For golf lovers everywhere there’s no bigger stage for the game than the annual PGA Merchandise Show.
Nearly 30,000 golf industry professionals travel to Orlando each year for the PGA Show, giving attendees the chance to discover the latest trends in golf equipment, technology, apparel and accessories.
The LPGA Women’s Network team spent the week experiencing the PGA Show and captured a few of the week’s buzziest moments:
PGA Show Demo Day and Expo
Filled with hundreds of vendor booths and product displays, the PGA Show’s Demo Day and expo floor give golf pros and merchandisers the chance to preview up and coming equipment and apparel lines, meet with sales reps, and order merchandise to stock their golf shops with the latest trends. Both events are open to the public, giving golf nuts the chance to experience golf’s biggest playground.
Who’s at the @PGAShow today? #PGAShow2018 #golf #orlando pic.twitter.com/f2a96b6T2i
— The Island Golf Club (@IslandGolfClub) January 24, 2018
The We are the Women in Golf Breakfast
The only place men were in the minority at the PGA Show was during the We are the Women in Golf breakfast, a bi-annual event hosted to celebrate the impact women working in golf are making on the game.
The room was buzzing this year with hundreds of passionate women energized for the new golf season. It was hard to find an attendee who hadn’t brought a first-timer along to experience the event with her.
(Photo by Megan Blank/PGA of America)
(Photo by Megan Blank/PGA of America)
Big Announcements from the LPGA Women’s Network
The We are the Women in Golf networking breakfast offered the perfect stage for the announcement of the LPGA Women’s Network’s new family of Founding Partners, DOW, Kia Motors America, KPMG and XL Catlin, who each signed on to join the movement to make golf a more inviting and inclusive space for women.
Streamed live on Facebook, company executives joined LPGA legend Nancy Lopez and the Golf Channel’s Paige Mackenzie on stage to discuss the power of invitation, the theme for this year’s breakfast.
Pictured left to right: Paige Mackenzie Golf Channel Co-host, LPGA legend Nancy Lopez, Eileen Whelley, XL Catlin Chief HR Officer, Sue Townsen, KPMG Partner and Chief Diversity Officer, Lee Heronema, DOW Commercial Director, Olympic & Sports Solutions, Cesar Sanchez, Kia Motors Sports America (Photo by Megan Blank/PGA of America)
LPGA and EWGA Join Forces in a Strategic Alliance
Perhaps one of biggest surprises of the week was the news of a new alliance between the LPGA and the Executive Women’s Golf Association. LPGA Chief Teaching Officer Nancy Henderson and EWGA CEO Jane Geddes took the stage to announce a union which will create the most influential force of women golfers in the industry. On the horizon for EWGA members is a connection with the Tour, it’s players, and the LPGA brand.
Following the announcement, Jane Geddes offered more on the vision and future for the LPGA and EWGA’s alliance:
Celebrity Golfer Appearances
The PGA Show isn’t just a meeting place for reps from your favorite golf brands. You never know which of your favorite Tour players you’ll run into. Sandra Gal, John Daly and Jesper Parnevik were just a few of golf’s big names to visit the Show:
LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals Rolex Reception Awards
The LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals membership celebrated women who’ve made major contributions to the game of golf during the annual LPGA Rolex Awards Reception.
The event featured the induction of a new class of LPGA Top 50 Teachers presented by Women’s Golf Journal and celebrated the LPGA’s national award recipients. LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Founder Sandy LaBauve received honors with both the Ellen Griffin Rolex Award and Nancy Lopez Golf Achievement Award. Thanks to her vision more than 500,000 girls have been introduced to the game since the program’s inception.
PGA Show Fashion Show
Another highlight from the week, was getting a front row seat at the PGA Show’s annual fashion show. Models hit he runway to showcase new lines from more than a dozen golf apparel brands, giving buyers the chance to preview 2018’s Spring lines.
(Photo: PGAShow.com)
(Photo: PGAShow.com)
Did you attend the PGA Show this year?
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