More than 40,000 golf industry professionals descend in Orlando this week for the PGA Merchandise Show.
The PGA Merchandise Show is being held this week, January 23-26, 2018, in Orlando, Florida and Morton Golf has seventeen members of their staff in attendance. This is THE place to go to discover the latest trends and newest technology in golf. There are close to 1,000 companies in attendance, which explains why Morton Golf needs to send such a large crew! Some members of our staff flew in as early as Saturday to get a jump start on educational seminars and invitation-only buying opportunities before the Main Event started today.
Yesterday, January 23, 2018, the PGA Show Demo Day was held at the Orange County National Golf Center. There were thousands of PGA Professionals and retailers at this event which is held to give industry professionals an opportunity to see and feel the latest product introductions on the golf range. More than 100 golf companies participated and the day did not disappoint! We think the Haggin Oaks Golf Expo is big! The Orange Country National Golf Center features a 42-acre practice facility and the coolest full circle driving range you have ever seen.
Exactly how big is the PGA Merchandise Show? Well, if you were to walk up and down all the show floor aisles, you would log more than 10 miles on your FitBit. Our staff starts the day off bright and early with breakfast before going from one appointment to the next or attending the educational seminars that are held hourly.
Here is a sneak peak of a few of the finds that we have already discovered this year.
PGA Global Youth & Family Summit
On Monday, January 22, 2018, Tom Morton and Mike Woods attended the PGA Global Youth and Family Summit where Tom was a panelist at the event. (Tom is pictured at the left in blue).
In 2017, Tom won the National PGA Award for Player Development.
Tom Morton – 2017 PGA Player Development Award from PGA of America on Vimeo.
The Callaway Rogue Driver
Here is a club that is receiving tremendous buzz and will be released on February 9 to consumers. We saw this at the PGA Show Demo Day on Tuesdsay. The Rogue is Callaway’s latest release and will replace the spectacular EPIC driver that provided tremendous results for golfers in terms of increasing their distance on the course. According to Callaway, “To dramatically change driver performance, you have to dramatically change driver dynamics. That’s what inspired Callaway R&D to break away from our own industry-leading metalwood design protocol to once again re-invent the driver. We took the revolutionary technologies that made GBB Epic the best-selling driver in the U.S.* and supercharged them to create Rogue, a driver that combines all we know about boosting ball speed with a new, MOI-enhancing shape that delivers extraordinary forgiveness.” Learn more.
PING G700 Irons
Ready for the launch of the new PING G700 irons? We are! We caught this sneak peak on Tuesday at the Orange County National Golf Center. This new hollow iron from PING is intended for mid and slow swinging golfers and will give you more distance. It is gorgeous. They start shipping March 20. Available now for pre-order on MortonGolfSales.com. Click HERE for details.
Haggin Oaks Awarded the 2018 Platinum Award from the AGM
The Haggin Oaks Golf Course received the 2018 Platinum Award for the “Best of the Best” Golf Shops from the Association of Golf Merchandisers during the annual AGM Conference on Tuesday, January 23, 2018.
PGA Merchandise Show Officially Opens!
The crowd has gathered and the doors officially open to the 2018 PGA Merchandise Show!
Oakley Golf Bags
We like bringing you glimpses into new product releases. Check out the new golf bags from Oakley that will begin shipping later this spring.
Colorful Callaway Balls
With the exceptional popularity of the Volvik Vivid line of golf balls, we knew it was only a matter of time before the major club manufacturers sat up and took notice. Callaway is showing off their new Superhot Bold golf balls. These golf balls will be available in stores on February 16. The new Superhot Golf Ball is a super long distance ball that’s perfect for golfers who want to hit the ball a lot farther. Callaway’s proven aerodynamics promotes low drag and optimal lift for a strong flight that keeps the ball in the air longer for more distance. And it’s designed for increased spin and control around the green with a 3-piece construction and a soft cover. What do you think? Is color here to stay?
PING Vault 2.0 Putters
Custom balanced precision milled putters from PING. These putters have been fit for feel and are 100% milled with TR Face Technology and have multiple finishes (platinum, copper and stealth).
Volvik Vivid Lite Golf Balls
Proving that color is hot at the PGA Merchandise Show this year, here is the latest introduction from Volvik – the new Vivid Lite Golf Balls. These will hit the Haggin Oaks Golf Super Shop and MortonGolfSales.com on March 15 with a retail of $32.99. Available in four colors including blue, yellow, green and pink. The regular Vivid is also coming out with new colors, including Jade and blue – so stay tuned if you have been enjoying the colorful ball explosion on the golf course!
Volvik Vivid Soft Golf Balls
“Expanding the Vivid product line allows golfers of every skill level and every swing type to have a choice of matte finish golf balls that will fit their specific style of play,” said Dan Pady, director of sales and marketing for Volvik USA. “Volvik is the leader in matte finish technology and performance, and no other company has as wide a selection of matte finish golf balls as Volvik does.”
The highly anticipated new Vivid Soft is Volvik’s first Urethane ball with matte finish. Volvik’s new VU-X Urethane cover is more durable, and provides a very soft feel with a low compression of 65. When combined with Volvik’s patented SF matte coating, it creates a tour-quality matte finish golf ball with the high wedge spin and low driver spin. Besides adding high visibility, Volvik’s patented SF matte coating increases the ball’s performance by producing aerodynamic consistency and higher trajectory. This ball will retail for $42.99 and will hit shelves on 3/15/18.
Titleist Introduces Two New Golf Balls
Titleist Tour Soft
Through technology and process innovations, Titleist has developed the new Tour Soft golf ball. It delivers category leading soft feel and commanding distance. It has been designed with the largest Titleist Core ever which provides responsive feel and high speed. This soft core is surrounded by an ultra-thin 4CE grafted cover for excellent short game performance.
Titleist Velocity
In a constant pursuit to provide golfers with an added advantage, Titleist delivers a new Velocity golf ball designed to maximize distance on every shot in the bag. The high speed LSX core produces fast initial velocity for deep downrange distance on all full swing shots. The new cover provides higher ball speed for longer distance. The combination of the new core and cover formulation provides extremely low spin and fast ball speed off the tee.
Saying Hello to Marlene at QED
Marlene Kawaguchi used to be the Men’s Apparel Buyer for Morton Golf. She recently left us to pursue bigger and greater things with the fast-growing men’s golf line, called QED. Here you can see our buyers, Ken Morton, Jr. and Brett Parks seeing the new line with Marlene. We miss you, Marlene!
Kelli Corlett receives the U.S. Kids Top 50 Master Kids Teacher Award
Kelli Corlett takes the stage as she is presented with her U.S. Kids Top 50 Master Kids Teacher award. The U.S. Kids website had this to say, “Kelli’s enthusiasm toward children, sports and helping others makes this a perfect opportunity for her to further her career ambitions in golf. She leads all of Morton Golf’s junior and disabled golf programs, including associations with Saving Strokes, The First Tee of Greater Sacramento, PGA, LPGA, Special Olympics, Latino Junior Golf Association, and many more…”
