Monday, July 21, 2014

The Open App Reviewed!



There are lots of apps on the Golf Market but the ones I enjoy the most are the tournament-specific apps that are floating out there in cyberland. I previously reviewed the Masters app, which I loved and I also downloaded the US Open app which was kinda "meh". For my money, the British Open app is the best of the bunch.

Does it give you a leaderboard, the same as the other apps? Yup but not in such pleasing colors:


(yes those ARE pleasing damnit!)

What the app does is take the Masters template and improves upon it in several subtle but key areas.


See that, you can watch live video BUT you can also listen to a live radio broadcast with British announcers. The Brits may not be smarter than us Yanks but with that accent, they can tell me to do anything and I will follow ($60 for a British Open umbrella, sure why not?).

The app also has a nice layout for updates, the have text updates, clip recaps and photos


giving you are real audiovisual feast.

While these photos might be crappy, this app is not. Whilst the Open Cometh But Once a Rotation of this Orb Through The Heavens (eat that Shakespeare) this app is a must have on your phone.

Check out more info of the App here: http://www.theopen.com/Apps-Open.aspx

Thursday, July 17, 2014

I Get My Card



Growing up in Upstate New York, I never really worried about tee times. There were an abundance of courses and the worse the course, the higher the likelihood that you didn't have to make a tee time. On the nicer courses sure you made tee times but there were very few courses that you had to camp out for a tee time like Bethpage.

When I moved to Los Angeles and took up golf again, I knew I might have to adjust my expectations since the city has a few million people in it (as opposed to a few million trees that are in Upstate). I ran across the Player Card, an initiative run by the City of LA. For a small yearly fee you get a card which allows you access to tee times to city-run courses before the general public. It doesn't come with any other fancy benefits or bag tags but that tee time access is worth it to me.

I have already used it to play PenMar in Venice and it was already worth it as that course was full of golfers the day I went but with the reservation system, it was a breeze to get out and about due to the card.

Other cities have similar set-ups and I think it is a darn good idea. Consider me a fan of this little piece of plastic!

More details about the card can be found here: http://golf.lacity.org/golf_res_cards.htm

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Golfing Arroyo Seco


(this might be the worst picture I have yet posted on this blog)

As I have been getting back into the game of golf, I have been playing a variety of courses. Some are regulation length like Black Gold, some are executive courses like Westchester and some are par 3 courses like Arroyo Seco in Pasadena. Back East, where I hail from, the par 3 courses offer a variety lengths, some are super short, some are longer but the trend I have been noticing here in SoCal is that many of these par 3 courses are in PW or 9 iron territory at most.

Not that I mind that, I could always use work on that aspect of my game but after playing the 12th consecutive hole like that, I yearn for a bit of variety. What Arroyo gives you opposed to some of the other par 3 courses here in LA is some visual beauty.

First up some mountains and palm trees:


There is also a beautiful little creek that runs its way through the course and while it won't challenge any golf shot, who knows, maybe a woman will offer you a sword out of it or something.


I am also a big fan of palm trees so of course I had to take a picture or two of them:


Palm trees and creeks aside, the course is pretty straightforward although the greens present a challenge as they often have undulations and present a pretty good challenge in chipping and putting. Another real benefit of this course is the laid back vibe. The course was about half full but I never felt pressured to speed up play or had to wait a tremendous amount on any tee. It was too hot for that but also the course seems to encourage everyone to chill out a bit and enjoy the pitching wedges.

Check out more info about Arroyo here: http://www.ci.south-pasadena.ca.us/index.aspx?page=65