The Golf Aficionado was in attendance at the 2015 PGA Merchandise Show last week in Orlando as my daughter was selected to be one of 10 children to represent PGA Junior League Golf. As part of the invite she received a prototype of the 2015 PGA Junior league jersey and attended a special meet and greet with reigning Master’s Champion, Bubba Watson. My daughter got a day off from school and I got my Ping G30 head cover signed by Bubba Watson. As part of the show, US Kids Golf was there honoring this year’s class of Top 50 Kids Teachers. We had the opportunity to watch Heathrow Country Club’s own Chris Holmes receive the Top 50 honor for the second year in a row. I may have introduced the game of golf to my daughter but Chris Holmes is the one who taught her how to play, and thank goodness.
Attending the show my daughter was not only able to meet Bubba Watson and ask him questions on his preparation but also had a chance to meet Victoria Elizabeth and get a signed Volvik hat. Not to mention we spent several hours exploring the merchandise floor. For the Golf Aficionado and daughter, it was like being a kid in the candy store. It was amazing to see all the new things inventors and companies have developed.
As part of walking the convention floor we were able to see, touch, and feel all types of different golf products. We also got to take home a good amount of freebies; I can’t even count how many different types of tees we ended up with. Some of the product highlights included a nifty shot counter that’s designed to clip onto your golf glove. My wife has been bugging me for over a year about not being able to keep track of her shots and wanting a counter, problem solved. My daughter’s favorite item we took home from the show is the LaGila Golf Wipes. We picked up some individual packages of the golf wipes and tried them out over the weekend. The wipes are designed to clean balls and club faces while lasting 18 holes. It looks similar to a moist towelette you would get from a restaurant but it does an excellent job cleaning your golf ball during the course of a round. We both were impressed by how the wipe performed and lasted the entire round; the wipes are dry enough that you can keep them in your pocket without the worry of any dampness. Another cool product that we took home was a rubber wrist band with an integrated ball maker. This product is great for the women in my golf life; they prefer not to wear a hat and never seem to have a place for their ball marker.
As far as big products, there were differently a lot of cool things out there to help improve your golf game. However, I only took the plunge on one. I ordered a Big Moss Golf training green; after I tried it out and saw how effectively the robot ball return functioned I was sold. It should ship early March so once it arrives, I’ll be sure to do a detailed review of the product. Also, I’m a big fan of Pitchfix and their divot tools so it was very nice to visit them at the show and see their new Twister product. I wasn’t able to get a freebie but once they are available for purchase I’m onboard. The products mentioned above are really the ones that stick out in my mind; we had a great time checking out all the merchandise and I plan on attending next year and of course writing about it.