The 63rd PGA Merchandise Show, the industry’s annual “MAJOR of Golf Business,” came to a close Jan. 29, in Orlando, after successfully marking the kickoff to the PGA of America’s Centennial Celebration and welcoming more than 42,000 golf industry professionals from 91 countries around the world.
For those who have never been, here is the week at a glance from my perspective. To preface, for the last year or so, I’ve been the Creative Services Manager for the Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company. The last few months a lot of my time has been dedicated to prepping for the PGA Show.
Our staff stayed in two houses that were about 30 minutes outside of Orlando. The Marketing Team stayed in one house and the Sales/Executive Team stayed in another. Tyler was designated as the van driver for our house.
Terry Koehler, our President/CEO insisted on cooking dinner for the staff on several occasions and I have to admit, we were all very impressed! Everything he made for the 15 or 16 of us was pretty tasty.
The first day of the PGA Show is called Demo Day. Thousands of PGA Professionals and invited golf retailers then previewed and personally test the newest equipment, training aids and accessories from more than 100 top golf companies at the 42-acre practice facility, to create the world’s largest professional golf demo event.
We had about 100 feet on the range and when we arrived first thing in the morning, the whole team worked together to set everything up.
Here is a pic of the on-site staff for this year’s PGA Show.
While I was walking around trying to get ideas for next year, I was able to meet PGA Tour player Bubba Watson and ride on Golf Board. It was awesome.
It’s exciting to see our staff get interviewed about the product and to hear how excited everyone is for our new products.
Despite everyone being on their feet for the entire day, everyone was in such high spirits.
One of my tasks throughout the year is to work with the DesignShop and create our booth. Last year our booth was more enclosed and this year we decided to knock down the walls and give it more of an open flow.
Katelyn and Melinda manned the front desk and directed people towards our product. The Sales Team answered any and all questions about the product and I took photos of everyone.
I also managed to find another Golf Board. Below is one of the magazine ads I created that was printed in the PGA Show Directory.
Being at the PGA Show is overwhelming because of how large the convention center is but you often run into people you haven’t seen for a while. Zach was a former co-worker at the TGA and it was fun catching up with him. He know works in national accounts for Callaway.
I also ran into Bill, who was another co-worker from the TGA. He is now with Insperity.
The biggest blast from the past was seeing Ray, who is the head golf professional at Elkins Lake Country Club. Our family membership in Huntsville was at Elkins and I’ve known Ray since I was probably in 2nd grade. It was great to see him.
Rick Shiels is a pretty big YouTube golf personality who has done a lot of great reviews of our products. Tyler was pretty excited to meet him. PGA Tour golfer Hal Sutton also stopped by our booth to meet with Terry.
All in all, I think it’s safe to say that this year was a success for the Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company at the 2016 PGA Merchandise Show. In fact, we were considered show stoppers. If the pictures above weren’t enough for you, please enjoy this recap video. 🙂