Author: Sean Ogle

As the Founder of Breaking Eighty Sean has spent the last 10+ years reviewing the best golf products and golf courses in the world. He prides himself on only writing about products and courses he's experienced first hand, and helping others find exactly what they need to enhance their enjoyment of the game we all love so much.

“This is my 6th year in a row coming here, and I can’t imagine ever missing another one.” “I read your blog about this event last year, and I immediately knew I had to get here. It’s been unbelievable.” “This feels like the culmination of my golfing life.” These were just a handful of the the comments I heard in talking to attendees of the 2019 Lexus Champions for Charity event at Pebble Beach – which is truly one of the greatest charity golf events in the world. I was fortunate enough to attend with Lexus last year, and by…

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I first met Patrick Koenig a little over 5 years ago. He quickly became one of my best friends and favorite travel partners in the world of golf. There was the time I beat him for the first (and only) time while battling food poisoning… Or the time I made a par to his bogey on one of the most famous holes in golf. One time we even tee’d it up with pirate caddies (yes, that’s a thing). About 3 years ago, he told me about this crazy idea he had for quitting his job, and road-tripping around the US…

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It’s not often that I write about shoe launches on this site, but this one was simply too good not to mention. Seamus Golf has been one of my favorite brands in golf for years. Not only is the team made up of great people, but it’s been awesome to see how they’ve evolved from being simply the “head cover company” to creating a wider range of unique accessories and products for the golf world. And their latest project? Well, this shows just how far they’ve come since the days of company’s founders Megan and Akbar, sewing head covers in…

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Over the last seven years I’ve been fortunate enough to play a lot of really good golf courses all over the world. I’ve taken thousands of photos, played thousands of holes, and started to have a much better understanding of what makes a good golf course. I’ve also been able to form opinions about which courses I enjoy the most. There’s a very distinct (and at times, quite large) difference between what I enjoy and what constitutes a good course by traditional standards. If you look at many of the “top 100” lists from major publications you’ll in many cases see a big…

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I’ve been following Redvanly golf apparel for years now. I’ve always appreciated their take on golf shirts and golf clothes, because it’s different than everything else out there. There are a lot of brands differentiating themselves in more subtle ways. Holderness and Bourne (another favorite here) puts more of a traditional spin on the typical golf polo. Redvanly takes the same tailored fit approach, but does it in a more bold and modern way – which is unlike most of what I’ve seen in the industry. It had been a couple years since I got hands on with some of…

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Each year it becomes increasingly difficult to publish my list of my favorite top 100 golf courses. It’s hard enough when I’m playing a couple dozen new courses each year, but then when you throw in the fact that there are many courses I now haven’t played in a few years – it’s quite the challenge. But we must press on! I’ve spent a considerable amount of time over the last month pouring over photos, scorecards, and my previous writings to come up with my list of my favorite 100 courses in the world. But obviously, with only 100 on…

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I was playing in a tournament a few months ago, and wasn’t sure who I was going to be paired up with. When I finally met my partner at the cart, he walked up to me and said “I knew once I saw the full kit with the Jones Bag, I’d be playing with someone cool.” I don’t know how cool I am, but it’s safe to say that at least in some circles rocking a Jones Golf Utility Trouper is going to earn you some respect. The story behind Jones Golf Bags is actually pretty cool. Back in the…

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For years I wasn’t generally one to listen to music on the golf course – even though I listen to music while doing pretty much everything else in my life. It was for no good reason other than I usually just didn’t think about it. But every time I was playing with someone and they turned on some tunes, I found myself immediately more relaxed and having more fun. As someone who rarely takes his rounds of golf that seriously, having music to enhance the experience can be a welcome way to mix things up. For most of this season…

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This is where our Ohio golf trip takes a dramatic change. Scioto Country Club was a big social club with a brutal championship golf course. Muirfield Village is a world renowned course on an international level, with a brutal championship course, and is one of the few courses out there that both golfers, and non golfers alike have heard of. The Golf Club has nothing in common with either of those. Ranked 89 and 72 in the world, respectively by Digest and Golf Mag, The Golf Club is located on about 500 acres north of Columbus, and they boast a…

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As some of you know, each year I post my annual Top 100 course list. We’ll be doing this year’s sometime next month, and as I’ve been starting to prepare for it – I was reminded of a bunch of negative comments I’ve received over the past couple of years of publishing it. The comments aren’t totally unexpected, but it’s brought up a few issues that I don’t feel get talked about enough in the world of golf these days, so here we are. First and foremost, here is the thing I love about golf course design: it’s all subjective. Every course…

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