PGA Merchandise Show Day One

Photos (and a little bit of text) from Day One of the 2009 PGA Merchandise Show:

Ashworth (recently purchased by Adidas) has a new line that's made from "High Def Cotton." What's that? Classic looking shirts/shorts with modern day materials. Here's what they look like:
Sunice (also part of the Ashworth deal) has a pretty cool feature on their Typhoon and Hurricane pants. It's an exterior club wipe near the cuff. Perfect for those wet days when you want to remove grass and mud from your clubface:

The Typhoon jacket features a removable ball wipe that tucks inside the jacket pocket. Clever, eh?
Adidas' fall '09 (I know, we're in winter, but consider this your sneak peek) collection is all about "three stripes." You'll see Sergio wear this on Tour this year.

And "Formotion," which is 95% Coolmax, 5% Lyrca. It also fits closer to your body (there's four inches less through the chest). When you see it on a hanger, it'll look kinda strange. Why? Less fabric.
Speaking of Adidas, their eyewear guru, Rocky Fresh showed me a few other Kundo models (we feature one in our Buyer's Guide, due out in early March):

And the women's Adilibria half rim shades. They come with a full custom tri-fit temple and a double snap nose bridge (SPX, not traction grip because that gets caught in women's hair and absorbs cosmetics).

There's the University Stand Bag ($125). It's small, lightweight (less than 4 lbs) and virtually indestructible.
And the Prevail cart bag ($149)...

...that can withstand an Adidas rep jumping up and down on it:

Now that's durable!

Not to mention the aG stand bag, which is a version of Sergio's tour bag. Here are the two side by side:
I never knew that the eighteen dots in Puma's golf logo represented 18 holes. Duh.

Regardless, their new duds are sure to be a hit with the hip, young golfer kids and the post J. Lindenberg crowd.
Probably the only clothes that you can wear on the course and at the club.

And who can argue with the blackjack table they had set up inside their showroom?

Sun Mountain is introducing their Micro Cart ($239) this March. It comes in four colors and features a cup, tee and ball holder.

The four-wheeler weighs just 13 pounds and folds down into 52 cubic inches

Sun Mt. also has a new stand bag, the 4.5 lb "four 5." Get it? Four. Five. If you don't, here's a blurry photo to help, um, clarify:

Cleveland Golf may have lost the Fidra brand, but that doesn't mean they're out of apparel. New this year is the Cleveland Classics line.

What's the coolest part? They're made from recycled water bottles. (Well, at least 37% of it is.) Here's another blurry photo that shows a couple of their new offerings. Next year, I'm bringing a tripod.
Other sightings at the show include Cleveland's CG14 camo wedge...

...and a camouflaged Boo Weekley

Ecco's new kicks
And the coolest electric car I've ever seen:

2009 PGA Merchandise Show Demo Day Photos

On a windy day that, at times, seemed a good gust away from a downpour, thousands of manufacturers, buyers and media members converged on Orange County National's 360 degree driving range to check out golf's latest products. Not surprisingly, most of the talk centered on the current economic downturn and its impact on the golf industry. Let's put it this way, one manufacturer said "Everyone's feeling it, and if they say they aren't, they're lying." (Only one company said business was "as usual," and we actually believed him.)

One of the best things about demo day is that we get to see things that somehow have slipped under our radar. Like this go-go gadget push cart, the Clicgear model 2.0. Look how small it is when folded up!:

The 2.0 model features a hand-brake, umbrella holder, beverage holder, airless tires and some nifty accessories (ad ons) including a sand bottle, GPS holder, mittens for cold days...

...and a shoe brush


There are two putting greens on the outer perimeter of the OCNGC range. That's where we stumbled upon the full lineup of Mizuno's BC (Black Carbon series). They're now up to 7 models.

And Rife's newest offerings.

Look for the newest Rife putter to roll into stores this April. It's called the IMO (as in "Inline Momentum") and was used last week by Jesper Parnevik when he coasted to a 61 at the Hope. 85% of the weight is directly behind the ball, but the best thing may be its recession-friendly price: $149.

There was a long line to test Nike's newest sticks, including the Victory Red irons. Rather than taking a number, we geeked out on the disembodied clubheads.



For those of us who've been to Asia, we know the most prestigious golf clubs are made by the Japanese manufacturer, Honma. (I once saw a set in Hong Kong that rang up for $40k. And, no, that's not a mis-print. If memory serves they were gold-plated.)


One of their lines is called Beres.

Here's an interesting training aid from Momentus. They're called, appropriately enough, Forearm Swing Weights and tip the scales at 3 lbs. By the look on this gentleman's face, they seem to have worked.

After using those weights for a couple weeks, you can probably hit it as far as this guy:


Even grips have their own place on the range. Check out this rainbow of flavors from Winn


And Golf Pride. Note the subtle "Vyne" the creeps down the grip.

UST has officially changed their name to UST Mamiya. Mamiya has owned UST for some time and representatives told Golf Tips the name change will help consolidate operations in Japan and Fort Worth.

We're not sure what this is, but we like it. According to a recent press release it's "a unique, asymmetrical UV golf umbrella" called "Mibrella."

It's all about transportation at the Demo Day. Whether you take a shuttle or park your car a mile away and hoof it. Unfortunately these vehicles weren't available to us.

Speaking of PING, they're currently celebrating their 50th anniversary. Congratulations!