Just returned from the PGA Show in Orlando and it was sure nice to escape the Arctic cold in Dallas to spend some time in sunny Florida. Ok, maybe it isn’t Arctic but it feels like it! During the show week, we have our annual GOLF Magazine Top 100 Teachers’ dinner and committee meetings. Our annual conference is being held in March of this year. At the dinner this year we honored the induction of Seymor Dunn into the World Golf Teachers’ Hall of Fame. The master of ceremonies was Peter Kessler. Peter is a wonderful historian and an entertaining speaker, drawing from many years in the golf world and his current radio show on XM Radio. It’s always great to reconnect with all of the Top 100 Teachers and it is amazing how much knowledge is shared, all with the aim of improving each other and this great game.
On to the show! As always, there are so many great things to see and booths to visit that it is somewhat overwhelming. One thing I depend upon each year to help me sort all this out is that there are fellow instructors cruising the show as well. Each time I run into someone I know, we download to each other as to what is worth seeing, what to skip, must-sees, etc. We all value each other’s perspective and with only 3 days to cover the entire show, it sure helps!
This year it was amazing to see how many video training software products are on the market. I always look at all of the new systems as it is an integral part of my instruction process and programs. And, I always end up back at the V1 software! Why? The entire V1 team is nothing but first class and will constantly go above and beyond in taking care of their customer and their software is consistently superior.
We had dinner one night with my friend, Greg Nathan, Vice President of the National Golf Foundation. Greg shared with us so much information about the marketplace and the current state of golf. We have approximately 28 million golfers currently and, believe it or not, it has been on a decline over the last ten years! It’s beginning to level-off and less likely to see any movement down or growth in the game until 2011.
We also met with Yong Li, Director of Marketing for a new golf club and training facility in Chengdu, China. We’re discussing and exploring opportunities at his development and after my trip to China last year, can see nothing but positive things on the horizon for golf in China.