PGA Merchandise Show Preview

The PGA Merchandise Show opens Thursday in Orlando and features over 40,000 Industry professionals and over 1,000 golf related products from all over the world. If you what to see what’s new in golf equipment, apparel, and accessories, it’s the place to go. It focuses on every aspect of golf – retail, operations, clubhouse utilization, course maintenance, clubhouse maintenance, financing, marketing, training and employment opportunities. It also features the country’s largest indoor golf range equipment test center. All the newest equipment can be tested at 47 hitting bats, the putting green, and the PGA Short Game Challenge Area.

What can we expect to see?

We’ll be seeing a lot of adjustable drivers. For the first time, every major golf equipment manufacturer will showcase at least one adjustable driver. This will include the first adjustable driver from Tour Edge and the second from PING(following the adjustable Anser).

All adjustable drivers come with a torque wrench and require golfer to choose their appropriate setting. Depending on the driver, these settings can include loft, lie, and face angle. In the Adams Super LS, you can even adjust the length.

The adjustable drivers debuted so far: Adams Super LS, PING G25, TaylorMade RocketBallz Stage 2, Tour Edge Exotics XCG6.

Backweighting appears to be making a comeback. Also called counterbalancing, backweighting involves placing lead or some heavy material in the butt end of the shaft to alter the feel and balance point of the club. Backweighting had all but disappeared with the development of metalwoods and graphite shafts. It has recently gained some popularity thanks to the endorsement of players like Jack Nicklaus, Sergio Garcia, and Steven Boccieri.

Nicklaus will be endorsing Boccieri Golf’s new backweighted grip called the Secret Grip. The grip is made of dense rubber and has a 17-gram tungsten chip in the butt. This all weighs in at 92 grams. That’s almost twice as heavy as a standard grip! The effect of this heavy grip is a counterbalanced golf club.

Odyssey will introduce a backweighted putter called the Tank at the show. The early talk on this putter is that it may be a possible replacement for the belly putter as the weight in the top of the shaft stabilizes the putter without anchoring.

Want more info on the PGA Merchandise show?

Keep an eye on the Rock Bottom Golf Facebook page. We have Rockheads at the show, so expect some great info and pics!