Golf Tour and OneAsia. Granted, this isn't the PGA Tour but wow, it's starting to sink in how tour life feels. Yesterday was the first practice round. Not much happening, a few workers buzzing around setting the place up, but overall pretty quite. We hit balls for a bit then head to the first tee on our own. A group tees off and as we wait up comes an Aussie and he asks to join. "Yeah of course, no problem". We get to playing and Sam being Sam he starts opening up and we come to find out this is Stephen Leaney. Long time tour vet. Played pretty much everywhere. By the end of the round he's dished out a great supply of info and advice. It's pretty much exactly what you'd imagine when you mix an absolute rookie with a vet open and willing to share his knowledge. We couldn't have asked for a better situation to day 1. Oh, forgot to mention, Bio Kim bought us lunch yesterday. That's part of "Sam being Sam". He's one of those guys that can make friends with anyone. Granted the Korean golfer world is a pretty small one. Particularly if you're from SoCal. If you haven't played with this guy, that other guy has and eventually you will too. Then you find yourself in that circle and Sam seems to be one of the more memorable in the circle. Today was the pro-am, which he's not playing in, so we got to the course for a practice day. And today I really started to feel it. Scoreboards are up. Course is wired for cameras and towers are up. The ropes are up. And by now all the golfers are either out playing or practicing. The range is filled with tech guys from the different companies, as well as coaches and entourages. Being inside the ropes is starting to feel kinda special. It got a little extra special when YE Yang showed up. He just plopped himself right in the middle of the jam packed range and started in with practice. Tomorrow is practice round day 2. Sam and I are getting there early to beat the crowds and the heat. The plans is to have Bio meet us on the back. Round 1 has us teeing off at the typical rookie 12:15 off the back tee time www.oneasia.asia http://oneasia.asia/schedule/2014-season.html# http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Leaney

April 25th huh? sad, but true. But sad. Hi everyone. Whats going in TST? Here's three little reason why I've gone MIA 1) Mini Tour growth. Good for the tours, bad for me. The premier mini tour in SoCal has been The Golden State Tour, which in the past had a decent schedule of offering one and two-day events that I was able to play. The GSTour joined forces with The Gateway Tour in AZ to offer bigger events with bigger purses for the players. I have a job, where our staff is stretched as thin as can be, working Tue,Thur, Sat and Sun everyweek, the GST outgrew me. sadly. That being the case, my goal for 2013 was getting to the US Open, or at least Sectional. and devoted all my effort towards that. I didn't make it. There is also the Pepsi Tour here that has a great game on Wednesday for a low price with solid competition. I'd play every once in a while, but as time went on, and my practice routine softened, I stopped playing that as well. 2) Girlfriend. With my desire to play wavering, I decided to put myself on the market, and in June found a great girl! Successfull, Smart, Unbelievable Chemistry, Solid Cook. Tons of stuff in common! At 37, I was thinking maybe its time? Is she 'The One"? Nope, not so much. Damn, Summer in L.A. this year couldn't have been better. Months and months of temps between 85-95 degrees, daylight until 8:30, And I saw about five rounds of it. My bedroom game improved though... :) So all was not lost 3) Caddying. At my club I met a little kid, just 13. now he's 22, turned pro last year, and has the eye of the tiger. The game, The distance, Ex-PGA Tour coaching, mature WELL beyond his years. And I'm on his bag. We traveled to Thailand for Asian Tour QSchool in January, Good showing, but didn't pass, Same thing at One-Asia QSchool locally a few days after getting back from Thailand. Played on a whim, but its a solid tour, and like mentioned, the course was in L.A.! so, why not. Anyway, he spent the rest of the tour on the GST, Pepsi Tour, and traveling to PGA and Web.com Monday qualifiers, on his own. As a rookie, showed quiet well locally, scoring a few wins, and placing in most of his events! With the change in PGA QSchool, going to Web.com rather than straight to the PGA Tour, he decided to try Japan's QSchool. And petitioned his family to have me on his bag. For some reason his parents trust me. I've corrupted this kid like noone's business :) If you could see the pics from Thailand, whew!! Anyway, the trust me, I happen to speak Japanese, so I was able to get on his bag for Japan. Expenses paid, and paid for my time as well! I'm extremely fortunate! Particularly since we had to travel back and forth from Japan to L.A. between each stage. His Grandmother is, well, let's just say, money is NOT an issue. which makes this kid even more special, because he isn't a total douchebag rich kid. Anyway, Off to Japan in August. Cake walk through Stage 1, Actually a little tense on the back 9 on the last round, but we were safely below the number to advance to Stage 2. October and Stage 2, still well above the level of competition but a course that needed thought. back and forth near, but above the cutline, then, round 4. we started the day on the number, and ended the day with his best tournament round. -8, 64, bogey-free. If his putter would have caught fire a touch earlier, no joke, 59 was there!! no joke! It was the most amazing round of golf you could see. 17 GIR, one putt outside of 20 feet, and most closer. The one outside was about 45' on a 215 yard, WAY downhill par-3, our 13th hole. he drained it, of course, fist pumping, a little yell. To say he was "In the Zone" is an understatement. I can't speak for him, but I felt as though I was gliding above ground walking to our 7' birdie putt on 14, which he made, center cup, like he didn't have a chance of missing. Man, Wow, nuts! Stage 3, riding high on his play, he didn't take things lightly and was still geared up to advance to the final stage. Got there, practiced in the cold wind but did great. tee shots on point, hitting greens, got the speed of the greens dialed in right away. Day one, a nasty +5, 77. bogey bogey bogey finish too. Hope was far from abandoned. I put the number at Even, he put it at -2. Play like he knows he can, and we can overcome. -2, 70 day two, -1, 71 day 3 and -3 69 on day 4 to finish at -1. A grind each and every day. birdies, bogey, birdies, birdies, bogeys. No flow at all. The number to advace. 29 guys of a field of 105, -7. 7!! So, being the strong kid that he is, myself keeping things light, he took the positive of coming back to a respectable overall score, even with as mediocre as he played. He's got some nice events to play to finish the year. Talk of Thailand in Feb are already in the works.

Heck yeah! The smell of Krylon Ultra Flat Black is still one of my favorite smells! Those most certainly were some great times in my life. I still carry markers around with me for a little late night Downtown L.A. fun. ;) Southsider huh? You're gangster! And absolutely. As of this painting season, I've discovered the benefits of "pro" paints, as my style has changed and I need better fading properties. Montana is three times as much as the cheapo Valspar stuff I was using, but, easily five times better, with TONS of color options! Its quite amazing how big the graffiti paint market is these days! And I'm quite lucky to have a great store, 33third.com local to me. Here's some of my latest...

Read this one a few years back, the most helpful point for me was to start easy in the beginning of a round, particularly if you don't get enough time to warm up. Add a half a club to all shots for the first few holes. Smooth swings to conservative targets until you feel the groove going.

Dude!! These are Fantastic!!! I love 'em. How big are they?

Hey, thanks. Not so much a tough day as that I took a spill the day before running (for excersize of all things) and ended up getting a huge piece of skin tear off in my right palm, bigger then a quarter. And also! re-sprained my left wrist. That being the case, I actually did okay, sorta. hahaha. One of the kids I know made it past that day, Sejun (21yo), but couldn't get passed Monday. There was actually a 17 year old that I've known for a while that made it to Monday, but as well, not passed. Another youngster, Todd Baek (21) has played three web.coms and a PGA Tour event in the last five weeks. And made each cut! We'll see what he does tomorrow. So far he's looking as solid as his previous tries. Lastly, another 21yo, John Kim, is getting his feet wet on the One Asia Tour. He shot -17 in the Thailand Open to tie for 20th. Kids are crazy these days!!

Thanks! Northern Trust Qualifying in Feb 6th.

I'm back at it. After the broken collarbone on Sept 2nd. I was fully cleared to play December 3rd. Didn't really jump back into the game though. Instead I focused on caddying for my buddy Sam. Did PGA Tour QSchool late Sept. and we just got back from Thailand for Asian Tour QSchool last Sunday. What. A. Time!! As you could probably imagine. Sam didn't fair as well as we had though. But he's got two more shots at some big time golf. OneAsia Tour QSchool is next week and has a local SoCal site, and then Northern Trust Qualifying is Feb 5th. As much fun as it is to play, carrying the bag for this kid around the world would not be the worst time... That being said, I played my first tournament round today, and about my eight round since being OK'ed by my surgeon? As far as practice goes, I haven't. I'd say I've spent 1.5 hours hitting balls, and 30 minutes putting. Maybe that was a good thing? I was in total control today. Lacing drives, hitting my numbers with approach shots, and dropping putts. not just making them, but it seemed like the ones I did make were all center cup and at perfect speed. I was on! Except, hole 17, where I triple bogeyed, hahaha. That knocked my to +1 for the round. I did manage to pull myself together on the challenging finishing hole. Pounded another driver, hit a 5 iron that didn't quite draw and would up in a greenside bunker, hit that bunker shot to 4' and like I'd mentioned, right in the heart with the putt. -2 would have put me in a Tie for 3rd, +1 dropped me back to a Tie for 9th. That got me a little loot. Plus I took two of the eight skins on the day! One tournament played, and in the plus in the money! Maybe it was being around all that high-level golf in Thailand? I don't know, but something certainly rubbed off on my game. If today went bad I was seriously going to rethink what I was doing with professional golf. Now I know that I can still play this game, and enjoy it as well.

From what my Callaway guy showed me a few weeks back and what this Arnett guy suggests, Callaway's next generation of woods will be out performing the RBZ line. Just really hard to believe that they don't have one to put in Phil's bag, of all people.

I'm a SoCal driver as well. Prius drivers to you Clambake are PT Cruiser drivers to me. I CAN NOT stand PT Cruiser drivers. Everything you mentioned above are what I've come to expect when I see a PT Cruiser on the road...

Dude, wow! Spot on! I read the title of this thread in wonderment. But then again, there is no one way to swing a golf club. However I'll take a cue from my man, "the best ball-striker, ever", Mr. Hogan. Hands are the last thing to go on the downswing. I love this video I found a while back on youtube. You can really get the sense of a hold-off of the hands in each of the swings, even the little 50 yard pitches he hits (around 1m40s), they stay suspended up at the top forever, and then at the very last instance, right to the ball.