Alive and kicking:
PGA Merchandise Show still going strong

By Shane Sharp, Contributing Writer

ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 5, 2003) - Remember the scene from Monty Python's The Holy Grail? The one in which the cartmaster is collecting the dead from a recent bout with the plague? A similar scene played out at the 2004 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla., last week:

GOLF INDUSTRY OFFICIAL 1: "Bring our your dead!"

GOLF INDUSTRY OFFICIAL 2: "Here's one."

PGA MERCHANDISE SHOW: "I'm not dead!"

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To the contrary! The PGA Merchandise Show is alive and kicking; flourishing, even in the absence of mega-booths from Taylor Made and Ping. And rumor has it this could have been Cleveland's final go at the Show. To that, we likely attendees of the '05 edition say, "Aloha means goodbye."

Over 40,000 PGA Professionals, retailers and industry professionals from around the world visited with nearly 1,200 golf related exhibitors and participated in a multitude of Show programs during the five-day shindig. Now that the PGA Show Merchandise Show has demonstrated that it isn't dependent upon OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) for its existence, we can forge ahead with gear-head life as we know it.

Here's one man's roundup from a few days spent hanging out on International Drive.

Tee it up and test it -- Show me the person who doesn't want to start smacking new golf balls with new equipment five minutes after setting foot on the exhibit floor and I'll show you someone without a pulse. The Show finally figured this out, and in a big way. Some 4,500 PGA Professionals, golf buyers and media tested the latest products from nearly 60 companies at "Demo Day" at Orange County National Golf Center.

Meanwhile, back indoors, was the debut of the Equipment Testing Center on spacious driving range inside the Orange County Convention Center. The line of PGA Professionals and buyers waiting to participate looked like opening day for The Lord of the Rings, Return of the King.

Shoe-in -- There's a new kid on the golf shoe block and these are not your father's golf kicks. Denmark-based ECCO unveiled its 04 line of shoe styles, ranging from classic leather wings and saddles to funky men's and women's fashions that should grab even Jesper Parnevik and Charles Howell III's attention. ECCO has actually been in business since the early 60s, but the leap into golf came in earnest three years ago.

Golf division manager Per Aagren is leading the company's charge into the Foot Joy/Etonic/Nike dominated market. This might sound about as prudent as Tom Cruise and Ken Wantanabe's charge into the Japanese army's howitzer gun arsenal in The Last Samurai.

But Aagren has a plan. The young Swede plans to keep ECCO on the high end of the market by producing the most stylish, comfortable product in the industry and charging accordingly: ECCO's retail for between $100 and $350. Helping the cause is a new playing endorsement with PGA Tour young gun Aaron Baddeley. For more information on ECCO, log on to ecco.com.

Club buzz -- Callaway may not have had the boisterous, behemoth booth (if you can call it that) it was once known for. But the venerable clubmaker made some noise in the Equipment Testing Center with its new ERC Fusion Fairways woods. A sharply dressed David Toms was on hand to model Tommy Hilfiger's 04 line of men's golf apparel.

Cleveland's new TA6 and CG1 blade irons where left to fend for themselves, and did quite well, thanks for asking. Need a darkhorse? Feel Golf's new TiCn "Wet" Driver created a solid buzz among industry types. The company claims its new copper-titanium club face reduces ball spin by 1850 to 2000 RPM, thus increasing hang time by 30%. In an unrelated story, vast amounts of copper and titanium were ordered by NFL punters.

Getting the shaft -- Only in this space can we get away with saying "the shaft gets no love." But amid all the hullabaloo about clubs, balls, and fashion, golf shafts often get the shaft. Too bad, because clubmakers agree the shaft is the most overlooked component of the golf club. Proof? All this talk about Phil Mickelson's resurgence following his win at the Bob Hope two weeks ago and not a single mention about his switch to a Graphite Design International shaft in his driver.

GDI already dominates the market share of shafts on OEM sets and his quietly becoming the shaft of choice on the Champions and PGA Tours. In addition to Lefty, the Darrell Survey reported that Jonathan Kaye used GDI's YS-7 shaft in his driver and GDI's Purple Ice shaft in his 3-wood. Little wonder that GDI Vice President Robb Schikner predicts that graphite shafts will eventually replace metal shafts in irons on Tour. Think graphite is for slow swing speeds? GDI's GAT series iron shafts can be manufactured in heavier weights than their steel counterparts.

Technology, what technology -- Seven notable golf collectors - Jeff Ellis, Mark Emerson, Richard Donovan, Ronnie Watts, Tim Butler, Wayne Aaron and Jim Espinosa - appraised a multitude of items of golf memorabilia presented by PGA Merchandise Show attendees. Items included books, clubs and balls, printed programs and periodicals, and tournament medals.

Ellis, whose estimated $6 million collection of antique clubs has been on display throughout the Show, said the hand-tooled golf bag dated to the early 20th century. He appraised it at $3,000. Further proof you should hang on to those old golf books: the first two volumes of "Golf: A Weekly Record of the Royal & Ancient Game," were appraised at $2,000. The volumes were bound and contained a year's worth of issues from 1889-1890.

Pure shock value award goes to -- Proderma Products, LLC, manufacturers of sun and skin care products for golfers. Proderma officials trotted out the "Oh My God" machine in an attempt to put the fear of the same entity in golfers who've neglected to use sunscreen over the years. Willing participants could insert their head into the OMG machine, gaze into a mirror illuminated by an ultraviolet light, and check out the sun damage they've brought upon their mugs over the years. Dead skin cells showed up white while damaged cells displayed in purple. Not a pretty scene, but very necessary in educating the masses.

The 19th Hole -- The PGA Show has traditionally hosted a 19th hole full of golf related leisure activities. Wish I could tell you more about it, but they put the Amstel Beer Garden to close to the front.

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.