The 2016 Golf Digest Think Young Play Hard Invitational

After waiting 365 days since the 2015 Golf Digest Think Young Play Hard (TYPHI) Invitational, the time was finally here to return to Las Vegas for more lessons in golf, life, and gambling.  We packed our golf costumes, boarded the plane, and arrived just in time for a warmup round at Southern Highlands.  Our time at Southern Highlands was spectacular and involved hooking a drive into Floyd Mayweather's backyard.  We then hustled off to the Think Young Play Hard kickoff party.  After chipping balls onto floating greens and eating approximately 15-30 chicken tenders, I became aware that an ill advised bet had been established between several of the revelers. The bet was that it was not possible to jump onto one of these floating greens.  This party had officially been kicked off.

The par 5 9th at Southern Highlands.

With the opening ceremonies in our rear view mirror, it was time to focus on serious golfing business.  I was fortunate enough to be paired up with World Series Champion, Cody Ross.  We decided it would be proper to plan our parade route and place all of our prize winnings on black in advance of actually winning the tournament.  Sound strategy.

Power foursome makes the turn at Royal Links on Day 1.

One of the best parts of the tournament is that there are activities on many of the holes.  There was a $50k hole in one opportunity on the 3rd hole.  Unfortunately, Matt Lemman of Jones Golf Bags would slam dunk an ace on the 14th hole.  There are also plenty of long drive and closest to the pin competitions and a chance to win a GoPro by hitting an actual GoPro out of the bunker to within a circle.  That's an inch from GoPro glory.  I blame the wind.

Next up was the winner take all no limit poker tournament with a $12,000 watch up for grabs,  Naturally, our entire crew busted out early and decided to distract Instagram sensation, Paige Spiranac from her Puttskee session.  I would then attempt to show Paige how to properly model for Golf Digest cover shoots.  

Got out-modeled by @PaigeSpiranac again last night. #modelhard #ThinkYoungPlayHard @GolfDigest pic.twitter.com/f59VfGUDkD

— Patrick Koenig (@PatrickjKoenig) April 23, 2016

Ross Photo Bomb #1

Ross Photo Bomb #2

Unfortunately, our team would come in second place in a sudden death playoff and the winners would be the ones that would be jumping into the pond on the par 3 9th hole.  Congratulations to the champs! 

“I never learned anything from a match I won.”

— Bobby Jones

With the 2016 Think Young Play Hard tournament behind us, it was time to focus on the post tournament bonus round.  Here are your 2016 participants, folks.

Penalty hat for 3 putts.

T Rex hates bogies so much.

LittleBallBigBall of Instagram joined us and paid the price.

Although Golf Digest's Carley Strauss had never heard of Blue Steel, she appears to be a natural in the modeling game.

After a solid round of even par in some tough winds at Royal Links, Cody and I were near the top of the leaderboard and poised to make a serious run for the title.  More importantly the fine folks over at GolfBoard provided us the opportunity to hang ten on the golf course.  

Cody and I demonstrate Tony Hawk type prowess on the GolfBoard

"I am pretty good at golf, I am really good at skee-ball, but I am absolutely awful at Puttskee" - Four time National Skee-Ball Champion, one time TYPHI Champion, Joey The Cat.

The final round of the tournament was hosted at Bali Hai Golf Course and would feature me ruining all of Cody's photos.  Cody would not be distracted as he led our team's charge to the top of the leaderboard with an eagle on 15.  I added in a couple of birdies and we found ourselves tied for the lead at -3 at the end of regulation.

Golf Digest's Ashley Mayo would get into the Sunblock, the SPF 5000 sunblock, for those that live directly on the sun.  

Good times at the Champions Celebration.

Since @PaigeSpiranac couldn't play today, we replaced her with the most obvious option. T Rex. #holdontoyourbutts. pic.twitter.com/5UghuV3LQN

— Patrick Koenig (@PatrickjKoenig) April 25, 2016

Even though Sarah Moodie (Smooderoo) weighs about 85 pounds, she actually drove this one over the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

T Rex rolls one in for par.

Thanks to all of the wonderful people at Golf Digest for putting on a fantastic tournament.  Thanks to the friends that made the trip and thanks to the sponsors who made the 2016 Think Young Play Hard weekend great.  Until next time!

Whether it's for bogie or birdie, 1st or 2nd place, remember to celebrate like hell and #ThinkYoungPlayHard  Photo by Jeremy Lusk.

PGA Show 2016

As a newcomer to the PGA Merchandise show in 2016, I was excited to meet many of the golf industry folks that I had conversed with over the internet for some time.  Although, my time at the show was brief, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting many of the passionate folks that work in the golf industry.  For the trip, I had teamed up with fellow golf enthusiast and blogger, Sean Ogle of Breaking Eighty.  Like any sensible businessman, I packed my golf clubs and business cards and headed out to Orlando.  First up would be the golf, then the business of golf.

The 18th green at Adios, an excellent par 5 finishing hole.

The winds blew a good 30-40 mph for us on the Blue Monster

My first ever round of golf in Florida would be on the challenging Blue Monster Course at Doral.  As you can see in the photo, there was a little bit of wind to contend with.  Fortunately, the wind would die down and I would roll in my first Florida birdie on the 17th hole.  

After hitting the scene in Miami Beach and visiting the 14th best bar in the world, The Broken Shaker, we got up early to play golf at Adios Golf Club.  Adios is a private establishment that is more well known for it's club than it's course.  Although, both are top notch.  Sean and I would agree that Adios was one of our favorite golfing experiences to date.

Our trip was indeed building up some steam as we headed to the airport to pick up Ashley Mayo of Golf Digest.  The next morning our power trio would go for 36 at Streamsong.  Click on the images below for the exclusive "By the Numbers" recap.

Ashley let's me know I've only got 6 inches for birdie!!

The Biarritz swale on 16 swallowed up several of our shots.

With the golf in our rear view mirror, it was time to set our sights on the PGA Merchandise Show's Demo Day.  Demo Day is hosted on a 360 degree driving range at the Orange County National Golf Center.  With just about every golf vendor in attendance, you can hit the latest sticks with the latest gadgets until your arms fall off.  Here is what we found.

Long Drive Champ, Jamie Sadlowski brought his iPhone in his back pocket and hit this 7 iron 320 yards.

These things exist, not sure what they are or how they're gonna help, but they exist.

The Golf Board comes in orange!  ...and has a cooler for those who are interested in drinking and boarding.

The Big Max Trolleys fold up so nicely that you can almost put them in your back pocket.  The Blade!!

With Demo Day in the books, Sean and I got serious and headed over to Orlando's finest miniature golf facility, Pirate's Cove, to round out a solid day.  Check out the pirate video recap below.  

For day 2, it was time to head over to the convention center and check out the scene.  Orange County convention center is massive and we had some serious talking and walking to do.  Here is the best of what we found.

Vlog 8 was supposed to be a travel vlog from my time in Florida. But I screwed up all the sound in 3 days worth of video. So instead? You get "pirate caddies". // The Desk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZdqb... // Music: Ross Budgen https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQKGLOK2FqmVgVwYferltKQ // ---Build a Business, Live Anywhere, Achieve Freedom--- http://www.seanogle.com // Like golf?

First time PGA show residents, Holderness & Bourne have some of the finest golf polos around.  You'll have to wait until March to get these babies.

That's a Dalmation golf bag cover from MiniZoo Golf Bag Covers.  Your bag with some bark.  

Who amongst us hasn't wanted to do this.  Jones just gets it.

For me, the biggest hit of the show was Taylor Made's release of the M2 line.  I smoked this 3 wood like a Cigar on my birthday!!

Keegan Bradley has his own beer now.  Finally.

Sean Ogle goes yard with Cobra's latest driver while Red Bull pumps the dope beats.

Somebody has got to sort all of these balls.  Thanks to the volunteers!

Someone met a big time golf celebrity today! Let's just say it was a good day for @ESPNCaddie #PGAShow2016 pic.twitter.com/wc1WczGBf1

— Patrick Koenig (@PatrickjKoenig) January 26, 2016

One of my favorite gadgets at the show was the reasonably priced ($349) Swing Caddy 2.  107 club head speed, not bad for this hacker

The view of the showroom floor.  Lot's of action down there.

Loudmouth still loud.

Insider pro tip @MattGinellaGC in real life.. still cool as a cucumber. #PGAShow2016 pic.twitter.com/mraI8vxY2n

— Patrick Koenig (@PatrickjKoenig) January 28, 2016

The Classic line up of Jones Golf Bags.  Classic Jones!

Co-founder John Bourne of Holderness and Bourne tells it how it is.  

That's a wrap from Orlando and the 2016 PGA Merchandise show.  A big thanks to my friend Sean Ogle of Breaking Eighty and everyone else who took the time to make this newcomer feel important.  Until next time, Orlando!