Opinion & Analysis

Orlando Follies: A history of the PGAM Show

Published

9 years ago

Jan 29, 2015

First, a disclaimer. After my previous story a comment appeared under the name Barney Adams that essentially said cut the crap with the Mickey Mouse criticism. While I appreciate the person’s support it wasn’t posted by me; I have plenty of scars from being a visible person over the years. I’ve been praised and ripped — it’s the norm. If my wife even considered the thought that there were two of me, the shock would be overwhelming.

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For those of you who have never attended the PGA Merchandise Show, think of it as golfer nirvana. The Orlando Convention Center, which is more than 2 million square feet, displays everything you could think of that is associated with the game — clubs to clothes and in this era, electronics and computer-aided analysis.

For all the passionate golfers out there, it doesn’t get any better and that doesn’t count the dozens of seminars available to PGA professionals. Today, the Show starts off with Demo Day, which is outdoors and open to the public, and it is followed by three days of industry-only attendance inside the convention center that is truly a golf spectacle.

The Show started in 1954 (where were you 61 years ago?) and parallels can be drawn between it and the golf industry. Back in 1954, it was some reps showing their products on the putting green at Dunedin Golf Club in Florida where the Senior PGA championship was being held. It “expanded” to the parking lot, car trunks, display tables and the game was on.

In those days you could accurately describe the industry as an “old boys club” — basically friends getting together. The equipment world was one of forged blades and persimmon with a little maple thrown in. Pioneers like Ernie Sabayrac and Dick Tarlow were introducing the radical idea of carrying golf shoes and eventually clothing in golf shops. For the better part of the next 20 years, the Show had multiple locations and as late as 1977 exhibitors used the ballroom at the Disney Contemporary Hotel with smaller companies in small adjoining rooms.

What happened that the Show went from hotel rooms to the gigantic Orlando Convention Center? By far the single largest impetus occurred in a courtroom. In 1970, it was ruled that the practice of restricting “pro-line” clubs to PGA onsite golf shops was a restraint of trade. A store called Golf City in New Orleans made this claim and while contested by all the major manufacturers and the PGA itself the ruling was made. Hello retail!

Prior, there was pro-line equipment and store-line equipment and the former was considered superior and could only be purchased from your local PGA pro. It didn’t happen overnight, but with that ruling the equipment-selling game changed. The best golf equipment could be purchased directly by retailers, sold at whatever prices they chose and the industry would never be the same.

There were some holdouts who did their best to keep retail pricing in line with what the manufacturer suggested (Ping to this day), and some others who positioned themselves as selling to pro shop only. But on the whole the pro shops ceased to be a major factor (about 10 percent of sales), retail took over and there was a huge emphasis for manufacturers to supply technical improvement.

IN A PHRASE, MORE DISTANCE!

This so alarmed the USGA that it instituted the coefficient of restitution (COR) or spring-like limit of 0.860 in 2003 amended it to 0.830, defining max ball speed in the center of the face where it stands today. All of this coincided with the boom in amateur golf, a 50 percent increase from 1985 to 2005.

I was there during the boom years and it’s almost hard to describe, surreal in a way. For example, Callaway and Cobra were Carlsbad rivals and the Show became a case of booth one-upmanship. I promise their booths were bigger than the original outing in Florida, and they were close to each other. If one had music, the other had more… celebrities, golf pros, etc.. They were a show in themselves and very successful companies I might add.

The Show had “Main Street,” which is where the prominent companies were located, and attendees were not the golfing public but buyers. Translation: You wanted to be on or just off Main Street to get the traffic flow.

I can remember as a growing company having very mixed feelings about the Show. I started in a small booth in the back near the restrooms and we ended up on Main Street. It sounds like success and in a way it was, but it was very conflicting. The giant booths, celebrity guests, cocktail parties, did not withstand a ROI analysis. Fortunately our large booth had been purchased used and refurbished for our needs. Knowing this abated some of the cost anxiety.

ON THE ONE HAND, YOU FELT LIKE YOU HAD TO BE PART OF THE PARTY. ON THE OTHER YOU WERE THINKING, “WHY AM I SPENDING THIS MONEY? IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE?”

I used the title Orlando Follies for this article, and when you look up the definition of the word follies “lack of good sense” leads the definitions.

To wit, the Show is an international show. When you buy space you are essentially saying you are ready to compete in that environment, otherwise why attend? I realize there are some small displays with neat ideas looking for a partner, someone to help them in the marketplace, but let’s talk about companies making golf clubs because their time is at hand to compete with the big boys.

I kept records of the companies that attended the PGA Merchandise Show each year, so I got out my old show books and counted in excess of 110 equipment companies that attended the Show between 1990 and 2002 — certainly a sustained period of industry growth. These companies are no longer significant competitors. Some are web sites, some were bought up by retailers for the brand name but they are in “other “ when it comes to market share. Follies influenced their presence, reality surfaced.

It was the people at Ping in 2003 who came up with a solution. They stopped attending! I remember thinking, who better? I wish I had Ping’s courage (and market position) and what it proved was that not attending had zero effect on the company’s business. Others got the message, booth sizes shrunk if not disappeared altogether and the music died.

Further, there was a seismic shift in the retail market. All those buyers from small shops and chains gave way to five major retail operations buying for multiple stores. That meant that most of the upcoming year’s buying decisions were made well before the Show started. It’s now about sell through, not sell in.

Like all major shifts in the pendulum, it seldom stops in the middle. The PGA Merchandise Show went from a bonanza when Reed Exhibitions bought it in 1992 to partial building occupation 15 years later. I don’t go any more — no reason and haven’t been for years. I still have old friends in the business and they tell me the Show is moving back to some of its former luster, especially with the big consumer Demo Day.

I was fortunate to see the Show develop first hand, starting with hotel rooms at the Disney Contemporary to the days of the giant booths. Follies, yes, but remember the word is associated with good times!

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans betting preview

Published

21 hours ago

Apr 22, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

The PGA TOUR heads to New Orleans to play the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In a welcome change from the usual stroke play, the Zurich Classic is a team event. On Thursday and Saturday, the teams play best ball, and on Friday and Sunday the teams play alternate shot.

TPC Louisiana is a par 72 that measures 7,425 yards. The course features some short par 4s and plenty of water and bunkers, which makes for a lot of exciting risk/reward scenarios for competitors. Pete Dye designed the course in 2004 specifically for the Zurich Classic, although the event didn’t make its debut until 2007 because of Hurricane Katrina.

Coming off of the Masters and a signature event in consecutive weeks, the field this week is a step down, and understandably so. Many of the world’s top players will be using this time to rest after a busy stretch.

However, there are some interesting teams this season with some stars making surprise appearances in the team event. Some notable teams include Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala as well as a few Canadian teams, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners.

Past Winners at TPC Louisiana

2023: Riley/Hardy (-30)
2022: Cantlay/Schauffele (-29)
2021: Leishman/Smith (-20)
2019: Palmer/Rahm (-26)
2018: Horschel/Piercy (-22)
2017: Blixt/Smith (-27)

2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Picks

Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy +2500 (DraftKings)

Tom Hoge is coming off of a solid T18 finish at the RBC Heritage and finished T13 at last year’s Zurich Classic alongside Harris English.

This season, Hoge is having one of his best years on Tour in terms of Strokes Gained: Approach. In his last 24 rounds, the only player to top him on the category is Scottie Scheffler. Hoge has been solid on Pete Dye designs, ranking 28th in the field over his past 36 rounds.

McNealy is also having a solid season. He’s finished T6 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T9 at the PLAYERS Championship. He recently started working with world renowned swing coach, Butch Harmon, and its seemingly paid dividends in 2024.

Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen +4000 (DraftKings)

Keith Mitchell is having a fantastic season, finishing in the top-20 of five of his past seven starts on Tour. Most recently, Mitchell finished T14 at the Valero Texas Open and gained a whopping 6.0 strokes off the tee. He finished 6th at last year’s Zurich Classic.

Joel Dahmen is having a resurgent year and has been dialed in with his irons. He also has a T11 finish at the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass which is another Pete Dye track. With Mitchell’s length and Dahmen’s ability to put it close with his short irons, the Mitchell/Dahmen combination will be dangerous this week.

Taylor Moore/Matt NeSmith +6500 (DraftKings)

Taylor Moore has quickly developed into one of the more consistent players on Tour. He’s finished in the top-20 in three of his past four starts, including a very impressive showing at The Masters, finishing T20. He’s also finished T4 at this event in consecutive seasons alongside Matt NeSmith.

NeSmith isn’t having a great 2024, but has seemed to elevate his game in this format. He finished T26 at Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass, which gives the 30-year-old something to build off of. NeSmith is also a great putter on Bermudagrass, which could help elevate Moore’s ball striking prowess.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 LIV Adelaide betting preview: Cam Smith ready for big week down under

Published

21 hours ago

Apr 22, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

After having four of the top twelve players on the leaderboard at The Masters, LIV Golf is set for their fifth event of the season: LIV Adelaide.

For both LIV fans and golf fans in Australia, LIV Adelaide is one of the most anticipated events of the year. With 35,000 people expected to attend each day of the tournament, the Grange Golf Club will be crawling with fans who are passionate about the sport of golf. The 12th hole, better known as “the watering hole”, is sure to have the rowdiest of the fans cheering after a long day of drinking some Leishman Lager.

The Grange Golf Club is a par-72 that measures 6,946 yards. The course features minimal resistance, as golfers went extremely low last season. In 2023, Talor Gooch shot consecutive rounds of 62 on Thursday and Friday, giving himself a gigantic cushion heading into championship Sunday. Things got tight for a while, but in the end, the Oklahoma State product was able to hold off The Crushers’ Anirban Lahiri for a three-shot victory.

The Four Aces won the team competition with the Range Goats finishing second.

*All Images Courtesy of LIV Golf*

Past Winners at LIV Adelaide

2023: Talor Gooch (-19)

Stat Leaders Through LIV Miami

Green in Regulation

Richard Bland
Jon Rahm
Paul Casey

Fairways Hit

Abraham Ancer
Graeme McDowell
Henrik Stenson

Driving Distance

Bryson DeChambeau
Joaquin Niemann
Dean Burmester

Putting

Cameron Smith
Louis Oosthuizen
Matt Jones

2024 LIV Adelaide Picks

Cameron Smith +1400 (DraftKings)

When I pulled up the odds for LIV Adelaide, I was more than a little surprised to see multiple golfers listed ahead of Cameron Smith on the betting board. A few starts ago, Cam finished runner-up at LIV Hong Kong, which is a golf course that absolutely suits his eye. Augusta National in another course that Smith could roll out of bed and finish in the top-ten at, and he did so two weeks ago at The Masters, finishing T6.

At Augusta, he gained strokes on the field on approach, off the tee (slightly), and of course, around the green and putting. Smith able to get in the mix at a major championship despite coming into the week feeling under the weather tells me that his game is once again rounding into form.

The Grange Golf Club is another course that undoubtedly suits the Australian. Smith is obviously incredibly comfortable playing in front of the Aussie faithful and has won three Australian PGA Championship’s. The course is very short and will allow Smith to play conservative off the tee, mitigating his most glaring weakness. With birdies available all over the golf course, there’s a chance the event turns into a putting contest, and there’s no one on the planet I’d rather have in one of those than Cam Smith.

Louis Oosthuizen +2200 (DraftKings)

Louis Oosthuizen has simply been one of the best players on LIV in the 2024 seas0n. The South African has finished in the top-10 on the LIV leaderboard in three of his five starts, with his best coming in Jeddah, where he finished T2. Perhaps more impressively, Oosthuizen finished T7 at LIV Miami, which took place at Doral’s “Blue Monster”, an absolutely massive golf course. Given that Louis is on the shorter side in terms of distance off the tee, his ability to play well in Miami shows how dialed he is with the irons this season.

In addition to the LIV finishes, Oosthuizen won back-to-back starts on the DP World Tour in December at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Mauritus Open. He also finished runner-up at the end of February in the International Series Oman. The 41-year-old has been one of the most consistent performers of 2024, regardless of tour.

For the season, Louis ranks 4th on LIV in birdies made, T9 in fairways hit and first in putting. He ranks 32nd in driving distance, but that won’t be an issue at this short course. Last season, he finished T11 at the event, but was in decent position going into the final round but fell back after shooting 70 while the rest of the field went low. This season, Oosthuizen comes into the event in peak form, and the course should be a perfect fit for his smooth swing and hot putter this week.

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Opinion & Analysis

The Wedge Guy: What really makes a wedge work? Part 1

Published

5 days ago

Apr 18, 2024

Terry Koehler

Of all the clubs in our bags, wedges are almost always the simplest in construction and, therefore, the easiest to analyze what might make one work differently from another if you know what to look for.

Wedges are a lot less mysterious than drivers, of course, as the major brands are working with a lot of “pixie dust” inside these modern marvels. That’s carrying over more to irons now, with so many new models featuring internal multi-material technologies, and almost all of them having a “badge” or insert in the back to allow more complex graphics while hiding the actual distribution of mass.

But when it comes to wedges, most on the market today are still single pieces of molded steel, either cast or forged into that shape. So, if you look closely at where the mass is distributed, it’s pretty clear how that wedge is going to perform.

To start, because of their wider soles, the majority of the mass of almost any wedge is along the bottom third of the clubhead. So, the best wedge shots are always those hit between the 2nd and 5th grooves so that more mass is directly behind that impact. Elite tour professionals practice incessantly to learn to do that consistently, wearing out a spot about the size of a penny right there. If impact moves higher than that, the face is dramatically thinner, so smash factor is compromised significantly, which reduces the overall distance the ball will fly.

Every one of us, tour players included, knows that maddening shot that we feel a bit high on the face and it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s not your fault.

If your wedges show a wear pattern the size of a silver dollar, and centered above the 3rd or 4th groove, you are not getting anywhere near the same performance from shot to shot. Robot testing proves impact even two to three grooves higher in the face can cause distance loss of up to 35 to 55 feet with modern ‘tour design’ wedges.

In addition, as impact moves above the center of mass, the golf club principle of gear effect causes the ball to fly higher with less spin. Think of modern drivers for a minute. The “holy grail” of driving is high launch and low spin, and the driver engineers are pulling out all stops to get the mass as low in the clubhead as possible to optimize this combination.

Where is all the mass in your wedges? Low. So, disregarding the higher lofts, wedges “want” to launch the ball high with low spin – exactly the opposite of what good wedge play requires penetrating ball flight with high spin.

While almost all major brand wedges have begun putting a tiny bit more thickness in the top portion of the clubhead, conventional and modern ‘tour design’ wedges perform pretty much like they always have. Elite players learn to hit those crisp, spinny penetrating wedge shots by spending lots of practice time learning to consistently make contact low in the face.

So, what about grooves and face texture?

Grooves on any club can only do so much, and no one has any material advantage here. The USGA tightly defines what we manufacturers can do with grooves and face texture, and modern manufacturing techniques allow all of us to push those limits ever closer. And we all do. End of story.

Then there’s the topic of bounce and grinds, the most complex and confusing part of the wedge formula. Many top brands offer a complex array of sole configurations, all of them admittedly specialized to a particular kind of lie or turf conditions, and/or a particular divot pattern.

But if you don’t play the same turf all the time, and make the same size divot on every swing, how would you ever figure this out?

The only way is to take any wedge you are considering and play it a few rounds, hitting all the shots you face and observing the results. There’s simply no other way.

So, hopefully this will inspire a lively conversation in our comments section, and I’ll chime in to answer any questions you might have.

And next week, I’ll dive into the rest of the wedge formula. Yes, shafts, grips and specifications are essential, too.

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