Golf for Dummies?

It's been that kind of day for me, thus far, and it's not even noon. I'm referring to the golf book I received in the mail for review, the Golf for Dummies book by Gary McCord. As if I didn't learn enough from his first two editions, here he sends me the 3rd Edition, insinuating as much that I still have a lot to be learned and done to improve my game no matter what title I bear (Publisher/Editor) and no matter what age I come in under the wire (64). No respect.

Then UPS delivers to me a package containing...... no less than a golf ball finder! As if I lose golf balls by the dozen! Actually, the Radar Golf is a pretty nifty and innovative ball positioning system which helps golfers find one's golf ball quickly. This handheld device emits radio frequencies with the "lost" golf ball lying in the thick high grass, or worse...in the wooded area running parallel to the fairway where you wish your golf ball had landed. The 2-piece low compression golf ball has a microchip embedded inside. It's still long off the tee and soft on approach, microchip or not.

Okay, a Book for Dummies and Radar Golf ball finder. Look for these to be reviewed in the April Edition of Golf Today Magazine. I read parts of the first, and will use the second to save on the time it takes to find a "lost" ball. Not to mention the $2 or $3 that is saved per ball.

Meanwhile, I'll stay busy, in part, by preparing for the two golf consumer shows in California. The first is two weeks from now, the weekend of March 3-5th, in San Mateo in Northern California. The following weekend, March 10-12th, the Southern California Golf Show will be held in San Diego (DelMar). Golf Today Magazine has a large 10'x20' booth at both of these golf shows.

The importance of these golf shows, besides selling whatever a vendor wants to sell, is to get feedback from the consumer or would-be consumer about one's product or service. New golf companies think they must pay $50,000 to millions to some research company on the 107th Floor of the Sears Building in Chicago to evaluate the prospects of, say, a new golf ball or a new golf cart. Forget it, I'd advise. Save your money.

Just take your new product and display it at several golf consumer shows during the first year you're in business. Sell some, as many as you wish, in fact. But the real value is to listen to what the consumer says about what he or she sees, feels, and tries. It's invaluable, because in dealing with a thousand people voice their opinions about your new golf product, you're getting this advice free (except for the cost of the booth) and without an agenda, thereby saving you tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

After you save this money thanks to this advice, you can send a check to Golf Today Magazine for a mere one percent of your savings!

Aftermath of the PGA Golf Show in Orlando, FL

There are three slices to the International PGA Merchandise Show & Exhibit held every year in Orlando, FL at the end of January:

The first consists of all the planning, logistics, and travel to this cross-country venue for those of us located in the Far West;

The second slice is the actual PGA show itself, four days of business at the Exhibit Convention Center at which one thinks everyone in the world has walked by the Golf Today Magazine booth;

The third slice is the aftermath of the PGA Show, usually a period of about two weeks during which contacts over the phone and email process are re-established with those Golf Industry people whom one has met during the show.

All three are as important as the other two.

If you don't plan it well, it may well be a mistake to even attend the show. If you don't give it your once-a-year "all", you may as well go to Disney World and its atractions for which Orlando is well-known. And, if you don't follow up on your efforts successfully, you may as well as flush away the money and time which you've invested in this annual PGA Show.

Golf Today Magazine, thanks in part to six associates who accompanied me back in Orlando, had its finest PGA Show ever this year, and that's saying something because we're looking at 14 years of past PGA Shows in Orlando. Golf Industry people were in a great mood for more business, reflecting the robust economy which follows in the aftrmath of a recession in the opening years of this millenium and 9-11 which put a poisoned cloud over everything when it comes to discretionary income.

There was not a single person with whom I talked that had a complaint re: the PGA Show this year. I'm sure there were some had I talked to more than a thousand people there, but I didn't find any. And I'm talking about visitors to the show and vendors at the show. Everyone was upbeat, positive, and listing off how many outlets they had signed aboard for their products, such as AMA Golf (Ryan Chin) for his growing portfolio of golf products he markets, including the Sundog Eyewear for golfers.

Whether the vendor represented golf towels or golf fans or golf balls, or the very impressive Radar Golf Ball Positioning System, the PGA Show was a definite winner. Element 21 was one of the finest success stories at the show, and you will hear much about this company and its products in the near future.

The end-of-January PGA Show also reflects what is expected at golf consumer shows throughout the country for the next six months.

Two major golf consumer shows in March are the Northern California Golf Show in San Mateo March 3-5th, and the next weekend's Southern California Golf Show in San Diego (Delmar) March 10-12th. Golf Today Magazine will have a large 10'x20' booth at each of these golf shows, and the expectation is high that attendance and participation (booth numbers) will be up compared to last year's consumer shows in the same venues.

All this bids very well for the Golf Industry during 2006.

Now is definitely the time to enter the Golf Industry if you're thinking about it with a new product or service for golfers, and if you know of a golf company already in business that may need some assistance via partnership or investment or actual hands-on work, now's the time to start shaking hands.

It's uphill with no end in sight for this phase of the Golf Industry business cycle.

Bob Koczor
Publisher/Editor

NOT ENOUGH SPACE TO FIT!

Every month, right after all the pages of Golf Today Magazine go to press, there are lots of stories and pictures that have not been published in this 18-year-old golf magazine. I'm talking every month, 12 times per year. And these articles and pictures are worthy of publication, but only because there is not enough space left in each issue they go by the wayside and are not shared among golfers. Let this blog site be a vehicle by which these stories do go to "print" and let this blog site be a receptacle for golfers who want to voice their concerns and opinions on every thing from the 6th Hole at Pebble Beach to the increased rates just implemented at their local golf course. Let this blog be a place which is informative, entertaining all the while be interesting as an unexpected birdie or ace that is worth mentioning to a friend who also happens to cherish the delights and challenges of the Game of Golf.