The PGA Show is open to industry professionals and was held Jan 24th - 27th in Orlando, FL. It was a wonderful week that showed the golf industry as a whole is doing well. Thousands of golf industry attendees and hundreds of exhibitors were on hand this year and we met many wonderful people as a result.
To start we want to highlight that we got to meet people from companies we already work with. You have probably seen Golf Nola promote GolfFOREVER with a Free shipping code (GOLFNOLA) and Tifosi Optics with a 15% off code (golf_nola1) but this was the first time we met everyone in person. It was truly a wonderful experience as the people that work for these companies are so passionate about their products and they treated us amazingly. It was truly a wonderful experience with them.
The week starts with a demo day where industry professionals can test the latest products and equipment. Unfortunately, it was so busy we did not get to test a lot of equipment but we were able to learn about some new things and see them in action. It was especially great to see old friends at Bridgestone Golf and see their new golf ball fitting system called OTTO in person. The Demo day also featured special guests at each booth such as Lexi Thompson and Kyle Berkshire. They would demonstrate the equipment they use and talk with spectators while also taking questions. This was a great start to what would become a great week.
The rest of the week is held in Orlando's Orange County Convention Center. This is where every company that attends has a booth. Form Apparel to Equipment and everything in between. This is where we met some of the greatest people and experienced many more products. There were many that we were familiar with and some that we knew nothing about. One of the coolest experiences was to see what Toptracer does for golf ranges. They bring technology to outdoor ranges to improve practice and make it fun. We hope to help them bring that technology to golf ranges in the New Orleans area.
Speaking of the range technology, seeing the Full Swing Golf launch monitor known as the Full Swing Kit was a great experience to see how far launch monitor technology has come. They have everything you need to improve your game by knowing your numbers and it is in a very portable device you can take anywhere. What we loved best about it was they focus on the data you want and need to improve first and foremost and the simulator software is secondary. They do great on the simulators they make but for this device, even though it's available for it, they kept it simple for those that take golf a bit more seriously than others.
We could go on and on about all the great products but we mention the two above for one main reason. They had some of the nicest people we met all week. Harleston Apparel and Mizuno Golf were also two companies it was amazing to meet and talk with. We learned so much about these two companies while we were there. Other companies that had great people you will learn more about in the coming weeks as we do a few product reviews about them and their products. They are Precision Pro Golf, Putt Out, Tour Aim Golf, Reflo Apparel, and GN Collection Apparel. These are all companies Golf Nola would do business with, in a heartbeat, solely because of they we were treated and the respect they showed us. Also because they make a quality product we would use or wear personally.
The same can not be said about all companies. There were some very rude companies we came across. Some wouldn't even acknowledge you even when trying to get someone's attention to ask a question. These were also some of the biggest and most popular companies at the show. Companies that many golf courses and retail stores would want their products in. After these experiences, we are not sure how anyone would want to do business with these companies. Not only was it hard to just talk to anyone in these booths but forget even trying to ask a question or try to set up a meeting with them. We watched one of them treat someone we know, who not only owns several golf courses but also already carries hundreds of thousands of dollars of that company's products, as if he was someone begging on the streets. Last we heard he was pulling all that product from all of his golf courses. It was bad enough that we will never promote any of the products from Under Armor, Srixon Golf, Cobra Golf, Ahead, or FootJoy as a result.
Other than that minor thing we learned a lot and made some new friends and business connections. Overall the week was amazing and about 90% of why we went down there worked out how we had hoped. There will be some new things coming to Golf Nola over the next couple of weeks and months as a direct result of our week at the PGA Show.
We look forward to a great 2023 and all the upgrades and changes Golf Nola will have coming to bring you a better experience to grow gol finthe greatest New Orleans area.
Comments