1997 PGA International Show

September 8-10, 1997

Las Vegas, Nevada

Golf in the SouthWest Features

Musty Putters - "Roll it with wood"
Dewgooders - Peformance based weatherwear includes golf gaiters.
GolfActive - A sports drink developed for golfers.
Fore Women Golfers - Rosiland Bivings' Cable TV Show encourages women to play golf.
The Kingdom of Shivas Irons - Michael Murphy's long-awaited sequel to Golf in the Kingdom.

Day One

The PGA International Golf Show, the world's fastest growing and second largest golf exposition, attracted 21,728 visitors on the first day, easily exceeding last year's record three-day total of 20,667. This year's show featured more than 1,100 exhibitors covering 750,000 gross square feet of exhibit space.

Bob MacNally, former president and chairman of Tommy Armour Golf Company, became the seventh recipient of the PGA's Ernie Sabayrac Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Golf Industry. MacNally played a key role in the growth of Tommy Armour Golf, and through his work MacNally developed a strong interest in working with at-risk youths.

The PGA of America announced the winners of five national awards:

• Tom Sargent, head professional at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa, Calif., was named 1997 Golf Professional of the Year. The award honors a working club professional whose total contributions to the game best exemplify the compete PGA Professional.
• Rick Martino, PGA Master Professional at Oakmont Country Club in Upper St. Clair, Pa., was named PGA Teacher of the Year.
• Warren "Stoney" Brown, head professional at Crane Creek Country Club in Boise, Idaho, won the Horton Smith Trophy for his continuing contributions to professional education.
• Doug Ritter, head professional at Meadia Heights Golf Club in Lancaster, Pa., was named winner of the Bill Strausbaugh Club Relations Award for his work in improving employment conditions.
• Alan Abrams, head professional at Indian Tree Golf Club in Arvada, Colo., was named PGA Junior Golf Leader for his contributions to junior golf and reflecting the ideas of those who work with youth.

Day Two

The Show heightened its interaction among the nation's amateur golfers who couldn't attend the exposition, by offering the PGA/USA TODAY Golf Tips Hotline. A joint project between the PGA of America and USA TODAY, the nation's largest newspaper, the Golf Tips Hotline marked its first appearance at the PGA International Golf Show. The highly popular project had been conducted at previous PGA Teaching & Coaching Summits.

Hundreds of callers throughout the nation dialed in to receive the finest in instructional advice from more than 100 PGA Professionals, including a special appearance by Hall of Fame legend Sam Snead and 1991 PGA Teacher of the Year Mike Hebron of Smithtown Landing, N.Y., and Eddie Merrins of Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, CA.

PING made a major change in putter design, implanting a urethane inset into the putter face to produce more feel and roll. Karsten Manufacturing calls the new line "Isopur," for "isolated purity." The inset changes the weighting and shift the weight of the putter to the end of the blade to help eliminate twisting or mis-hits.

Tommy Armour Golf has fine tuned its popular 845 iron, which sold more than 600,000 sets when first introduced in 1987. The new irons, which will be available in 1998, feature an oversized face and there's also a titanium set.

Lynx introduced a new logo as well as new sets designed specifically for seniors and women - the silver cats and the crystal cats. Spokespersons Fred Couples and Jim Nantz talked about how they used to practice the Butler Cabin scene at Augusta while they were in college. Nantz also shared a story about taking Couples three wood before the final round of this year's Doral Open. Despite not playing well since Augusta or not having won this season, Couples is looking forward to performing well at this year's Ryder Cup. Couples has been working with Paul Marchand the last few weeks and believes his game is ready.

Lynx turned to a caddy to market their new line of women's clubs - Kristi Hommel. Best known for serving as Steve Scott's caddy during the 1996 US Amateur Finals against Tiger Woods, Hommel "appeals to the more hip and younger generation," said Rob Stensby, Lynx vice president of marketing. "Kristi has a young, fresh look. She's America's caddy."

Day Three

By noon, the PGA International Golf Show had surpassed the 25,000 attendance mark, registering 25,300 attendees at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. Final attendance figures will be available later this week. Last year, the Show attracted 20,667 over its three-day run.

PGA Senior Director of Golf Expositions John Zurek observed that the Show exhibits represented "a sign of continuing momentum."

"The customer is saying give me the very best," said Zurek. "The manufacturers and distributors who attend the Show are responding with a flair as never before. We see an increase in enhancements and refinements. And, product introduction cycles are shorter and therefore I believe you see this Show as one of two launching points for new products. Our industry continues to refine itself. New products and innovations have taken seed here. Five years ago, you wouldn't have seen SOFTSPIKES, for example. Now, you marvel at their growth."

Zurek said other products that have made an impact are sunglasses, headwear, batteries that have extended cells that will prolong the life of golf cars, and the increase of junior golf products. "This is not a one-size-fits-all world," said Zurek. "The golf industry is now, more than ever before, able to put more products and necessities for the game into a golfer's hands. Everything is now tailored to a player's needs."

Don Dowell, Editor/Publisher, Golf in the SouthWest
(Sept 15, 1997)©