Ten miles of aisles. One million square feet. Thousands of attendees. The PGA Show has become a yearly tradition as a cornucopia of golf gear, equipment, clothes, and the wacky things people dream up in their garages.
Once again, we were on-site getting the inside scoop on all things golf for the upcoming year. Here’s what you need to know.
Up first we spoke with World Long Drive champion – and Canadian – Jamie Sadlowski. Sadlowski, 31, was putting on his usual display of long-drive power before we put him through The Longest Short Interview Ever. Did you know that the longest bridge in the world is 102 miles? Jamie did!
From there we ended up connecting with Tania Tare, a world-renowned trick-shot artist. Although our host, Adam Stanley, tried his hand at bouncing a ball on his wedge and flipping it over to her – we’re just going to leave the trick shots to the professionals moving forward.
As morning turned into afternoon, all of a sudden all eyes were on the sky as the unmistakable sound of a helicopter was becoming louder and louder. It landed on the driving range and out stepped Lexi Thompson and Greg Norman.
“I played nine holes this morning and then Greg picked me up in his chopper,” Lexi said to us with a smile, as she is competing in an LPGA Tour event in Boca Raton, about a two-hour drive south of Orlando.
We put Lexi Thompson through the Golf Town Speed Round in honour of Cobra Golf’s newest driver release, the SpeedZone. She said her biggest purchase when she first turned professional was a Chevrolet Camaro – speaking of speed!
After Tuesday’s outdoor session, the Golf Town team said ‘Hello Friends’ to the inside of the Orange County Convention Centre with a special interview with iconic broadcaster Jim Nantz. Nantz, who was on-site to launch a new clothing collection, talked about Canadian golf fans and the RBC Canadian Open, plus gave us a pick for the big game this weekend. Chiefs or 49ers? Watch to see Jim’s prediction for the new champs.
From one icon to a pair of icons, our team was able to chat more with both Bob Vokey and Scotty Cameron about their new line-ups for 2020, including the beautifully crafted SM8 wedges and the Special Select line of putters. Scotty Cameron even told a magical story about Tiger Woods’ Masters win in 2019 and how cool it was to see him win wielding his trusty Scotty Cameron Newport 2.
Tiger Woods is using a new ball from Bridgestone this year, the Tour B XS, and the cover features a new material called ‘Reactiv,’ which is basically an impact modifier. One of the members of Bridgestone’s R&D team took our brave host, Adam Stanley’s, phone and, well, you’ll have to see what happened next.
After we swung a hammer we swung a hockey stick with Hall of Famer and five-time Stanley Cup champion Grant Fuhr. When asked what his best day on the golf course was, he said, “There are no bad days on the golf course.” We couldn’t agree more!
Although not a hockey player, we also got to ask World Long Drive champion Kyle Berkshire – who just signed with Callaway Golf – a couple questions about his majestic mane of hair. The long locks would fit just as well under a hockey helmet as they do on the Long Drive circle, and he pumped a few drives on a simulator with more than 200 mph ball speed.
From golden locks to copper plating, one of the coolest clubs we came across this week was the new Mizuno MP-20 irons, plated in a beautiful copper finish! There will only be 500 sets made in the world and Golf Town will have a few of them – so stay tuned for more details on when they’ll be available!
Finally, we checked out a bunch of amazing Canadian companies including Dormie Workshop and 2UNDR. Dormie, a company founded by a trio of brothers in Nova Scotia, makes fine leather goods and headcovers – available now on golftown.com.
2UNDR has quickly become the go-to underwear of choice for men in golf, and were thrilled to continue their partnership with Rickie Fowler. Talk about covering your assets!
We also got to see what Team Canada would be wearing on the golf course in Japan this summer. Golf Town athlete Brooke Henderson will very likely be a part of the team and we can’t wait to see her rocking the Canadian gear from adidas, which will also be available for sale in our stores.
Team Canada will be wearing these this summer and we will be carrying it! @adidasGolf 🇨🇦🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/8g3xQSaNTc
— Golf Town (@GolfTown) January 23, 2020
It was a great week exploring all of the amazing things to come this year. We’ll be on the course again in no time!
Check out Golf Town’s Instagram account for more from the 2020 PGA Merchandise Show!
Awesome. Gives those of us that are unable to attend exactly what we are missing.