Tag: 2017

  • 2017 PGA Show – 6 More Standout Products

    2017 PGA Show – 6 More Standout Products

    We’ve been walking around the 2017 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando for a few days and we’re overwhelmed as usual with the sheer size of it and the volume of information that is available to attendees. Day two at the show was more of the same. With over 1000 companies exhibiting their products & services it’s impossible to see everything, but we managed to highlight 6 companies on day one and for day two we’re drawing attention to 6 more that made an impression on us.

    Hole More Putts

    Hole More Putts

    All the way from Dublin, Ireland, Hole More Putts has designed an ingenious tablet device that analyzes your putting stroke, calculates a score based on five key metrics and even shows you specific drills to help work on your weaknesses. The technology is similar to something I’ve used before called the SAM Putt Lab but is far more affordable, portable and easy to use. This product will have a significant impact for avid golfers and golf instructors and deserves a feature length review, which we will have right here very soon!

    EVNROLL

    EVNROLL

    Mad scientist Guerin Rife has been designing putters for years, and his latest endeavor is going to make big waves. You may recognize the name from his former company Rife Golf. Rife was the first to put grooves on the face of a putter over 20 years ago – a design that is copied all over golf now. Having moved on from Rife Golf, he started EVNROLL in 2015 and is now making some of the best performing putters in golf. EVNROLL’s unique milled grooves use gear effect to actually steer mis-hit putts back on line with dramatic results.

    Golf Buddy WTX

    Golf Buddy WTX

    Golf Buddy has been one of my favorite gadget companies in recent years, and they continue to innovate and make easy and fun to use distance measuring devices for golf. The Golf Buddy PT4 is one of the best full screen handheld GPS devices on the market, with a bright color screen and lots of cool features. This year Golf Buddy gives us the WTX watch. The only GPS watch that gives you a hole layout view in color along with plenty of other info. It comes pre-loaded with 38,000 courses, syncs with your smartphone and even adjusts the green view based on the golfer’s position. I can’t wait to try this one out.

    Frogger Latch-it Ecosystem

    I’ve known Frogger Golf founder and CEO Jeremiah Bohannon for about 5 years. He’s one of the good guys in the golf industry, and just happens to make very high quality golf accessories. With the digital revolution that led to golfers having all manner of gadgets, people need a way to manage them all. Frogger has solved the issue with their clever Latch-It ecosystem. It enables you to quickly mount and unmount your GPS, laser rangefinder, towel, brush and smartphone to your golf cart, bag or even yourself. It uses a magnetic closure system and locks into place with a dynamic lock so it won’t fall off. I stopped by Frogger’s booth this year to thank Jeremiah personally for this product, and the very next day it was named Best New Product at the 2017 PGA Show. Clearly he’s doing something right!

    Chef’s Cut jerky

    Tucked away in some of the less travelled back aisles of the PGA Show was Chef’s Cut Jerky, but you couldn’t tell they were in a small booth by the size of the lines out front to sample their amazing jerky. After sampling their many flavors of jerky and meat sticks, I found myself coming back again and again like that one house on Halloween when I was a kid that used to give out full cans of coke. While Chef’s Cut jerky isn’t a “golf” product, it was born on the golf course and became a huge hit because of golf. As far as a mid-round snack it works well. Low in fat and high in protein, jerky is my favorite snack, and now Chef’s Cut if my favorite jerky.

    PerryGolf

    If you’ve ever wanted to spend a week playing golf in Scotland or Ireland, then PerryGolf is a good place to start looking. They are probably the number one tour company in golf, offering cruises and guided trips for guys, gals and couples to destinations all over the world. New for 2018 are guided trips to Argentina. The 11 night vacation includes six rounds of golf and plenty of activities to make your vacation a truly memorable one. A week of golf in Scotland is still at the top of my personal bucket list. Perhaps with the help of PerryGolf I’ll make it a reality very soon!

  • 2016 Year in Review

    Arnold Palmer2016 was an interesting year in golf. As it does almost every year, the golf world started the year with great optimism and enthusiasm at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. However, it wasn’t all good news for the game of golf in 2016. Let’s take a look back at the highs and lows of the year in golf.

    Major Pro Tours

    Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson finally broke through and won majors, Jason Day had another great season and finished the year at #1 in the world, and Justin Rose won the first Olympic gold medal in golf since 1904.

    The LPGA Tour continued to be dominated by countries other than the USA, with players from Asian countries winning 19/35 events, and other winners coming from New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Canada, Spain and Germany. Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn won 5 times, including a major and captured the money list, CME Globe and Player of the Year honors. South Korea’s Inbee Park won the gold medal for her country at the Olympics.

    As far as records go, it’ll be hard to top Jim Furyk’s 58 he shot in the final round of the Travelers Championship, beating his record tying 59 from 2013 by a shot. He hit all 18 greens on his way to the lowest round in PGA Tour history, made all the more amazing considering he shot a very sloppy 74 the day before, hitting only 5 fairways.

    Oh yeah, and some guy named Tiger showed up at a tournament in the Bahamas…

    Golf Business

    While some great new products hit the market in 2016, the biggest business story of the year was the uncertainty and failure of a couple of big names. After many years with un-Nike-like market share and quirky club design ideas, Nike decided to pull the plug on their golf equipment division, meaning (among other things) Nike staffers like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy & Michelle Wie will be highly sought after for equipment deals. Nike continues to be a major player in golf apparel and footwear however, recently signing Jason Day away to a multi year deal.

    Well known golf & tennis retailer Golfsmith went into bankruptcy and was subsequently purchased by Dick’s Sporting Goods. Most Golfsmith stores will close, with only the most profitable locations staying open or being rebranded under the Golf Galaxy brand. Sports industry giant adidas has not-so-quietly been trying to sell off the Taylor-Made/Adams Golf brand, with no takers in sight. Cleveland Golf has been reduced to basically just a wedge company since parent company SRI Sports has focused on building their Srixon brand in the US market.

    Golf Equipment & Accessories

    Due to the limits the USGA has imposed on performance of golf clubs and balls, we probably won’t see many significant advances in club technology in the coming years, but some great new products surprised me nevertheless.

    While not new in 2016, alternative golf transport like the Golf Skate Caddy and the Golfboard started to hit the mainstream. After one round I was hooked and made several trips to golf courses strictly because they had Golfboards.

    Putter designer Guerin Rife has been quiet for a few years since his ugly separation from the company that bore his name – Rife Golf. He’s was back in 2016 with Evnroll, a new putter design that is among the best ever tested according to the folks at mygolfspy.com. While we haven’t tried them yet on the golf course (only indoors), I’m very eager to report on their effectiveness in the real world as well.

    Perhaps the most impactful driver of 2016 was Knuth Golf’s High Heat driver. You may not have heard of it because they don’t have commercials on TV or PGA Tour pros playing with it, but that’s because it wasn’t designed for PGA Tour pros. It was designed to perform best for average amateur golfers, and that is one promise it lives up to.

    The biggest “oopsie” of the year goes to Wilson Golf, who invested heavily in a reality show competition on the Golf Channel that pitted teams of designers against each other to come up with the company’s latest driver. Eventually a winner was chosen and the club was marketed as the Wilson Staff Triton and hit the market immediately after the final TV episode. Unfortunately, the USGA had not approved it yet. While the issue appears to have been related to the timing of the show and the desire to keep the results secret until the final episode, it was pie in the face for Wilson Golf and spoiled their product launch to a degree.

    The King

    Probably the biggest story in golf this past year was the passing of Arnold Palmer. There’s no need to go into all the reasons why he was so important to the game, because I could fill a page with that alone. The King seemed to touch everyone who plays the game in different ways, and other than maybe Jack Nicklaus, there isn’t anyone in golf that is more universally loved and respected than Arnold Palmer was. His memory and his legacy will live on forever,

    Looking Forward

    As always, we look ahead into 2017 with hope and optimism. I for one enter 2017 with renewed passion and commitment for the game, as I’ve joined a golf club for the first time ever. I intend to use the membership not only to enjoy the game I love more often, but to take advantage of the club’s unrestricted walking policy (Not an easy thing to find in Florida these days) to lose weight. Walking 9 holes early in the morning certainly beats marching on a treadmill!

    The PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando is just around the corner, and I look forward to catching up with my industry friends again. What started as an annual display of all the cool new stuff has now become a yearly social gathering for me. I’m less excited about new products as I am about old friends.

    Having taken part in the WAGC’s World Finals in Turkey in 2015, I joined the WAGT in the US and look forward to the challenge of qualifying for Team USA once again, this time in Malaysia!