By Leonard Finkel
The 65th PGA Merchandise Show, the industry’s annual “MAJOR of Golf Business,” last week in Orlando welcomed nearly 40,000 golf industry professionals from all 50 U.S. states and 87 countries. The 2018 edition delivered exciting product and industry announcements, energizing the industry. PGA professionals and buyers viewed the newest products, trends and technology from more than 1,000 exhibiting golf companies and brands. This included 225 companies new to the PGA Show, creating the world’s largest business-to-business golf event, within one million square feet of interactive exhibit, demonstration and meeting space.
As the world’s largest gathering of PGA professionals, the 2018 PGA Merchandise Show attracted more than 7,500 PGA professionals from around the world. The top five countries (outside of U.S.) in attendance were Canada, United Kingdom, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The top five U.S. states represented were Florida, California, New York, Georgia and North Carolina.
The 2018 show was marked by significant industry announcements and product introductions including: Callaway’s new line of Rogue drivers and fairway woods with Jailbreak technology; Cobra’s all-new line of F8 drivers with Cobra Connect technology powered by Arccos; TaylorMade’s M3 and M4 drivers with new Twist Face technology to promote straight distance; Titleist’s new Tour Soft and Velocity golf balls plus their SM7 Vokey Design wedges and Scotty Cameron Select putters; PING’s G400 Max driver, G700 irons, Glide 2.0 Stealth wedges and Vault 2.0 putter; Cleveland Golf’s new CVX wedges and Srixon’s new Q-Star Tour golf balls; among many other product announcements. Apparel companies introduced their newest fashions for upcoming seasons featuring bursts of color, sports performance fabrics and leisurewear with sporty detail. Hundreds of thousands of products and services were showcased within nearly 10 miles of Show aisles.
The global golf gathering began on Tuesday at Demo Day, when thousands of PGA professionals, media and invited golf retailers previewed and personally tested the latest equipment, training aids and accessories from more than 100 golf companies at Orange County National Golf Center. With 200 hitting bays, multiple putting greens and the vendor village at the 42-acre practice facility, it was the world’s largest golf demo event.
On Wednesday, PGA Champions Dave Stockton, Hal Sutton, John Daly, Steve Elkington and Davis Love III joined PGA President Paul Levy to help open the PGA Merchandise Show, live on Golf Channel’s “Morning Drive.” They were among a long list of celebrities, renowned golf instructors and special guests, such as: Adam Scott, Greg Norman, Jesper Parnevik, Blair O’Neal, Chip Beck, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Michelle McGann, Brad Faxon, David Leadbetter, Hank Haney, Michael Breed, Mike Malaska, Jim McLean, Stan Utley, Claude Harmon, Mike Schy, Lou Holtz, Ron Jaworski and many more who participated in 2018.
Attendees experienced dynamic interactive exhibits; hundreds of vendor show specials and promotions; plus 50 equipment testing bays at the indoor Equipment Test Center; a centralized New Product Zone for a one-stop shopping of the newest golf merchandise; the Inventors Spotlight exhibitor pavilion for patented products not yet available at retail; the Golf Fitness, Wellness & Instruction area, with a new Adaptive Golf Center; and numerous specialty exhibitor pavilions, concentrating exhibits in the areas of travel, technology, international exhibitors, women’s accessories and new exhibitors.
More than 1,000 media from 25 countries covered the event. Golf Channel provided comprehensive live coverage with nearly 20 hours of Morning Drive, Golf Central and instruction programming delivered to a worldwide audience in more than 36 countries. Complementing the many media outlets providing daily live digital coverage, SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio Network broadcast 32 hours live from the show. Golf enthusiasts also were able to follow the latest daily news through multiple online news channels including PGA.com, CBSSports.com and #PGAShow on social media.
Leonard Finkel is the author of The Secrets to the Game of Golf & Life and former editor in chief of Golf Journeys Magazine. His work has been featured in almost 200 publications including Golf Magazine, Golf Digest, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Golf Illustrated, Golf Tips and Player Magazine. He has written more than a dozen cover stories for Golf Today Magazine. He has written extensively about golf and travel and has added poker to his writing repertoire. Finkel also works as a marketing and public relations consultant. His specialty niche is writing advertorial copy. Prior to his career in golf, Finkel owned a chain of retail stores and a consulting and import company based in Asia. He attended the University of Utah.