Hey NG Nation! I mentioned this announcement in the 2014-2015 F4 Wrapup post, and it took me a bit to get this done (which speaks to why I’m writing it), but here it is. This post is quite long, and it’s one of the more difficult posts I’ve written, so I’ll start with the main announcement, and follow up with some important thank you’s and a look back at the history of NG Nation.
The Main Announcement
After careful consideration, I’ve decided to put NG Nation on hold for a while, possibly indefinitely — the main reason for this is my lack of time for keeping up with the blog and doing it right. My time commitments to work and family responsibilities make it difficult to find the time for NGN that I was able to even just a few years ago. I’ve been thinking about this for over a year, this hasn’t been an easy decision, and my passion for Nike Golf is still as strong as the day I started the site, but now is the time.
What this means is the following:
I won’t be taking the site down, it will stay live as an archive of Nike Golf information.
I may still post from time to time, just not on a regular basis.
I won’t be running the Fantasy Four contest for 2015-2016 — sorry, I know a lot of you really enjoy the contest, I just don’t have the time this year. Plus, it looks like the game is changing on pgatour.com (click here for details), so again, a good time for a break.
Alan and Michael may post from time to time if they want to and have time to do so.
This isn’t necessarily goodbye, I’m just taking a break for a while.
I know several of you have volunteered to help out with the site, and I am grateful for that — however, as the site owner, there’s no way I can not be involved if other people help with the site. So now is the time for me to put it on hold.
Some Very Important Thank You’s
Now is also a good time to acknowledge some very important people who have helped to make NG Nation what it is today:
You, the readers and supporters of NGN
I have made many friends through the blog, and have corresponded with a great number of you — in comments here on the blog, in email exchanges, on Twitter and on Facebook — and for that I am extremely thankful. I found out soon after starting the site that there are a great number of you who share my passion for Nike Golf, and that number seems to have increased exponentially over the years. Several of you have been great sources of information about Nike Golf, have given me a heads up about happenings in the Nike Golf world, and in general have supported my efforts here on NGN on a ongoing basis. And for all of this I am more than grateful.
All of the great people at Nike Golf
Soon after starting NG Nation in May, 2009, I was able to connect with some of the folks at Nike Golf World Headquarters in Portland. Since then, and to this day, they have been nothing but supportive of NG Nation. From answering questions about their Athletes, their products, happenings on the various pro golf tours, supplying products to review, supplying prizes for our Fantasy Four contest, giving us behind the scenes access at some of the tour events, access to some of the Athletes, the Nike Golf Tour Van and the tour technicians, and similar access at several of the PGA Merchandise Shows in Orlando, Nike Golf’s support has been unwavering and greatly appreciated. As time went on, I met more and more people from Nike Golf — there are way too many people to name here, and those folks know who they are, but about everyone I have met I can say this: Without fail, every person I have met from Nike Golf over the years has been down-to-earth, extremely nice, and very passionate about what they do for Nike Golf, from the company leadership, to the Athletes, to all of the equipment, footwear and apparel experts. That has always said a lot to me about the company. So to all of the people at Nike Golf, you have my deepest and sincerest thanks for your support of NG Nation.
Damian Daniels
Damian was the first person to comment here on the blog, and soon after that he volunteered to help out. Damian handled posts about the Athletes, and together he and I came up with the format for the Fantasy Four contest (back in 2010). He spent many, many hours managing the contest over the next several years, and it was his suggestion to move the contest to pgatour.com in the fall of 2013. Damian has since moved on to bigger and better things, but his contributions to NG Nation are not forgotten, they can’t be understated, they were always greatly appreciated by me, and it’s important that I acknowledge them again here.
Alan Numsuwan
Soon after Damian came aboard, Alan contacted me about writing for NG Nation. Alan’s expertise in the areas of footwear and apparel made it a no-brainer to add him to NGN’s editorial staff. Since then, and to this day, Alan has kept our readers informed on the latest Nike Golf happenings all areas — footwear, apparel, equipment and Athlete coverage. Alan was so in tune with Nike Golf products that many times Alan was the first to find out about a particular piece of Nike Golf news, or an obscure Nike Golf product, including foreign product releases like irons, tour bags, shoes and more. Alan has made NG Nation better since the day he started, and I am very grateful for that. Thanks Alan.
Michael Wharton-Palmer
Michael is relatively new to NGN, but he is not new to Nike Golf. Michael has been a Nike Golf aficionado longer than I have, since the late 1990’s. Michael contacted us wanting to share his knowledge of and connections with Nike Golf, and again I knew I had found another kindred spirit. His knowledge of Nike Golf (past and present), his connections with The Oven in Fort Worth, and his periodic international golf travel adventures made Michael a perfect fit for NG Nation. Michael’s “Ask The Oven” post series is a relatively recent addition to the site, and we hope to publish new posts from time to time (we actually have a new post ready for Nike Golf review, I’m the holdup there, but we hope to have that posted soon). Thanks Michael for offering to bring your knowledge of Nike Golf to the NGN table, it’s greatly appreciated!
Now for a quick look back…
A Brief History of NG Nation
I started NG Nation almost 6 1/2 years ago, on May 10, 2009 (with this post), as a way to share my love for Nike Golf with the world. I had been playing Nike Golf equipment since 2003, starting with shoes and apparel, then the blue driver, later the Ignite driver and 3-wood, then the Pro Combo OS irons, CPR hybrids and on and on. I had been following Nike Athletes for years — not just Tiger, but players like David Duval, Michael Campbell, Paul Azinger, Trevor Immelman, Chad Campbell and Jason Gore. I remember following a young PGA Tour rookie named Anthony Kim at the 2007 Phoenix Open, with no one else in the gallery.
I figured I couldn’t be the only one who was a fan of Nike Golf, so I launched the site, and soon after started hearing from other fans of the brand. I also connected with Nike Golf, and later in the year they sent me two products to test and review — the new Storm-Fit Elite Rain Suit and the new Zoom Bandon Waterproof Shoes — ironic, since I live in Phoenix and it doesn’t rain here that often. Regardless, I promptly headed out to the back yard, turned on the sprinklers, and went to work on my testing (you can read those first two product reviews here: Storm-Fit Elite Rain Suit Review; Zoom Bandon Waterproof Shoes Review).
I continued to work on the site, but it wasn’t work, it was truly fun and a labor of love. In 2010 we launched the Fantasy Four contest, and started giving away Nike Golf products to the winners (all prizes were generously donated by Nike Golf). About the same time I had the opportunity to visit The Oven in Fort Worth for the first time, and meet some of the great staff there. In 2011 I made the first of several trips to the PGA Merchandise Show where I connected with more folks from Nike Golf. Later I was invited to attend a few of Nike Golf’s special events, including the 20XI release event at Doral, and the NG360 app release event at The Oven. I’ve been able to connect with the tour reps in the Nike Tour Van on several occasions at the Phoenix Open, and I’ve had the opportunity to meet several of the Nike Athletes in person including Anthony Kim, Francesco Molinari, Suzann Pettersen, Justin Leonard, Lucas Glover, Carl Pettersson and Nick Watney. And over the years, Nike Golf has included me in a number of amazing promotional mailings, all of which have been well documented on NGN. To say that Nike Golf has been good to me, and that it’s been an honor to attend some of Nike Golf’s events, would both be understatements to say the least!
It’s been an amazing ride, and I’ve met an amazing number of great people, from our readers and supporters to all of the the friendly people at Nike Golf I’ve come in contact with. One of my most prized possessions related to NGN is an embroidered towel that one of our readers sent to me a few years ago — thanks Luis, I still have this on one of my Nike Golf bags. But now is the time for me to take a break for a while from my NG Nation duties, and focus more on the work and family responsibilities that compete for most of my attention.
As I said above, this isn’t necessarily goodbye, and I hope that those of you who have kept in touch will continue to do so. My love for Nike Golf lives on, and I will definitely be keeping my eye on the Nike Golf Athletes as they compete in the 2015-2016 season on the PGA, LPGA and European Tours. I’ll also be keeping my eye on the new 2016 Nike Golf product releases to come — I can’t wait to see what the new Vapor Fly line will bring.
So that’s all for now, thanks again everybody, and I’ll see you from time to time here on NGN in the future.
All my best,
Bob
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