Although not the granddaddy PGA Golf Show entertaining the masses in Florida right now, your local golf and travel show is still worth attending.

With the weather below 5 degrees in Cincinnati right now, I really had nothing better to do than check out the Cincinnati Golf Show this chilly Sunday morning.

These golf shows are nothing but an upscale golfer’s flea market and golf travel exposition. If you seek a good deal on new golf clubs, or are looking for a hard to find set of used clubs, definitely drop the $10 entry ticket on the last day of the show to pick up a good deal.

The majority of the retailers were the biggie wholesalers such as Rockbottomgolf.com (selling mostly junk I might add) and other internet golf shops one has never heard of. Here is a quick recap of some of the great deals that I saw here this morning:

This vendor had just about every top wedge in these giant bins, all for under $60 brand new.

Cobra Carbon CB irons, that were practically new for $400. If my wife had not warned me about NOT spending any money I would have purchased them right on the spot. A few feet further down the aisle was a set of brand new Titleist Forged 695 CB irons for $499, oh man, how I badly wanted to buy those. I saw many, many vendors violating the Ping MAP pricing and closing out g5’s and i5’s with 3 black nickel Ping Tour Wedges as well for only $519. I quickly walked away before the VISA gods in my wallet took over. I even saw a set of i10 irons (which I already own) for $599. That’s a steal and way under Ping MAP pricing. I saw a few near mint sets of Hogan forged irons for less than $275. I also saw a sweet set of Nike forged blades, barely used (probably difficult to hit) for 60% off retail new. I am always amazed when I see used Ping ISI irons still holding their value at over $450 used for a set of irons. I bought a set of nickel ISI’s 3 years ago for $425, so their value is only going upwards. Taylor Made, Cleveland, Callaway, you name it you could find it used at a great price. The great thing about golf shows is that money talks, especially on the last day of the show. These prices are not written in stone. These people are here because they need to move all of this stuff. Offer a fair price and you’ll save even more, especially if it’s cash in your wallet. If you seek a new, or used wedge, this was the place to be. Just about everything, except the Titleist Vokey wedges ($10 cheaper than retail) were half off and if you went the used route, even better at under $30 bucks.

If you seek a quality set of used irons at below eBay prices, you’ll find what you seek here.

The new Nike IC series putters, which somehow shoehorned themselves onto the Golf Digest Hotlist this year, were on sale for only $100. I checked them out very closely and they are much more ugly in person than in the magazine.  If you are in the minority and like them, wait a bit longer, you’ll be able to get them for less than $50 in no time.

Nike really missed the boat on these IC putters. In my opinion, not so easy on the eyes ! They are olive drab and not dark silver as they appear in this picture.

The best deals however, were in clothing, shoes, golf gloves and golf balls.  I purchased three dozen, Nike One Platinum golf balls for $64.95. That is a real steal, they only had three dozen, left or I would have purchased 3 dozen more.  On my way out the door I bought 13 used, but in nice shape Titleist Pro V1X’s for $5 just to make sure I had enough golf balls in time for spring.  These golf shows are a great place to stock up on golf gloves as well. Most were 2 or even 3 for the price of one. Many of the golf destinations in the Southeast were well represented offering golf destination packages as well.

If my wife hadn’t already warned me about spending a lot, these would have made it into my bag for less than $500 new.

Although the Cincinnati golf show is quite small in scale compared to the golf show I attended last winter in Novi, Michigan good deals were all over the place here.  Next year, I won’t tell my wife where I am going!

So, if you have nothing better to do on a cold weekend in the Midwest, stop in at your local golf show for some good deals and golf travel information for your next golf trip.