The Golf Show held last month in Harrogate donated £5,000 to the PGA Benevolent Fund. Established at the founding of the Association the charity continues to assist members in hardship or distress. Now in its fifth year The Golf Show is Europe’s largest golf trade and education event with more than 60 industry-leading brands exhibiting.
A highlight of the show was a seminar by the game’s foremost authority on the short game, Dave Pelz, who offered his insight into putting and wedge-play to PGA professionals. Pelz, in association with Cleveland Golf and Srixon, headlined a sell-out Teaching and Coaching Conference,.
Speaking about his experience at The Golf Show, Pelz said, “It has been really exciting and very positive. This is the best audience I can imagine having, because these are PGA professionals and they really understand the game and we’ve been doing nothing but talking golf since I arrived. The professionals here have been interested to hear what I’ve had to say, but they’ve all got their own experiences and I’m learning from them as well. Sharing experiences with them has been really wonderful.”
John Davis, The Golf Show Event Manager, said: “Support of The Golf Show has grown across the industry year-by-year and with exhibitors taking more stand space than ever, 2014 has been the biggest ever. As we strive to enhance the show each year and offer greater value to exhibitors and delegates alike, it has been pleasing to hear the positive feedback from both new and familiar faces.”
The Golf Show returns to the Harrogate International Centre on 6 to 8 October 2015. More at www.golftradeshow.co.uk
Srixon unveils custom fit carts for clubs and Cleveland wedges.
As revealed exclusively in GOLF RETAILING last month, Srixon unveiled its new Z Series equipment range at The Golf Show, together with a custom fitting cart. Srixon is making 100 of the carts available to its retailers, so they can assist customers to select the optimum type of club head, shaft, loft and lie for their swing.
Ben Davis, (pictured) brand marketing manager for UK and Ireland stated, “The carts are available free of charge. The Srixon Z series will only be available with custom fit, so it means our retailers will not have to hold stock. They can use the cart for fitting sessions and we will supply the clubs made to the customer’s specification with a fast turnaround.”
Similarly the company is making its latest Cleveland RTX 2.0 wedges available with a custom fitting cart for retailers so they can select the best custom fit from three different sole grinds, blade or cavity back styles and shaft for the customer. “We’re making 200 Cleveland RTX 2.0 custom fit carts available to our retailers, once again at no charge. We’re also offering custom laser etching on club heads at £5 per wedge or engraving at £10 a wedge, with initial minimum orders of twelve. Thereafter, retailers can call off single orders for wedges using the same etching or engraving. It gives that special, finishing touch to a high quality product.”
Royal & Awesome benefits from trade show offers
Royal & Awesome ran successful sales promotions at Harrogate including: buy one pair of Royal & Awesome trousers for half price; buy six pairs of trousers and get the seventh free; buy 25 pairs of trousers and get £100 in free stock.
Graeme Smeaton, brand director at Royal & Awesome, said, “The reaction to Royal & Awesome on our first visit to The Golf Show at Harrogate was very exciting and fills us with confidence for a very successful year ahead. We’re thrilled to be a TGI-approved supplier after less than three years trading, and we’ll continue to be the same awesomely different company – from offering ‘incremental’ sales and no minimum order quantities to retailers, to continuing to produce the loudest, brightest and funkiest golf apparel around.”
More at: www.royalandawesome.com
Green Sleeve a hit at Harrogate
Green Sleeve, the pocket-sized golf ball and iron-cleaner, claimed a successful debut in the UK golf market at The Golf Show. The product features deep-cleaning microfibres lining a knitted pocket-sized sleeve, which allows dirty and muddy balls to be cleaned quickly and easily, without the need to go back to the golf bag or trolley.
Green Sleeve director Oliver Nimenko stated, “We had hoped to make a splash at The Golf Show in Harrogate, and we’re thrilled to say that the reaction from the UK golf trade was great. It was fantastic to get the word out about Green Sleeve – a product we’re incredibly excited about and which we believe fills the gap in the market for a pocket-sized ball and iron cleaner, that’s more convenient than a regular golf towel. The opportunity for businesses, brands and individual golf clubs to create their own, personalised and bespoke version of the Green Sleeve, featuring their brand colours and logo, really seemed to grab people’s attention and after Harrogate, we’re really gearing up for a successful 2015.”
Green Sleeves retail at £8.99 each and are available in a range of colours. More details at: www.greensleevegolf.com
Foremost hails White as Professional of the Year
Alex White was named as Foremost’s Professional of the Year at the group’s annual Golf Industry Awards Dinner held during The Golf Show. The head professional at Romiley Golf Club in Cheshire received the award from Peter Durham, Foremost’s head of membership services and Foremost director, Andy Martin, after being nominated alongside Mark Rodgers (York Golf Club), Graeme Bell (Linlithgow) and Nevil Bland (Brocton Hall).
Durham stated, “Alex has done a magnificent job at Romiley Golf Club. He’s rejuvenated the shop and built a successful coaching business and clearly deserves this prestigious award. It’s his ‘can do attitude’ and his attention to detail that has made all the difference at the club. Alex is a great communicator who manages to deliver expert advice that is easy for golfers of all standard to absorb and understand.”
White was one of a number of winners at an Awards Dinner attended by 200 members and compered by BBC sports commentator, Andrew Cotter. Warren Wood (Rochester & Cobham Park), Stuart Kerr (Strathaven), Nick Lowe (Grange-Over-Sands) and Andrew Greenbank (Preston) were all nominated in the Breakthrough Professional of the Year category with the award going to Wood after a successful year during which he has made a massive impact at the Kent club.
“Warren has taken an average pro shop and turned it into an inviting, exciting and professional environment,” said Durham. “His business is flourishing. He’s always willing to learn and try new ideas and he refuses to stand still. His hard work and proactivity have culminated in a premier coaching, custom fitting and retail business.”
Foremost’s Elite Marketing Programme (EMP) Professional of the Year Award went to Ian Orrell, the head professional at Bolton Golf Club in Lancashire. He pipped Mike Ovett (Hassocks), Stuart Wilson (Eastwood) and George Porter (North Hants) for what was a highly competitive category. “Ian is an incredibly proactive Foremost member professional who creates consistently high quality Elite Marketing Programme digital newletters and web content,” said Durham. “Our EMP professionals have had a very successful year and Ian is one of the best.”
This year’s Foremost Suppliers Awards were handed out by director, Andy Martin, and Foremost chairman, Chris Steele. There are ten key awards in this category with Ping claiming the Supplier of the Year Award for a remarkable seventh year in succession. The other winners were FootJoy (Apparel Range of the Year), Sunderland Dolphin Collection (Waterproof Model of the Year), FootJoy Contour Series (Shoe of the Year), Vokey SM5 (Wedge of the Year), Odyssey Versa (Putter Model of the Year), Titleist ProV1 (Ball of the Year), Motocaddy S1 (Electric Trolley of the Year), TaylorMade Speedblade (Iron Model of the Year), Callaway X2 Hot (Wood Model of the Year) and Motocaddy M1Pro (Most Innovative Product 2014).
Lynx launches ‘game improver’ irons
At The Golf Show Lynx launched new ‘game improver’ Boom Boom irons and Boom Boom 3 drivers with brightly coloured Graffaloy BiMatrx TP steel-tipped shafts. The new irons have a wider sole than the standard Boom Boom irons and have more offset, a combination which helps players get the ball airborne and proves more forgiving on mishits.
Lynx CEO, Steve Elford said, “The extra distance gained by better players to the original Boom Boom irons was phenomenal, but we felt that higher handicap players weren’t always fully able to maximise the benefits of the technology. Adding offset and widening the sole of the ‘game improver’ version of the Boom Boom irons means even more players will now be able to experience their power and performance.”
Lynx has also increased the custom shaft choice on its Boom Boom 3 driver to include the GraffaloyBiMatrx Tour Prototype. This combination is said to allow golfers to increase driver loft by as much as 30 percent while offering a 20 percent reduction in spin rate.
The company says it is dedicated to supporting ‘green grass’ pro shop business, with more than 450 accounts in the UK, and is an official supplier to the TGI Golf Partnership.
More at: www.lynxgolf.co.uk