Today is a momentous occasion in the world of golf media. It’s the 15 year anniversary, ahem, “blogiversary” of GolfBlogger.com, by my good friend John Retzer.
Golf Blogger is truly one of the original golf blogs, predating Hooked on Golf Blog by about six months. John has relentlessly written about every golf subject imaginable, from Tiger Woods to golf course reviews to golf equipment.
In the early days of this blog I looked up to Golf Blogger as one of the pioneers in an emerging space. Over a decade and a half Golf Blogger and HOG, John and myself, have built up a long term friendship. We often shared each others posts and linked to each other’s blogs in true original blog fashion. The blog mentality has always been that a rising tide raises all ships in the blogosphere. John and I have played many rounds of golf together, from Michigan to Bandon Dunes to Morocco. Below is a shot of us at Black Lake Golf Club in Michigan.
I’ve said dozens of times that the best part of running this golf blog hasn’t been all the “free golf equipment,” the endless hot golf babes (in yoga pants who shoot videos of themselves working out at the gym) that are attracted to golf bloggers, or all the millions of dollars the golf blogs make. Nope. The best part is the lifelong relationships and great friends I’ve made. John Retzer, the Golf Blogger, is one of the best.
Hats off to Golf Blogger, and 15 more years of great golf writing.
I’m thrilled to announce the Hooked on Golf Blog iOS app has been approved and is
now available for download in the Apple iTunes store! Now you can keep up to date with all of the incredible, brilliant, and entertaining content from this blog without having to use your computer or an internet browser. Just boot up the app on your mobile device and enjoy.
The HOG app was designed to be very user friendly and easy to use on a smartphone. The blog’s key content categories are quickly and easily accessed with as little as ONE finger tap! The app connects directly to the blog and gets any fresh content so you won’t miss one of the day’s many new TaylorMade driver announcements.
Back in 2004 Hooked on Golf Blog was a pioneer. There were only a couple of other golf blogs at the time. I’m proud and happy to blaze a new trail in golf blogging once again with what I believe is the first golf blog mobile app in existence. I may not be able to golf like I used to (more on that shortly) but I can sure code like mad.
Not an iOS user and wondering about alternate platforms? The other major platform version is in review now and will be released shortly. I will make another announcement on that.
FORE!
I’ve gotten a couple of these nice emails in the last couple of weeks. Yes HOG has won yet another award. My digital shelf is full of them. Glad it’s just digital. This one quoted below is very typical. I receive an unsolicited email from some person and site I’ve never heard of who has this top 10 list or top something list, and HOG is on it. I’m supposed to get all excited about it and post my award, and of course the LINK BACK to the list. That’s the key right there, the link back. This is just link trolling. I’m not a fan of links trolls, so to speak.
Hi Hooked On Golf Team,
My name is Anuj Agarwal. I’m Founder of Feedspot.
I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Hooked On Golf Blog has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 100 Golf Blogs on the web.
[link removed]
I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 100 Golf Blog on the internet and I’m honored to have you as part of this!
Also, you have the honor of displaying the following badge on your blog. Use the below code to display this badge proudly on your blog.
[see image]
Out of curiosity I decided to look at the list. Between popups asking me for my email address I was thrilled, yeah right, to find out that I was in 31st place! I had no idea there were even 31 golf blogs in existence. A deeper look at the list had me laughing. Let’s look at a few:
#1 on the list is Golf Channel’s Golf Central Blog. To me this does not qualify as this is a major golf media outlet. Same with #3, ESPN.
#3 is Reddit? Really? That’s not a blog.
#5 is the “Rules of Golf” blog? I’ve never heard of it. They have a whopping zero facebook followers and 635 twitter followers. Impressive. And their Alexa Ranking (more on this later) is 743,000.
Golfsmith is in there. Not a blog.
My Golf Spy is in there. Not a blog. It’s a forum.
GolfNow.com is in there. Not a blog. It’s a discount tee time platform.
“Turf Diseases” comes in at #9. Yes, the widely popular blog Turf Diseases. LOL.
The Golf Channel’s YouTube channel came in at #17 with an Alexa ranking of 2. Well, that’s YouTube’s Alexa ranking but who’s counting?
Other companies in there who simply sell products but are being called blogs include Odyssey Golf, Your Golf Travel, Ben Hogan Golf Company, Northern California Golf Association, Hyde Park Golf and Country Club Grounds Department, Shipsticks…
Alexa Ranking
Funny thing is that one of their criteria is Alexa ranking. Sounds great except the only computers that have Alexa on them are ones in which the user has specifically installed Alexa, and it only works on Internet Explorer, which now has roughly 1/4 of the browser market. The only reason IE has any market share at all is because Windows machines come with IE as the default browser.
Part of the criteria other than the faulty Alexa one is Twitter and Facebook followers. Well I have over 8000 followers, but they show HOG has having ZERO.
Conclusion
If you take away all the golf club companies, travel companies, sports entities like Golf Channel and filter out the list to true golf bloggers and filter out all the noise, HOG moves up to #1. Probably a tie with Golf Blogger really. Neck and neck.
I’ve got a couple of new links today which I’ve added to the HOG Master Links:
Michigan Golf Live Blog
I met a new buddy and fellow golf media guy while in New Mexico a couple of weeks ago. I was going to write a post about my pal Bill Hobson’s radio show called Michigan Golf Live (MGL) and his accompanying TV show. But before I could get to that Bill informs me he’s started a golf blog too! So stop by MGL’s Blog at http://mgliveblog.blogspot.com/ and check it out. I’ll be doing a post soon about Bill’s other golf media exploits as well.
Two Golf Blogs From The Netherlands
First link looks to be a golf blog of some sort, nice template and look:
http://www.golfvivant.nl/
The 2nd link is definitely a golf blog and looks very sharp:
http://www.golfblog.nl
My golf blogging pal GolfBlogger has celebrated his SIXTH birthday! Six years of golf blogging is like me lasting 30 seconds in the Playboy Mansion (more to come on that one soon).
GolfBlogger has written over 4000 golf blogs, as compared to my measly 2000. On my behalf though, my posts are typically longer. GolfBlogger is always up on the latest and greatest from the golf gear world so be sure to stop by there on a regular basis.
Great GolfBlogger quote
GolfBlogger’s longevity is impressive. As he points out in the quote below, many people start golf blogs and put very little time and effort into them, leaving them to die:
I’ve managed to avoid the fate of thousands of others who have started a golf blog—that of writing a few pieces and then losing interest. The internet is littered with the corpses of abandoned golf blogs.
Keep it up my friend. I’ll be right behind you.
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
