Playing the Long Game at the Big Show: Product Highlights from the PGA Merchandise Show
It’s February, and that means the Big Game. Teams compete for an entire season and expend tireless effort—and too many hours to count in the film room—to reach this event. This year’s game didn’t disappoint. (Sorry to all you 49’er fans.)
For your Dormie Network golf teams, our Big Game was played in Orlando, Florida, in late January at the PGA Merchandise Show. Like this year’s game, our event was no disappointment either. But unlike the game on Sunday, which marks the end of the football season, “The Show” is the kickoff to the golf year.
Hosted at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, The Show is an annual event that brings together PGA Professionals, industry leaders, vendors both large and small— as well as a hand full of celebrities—for a four-day trade show unlike any other. The Show floor stretches miles and houses over a thousand vendors and thousands more attendees.
The PGA Merchandise Show was not always as vast. The inaugural PGA Merchandise Show was held in 1954 in the parking lot of PGA National Golf Club in Dunedin, Florida, and just a handful of exhibiters were onsite to show off their product line during the Senior PGA Championship.
Now, in its 66th year, the annual PGA Merchandise Show is as much tradition as it is a networking and continuing education opportunity for PGA Professionals and associates.
The Dormie Network team landed in Orlando with a full week of appointments, educational seminars, and meet-and-greets scheduled. The merchandise managers led the team through a maze of apparel brands and the golf professionals sorted out the equipment companies for the latest technology to advance your game.
Golf and lifestyle brand Johnnie-O has had a strong showing in our Dormie Network Golf Shops over the last year. The Southern California surfer-style brand combines traditional collared polos with fresh color schemes, moisture wicking technology, and detailed logos to create a versatile brand that can be worn on and off the golf course. This fall, members will see new outerwear and layering pieces from Johnnie-O, including light-weight performance pullovers, fleece, pattern-lined jackets that can be worn straight from the course to dinner.
Network brand partner Titleist builds one of the largest booths on the show floor. As you get ready for golf this year, there is a lot to be excited about from Titleist. The long-awaited Vokey SM8 line of wedges is already on tour and will be in our shops soon. Bob Vokey has yet again produced a family of wedges that increase a players’ control and versatility in all conditions. The new SM8 line improve on the prior generation by moving the center of gravity (CG) forward in the face to the leading edge and away from the trailing edge. This provides a greater moment of inertia (MOI), which improves feel. This improved feel is designed to help you with distance control.
In addition to the new wedges, Titleist has redesigned the AVX, TourSoft, Velocity, and TruSoft golf balls. The AVX golf ball combines the premiere feel and softness with the same cover as the ProV1 and ProV1X, but has much less spin from a larger distance driven core. For a player looking to reduce the overall height of the golf ball flight, the reduced spin of the AVX will do just that.
Even with a number of Dormie Network associates attending, it was not possible to see everything. Throughout the week the team met with additional vendors such as: Peter Millar, Fairway & Greene, Zero Restriction, Evolve Golf, and Ralph Lauren.
Please stop by your Dormie Network Golf Shop and visit with your merchandise manager and/or golf professional to learn more about all the exciting apparel, equipment, and accessory choices coming this year!
