THE TINLEY PARK GOLF SHOW RETURNS-FEB. 7-8-9. Doors open at Noon on the 7th, Friday admission is only $5.00, weekend days $10.00. Buy your tickets now online at Tinleyparkconventioncenter.net Contests, prizes and more.
THE 2020 PGA MERCHANDISE SHOW IS UNDERWAY, and Demo Day was loaded with new hot clubs, on a cold and windy day.
THE GOG BLOG by RORY SPEARS, Director of Content and Creation. Follow Rory on Twitter @GogBlogGuy and Linkedin, Facebook and now Instagram.
(Reporting from Orlando)
Demo Day was a cold day, as the 2020 PGA Merchandise Show got off to a chili start. With temperatures in the 50’s, and a very cold wind blowing hard, some demo day goers didn’t last very long.
It was no doubt a tough break for companies showing off their products, especially new ones. For those on the ring-of-range, driving range that is if your product needed some media attention, hopefully you have a booth the next three days in the convention center.
The wind was so strong that if you had a tail wind at your end of the range, you could brag about how far your clubs hit the golf ball. For Chicago based Wilson Golf, your space had people hitting your product right into the teeth of the wind. A yardage loser no doubt.
Wilson Golf President and GM Tim Clarke (L) visited in studio with Golfers on Golf in studio last June.
A yardage gainer is the new and improved Wilson DUO golf ball, that is a low-compression golf ball.
Wilson is making at serious effort to debunk a media story from 2019, that said Wilson’s DUO ball didn’t go very far, because of it’s low compression.
So Clarke and Wilson set out to prove that story wrong. The DUO ball challenge had golfers hitting 3-Titleist Pro-V1’s, and then hitting 3-DUO balls to see which ball went further. I took the test, and my three DUO’s hit with a Wilson D7-7 Iron, went on average, just over 1 yard further than a Pro-V1. Clarke admits the DUO won’t win every time, but it will at times beat out the No.1 ball in golf. I spoke with Clarke about the DUO golf ball and everything else Wilson Golf, and below is our interview from today at demo day.
Click here to hear our interview with Wilson Golf President and GM Tim Clarke.
Clarke has been kind enough to commit to a return visit in studio with Golfers on Golf this summer, and will try to recruit some of his staff players to join us. Stay clicked in for the details on when that will happen.
AFTER WILSON my travels took me to Callaway, then Titleist, followed by Tour Edge, and past the Ping booth, that had a John Deere tractor with a 355 pound Ping putter attached to the front end. Show attendees had a chance to sink the same putt, I made last summer at TPC Deere Run.
AT CALLAWAY the lines were long to hit the new Mavrik Driver, Mavrik Fairway Woods, Mavrik Irons. Callaway appears to have hit another home run with it’s new equipment. I have now hit the Mavrik twice. Once at St. Andrews in 28 degree weather, today in 53 degree weather, with a strong cross wind. The club felt good, and the results of both distance and ball flight were even better.
The new Callaway Jaws wedges by Roger Cleveland are really good. They are a little thinner and sleeker than the Mack-Daddy wedges. The groove patterns are really precise, offering up better spin so your shots around the cup, stay there.
TITLEIST is working hard to get me time tomorrow with Bob Vokey to discuss his new SM8 wedges, I’ll offer more on them after my interview with Vokey.
THE MISTWOOD GOLF DOME in Bolingbrook, is your winter home for golf in the Chicago area. It’s also home to Toptracer and McWethy’s Sportsbar. Enjoy it all today, call (630)-739-7600 for more information. Keep your golf season going all year round at the Mistwood Golf Dome.
BATAVIA BASED Tour Edge Golf had a long line of folks visiting their piece of the range, and not just because they gave away a glass of free beer. There wasn’t many in the beer line, with temperatures where they were, not everyone needed a cold one. But the Tour Edge Exotics are hot, and the new Wingman putter is very good. I watched a few folks who were trying out Wingman, make putt-after-putt on the practice green.
THE GOLF DIGEST HOT LIST for golf clubs and technology came out today. The two “Mikes” were making the interview rounds, so I caught up with Mike Johnson and Mike Stachura. My interview with them on their views of the equipment industry, and who got the Gold Medals and who didn’t will be along shortly.
IT’S back to the Orange County Convention Center tomorrow, and warmer surroundings. RS