Editor’s Note: Brickyard Crossing PGA Head Professional Jeff Schroeder is attending the 55th PGA Merchandise Show from Jan. 17-19 in Orlando, Fla., a huge gathering of PGA Golf Professionals to preview new merchandise for the upcoming season. Schroeder will share his impressions through this series of blogs.
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Day 2 (Friday, Jan. 18) here at the show is a little more subdued and quiet, which is normal after the opening day. Today we are going to spend some time just walking around and looking at some different items.
The big buzz in equipment is adjustable shafts. Club manufacturers now make woods so that shafts are interchangeable. It has been approved by the USGA and is conforming to the Rules of Golf. This will allow golfers to have multiple shafts and be able to remove them and put in a different one to fit their game without having to send it away to be reshafted. Most of the major companies offer this, including Callaway, Nike and Taylor Made.
At the show, the busiest place seems to be the Equipment Test Center. This is a 180-foot deep indoor hitting area that allows the show attendees to try the new clubs being offered this year. There are 45 hitting bays, and more than 400,000 golf balls have been hit into the nets.
At the other end of the spectrum, which also happens to be the other end of the convention center, another busy area is the Fashion Show. Here the apparel companies put their new clothing on models, who walk the runways. I’m not really into this, but I did sit through one and learned that colors for fall are a lot more colorful than in the past.
Some news for the Brickyard this week is that we will be getting the new EZGO RXV golf cart in late February. This is state-of-the-art technology in golf carts that has been worked on for about three years. Hope to have a picture to post here on Monday.
A few celeb sightings today with Paula Creamer, Christina Kim, “Big Break” star Gerry James and famous teaching professionals Jim McClean, Jimmy Ballard and David Leadbetter.
On Monday, we will report on the new product sections and talk about some golf gadgets you won’t believe are being sold.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing