Orlando PGA Show – Demo Day

Hi everyone and thanks for dropping by. I went and checked out the Demo Day portion of the PGA Show today and had a great time. It was a chance to see some of the new product and get a good idea of what people were hitting. I’lll be adding some pictures to our gallery …

Hi everyone and thanks for dropping by. I went and checked out the Demo Day portion of the PGA Show today and had a great time. It was a chance to see some of the new product and get a good idea of what people were hitting. I’lll be adding some pictures to our gallery for you to see as well. Speaking of pictures… the majority of the pictures you’ll see from us will come from the show itself. Watch for the bulk of the pictures to come on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Let’s get to it!

First off… the weather was kind of touch and go. It was actually pretty chilly and it rained on and off for most of the day. The Demo Day is held at the Orange County National practice facility. The facility is amazing and it’s 360 degree range allowed for lots of tents! Let’s run through some of the stuff that I saw…

Nike Golf – The SUMO2 (the square one) was the big club here. It actually doesn’t look that bad and it got a lot of play from the Demo Day visitors. I had a chance to talk to some of the company’s Club Developers… a very cool experience. You really see how much goes into the development of a club and it’s amazing when you can ask the actual designer about the club that he created. They’re pretty pumped up for the SUMO and the technology makes a lot of sense to me. We also talked a bit about shafts. Shafts seem to be a hot topic right now and the guys I talked to agreed that the stock offering in most clubs out there is a good option for most players. The stock in the new drivers is a quality shaft and I’d really consider it. I also had a chance to see the new CCI Forged iron. This thing is solid and I think it will do very well. You’ll see this in a shop near you in a few weeks. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… the Ignite irons from Nike seem to be flying under the radar but I they are an exceptional value. The company’s NDS irons were an amazing value as well but they lacked shelf appeal… even some of the company’s Tour staffers played with (and won with) them. The Ignite feature increased appeal and offer golfers the swoosh without the big price tag. I also had a chance to see the new Nike shoes and balls but I’ll save that for another post!

TaylorMade Golf – The Superquad and new Burner line were the focus here. Most of you have probably already seen the Superquad but the Burner may be something new. The new Burner driver is kind of a bullet shaped club and is joined by matching fairway woods and hybrids. It was getting pretty rainy by the time I got to that end of the range so I’ll see about getting some pics at the show. If you really don’t feel like waiting… check out the Golfsmith website for pics. I’d be lying if I said that the line really excited me but I will be very curious to see how it does once it hits the market. I wouldn’t underestimate the power of the old “Burner” name!

Adams Golf – I’m actually going to see the guys from Adams at the show so I didn’t spend much time here. I did check out the new DIXX putter though. We talked about this the other day and it was cool to see one in person. Yes… they work. They actually work very well. I could see this being a very popular training tool for teachers! Don’t worry… there will be more Adams news and pics in the coming days.

Callaway Golf – Again… I’ll be seeing them at the show but we’ve basically shown you everything already. Probably the busiest tent on the range… FT-i was getting a lot of play. All of the practice balls on the range were Callaway too. Hogan was there but was limited to a couple of bags from what I could see.

Nickent Golf – Their new staff bags are awesome and the lime green highlights look great. They’re really rounding out their line nicely and I expect them to have a big year. I’ll get some pics at the show… their new fairway woods were the highlight for me.

Wilson Golf – Had their Tour truck there and the tent was set up very well (I think there is a picture of the truck in the gallery). Nothing too new here. The Di7 iron was the focus at the tent. They seemed to be getting some good traffic too… which is good to see.

Bob Burns Golf – Yep… I got to meet Bob Burns himself. Really nice guy. They’re really working on rounding out their line with the addition of wedges, putters, irons and a new driver. Watch for a anti-slice glove from them too. I’ll pop by to see them at the show and grab some more pics.

Overall… a pretty good time. This is really just the warm up to the main event though. I’m ready to roll in the morning so expect lots of posts and pics in the next few days! Keep those questions rolling in and I’ll try to get answers for you. I’m off to bed… it’s going to be a big day tomorrow!!

SirShanksAlot adds… I’m working on getting the gallery up so pics might not come until tomorrow. I’ll see what I can do!