2013 PGA Merchandise Show – Day 2 Recap

January 26, 2013

Day Two of the PGA Merchandise Show taking place in Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center found key movers and shakers in the golf industry like broadcaster Dottie Pepper, CEO of TaylorMade Mark King and Golf Channel President Mike McCarley continuing to hammer away at ways to increase golf participation. And on the floor, the buzz continued about the bold, bright colors and patterns found in everything from apparel to golf bags, clubs, balls and grips.

Bright and Bold Apparel

In 2007, Loudmouth Golf debuted a limited selection of golf apparel for men only, at the PGA show. “We were four dudes and a stool at a small table against the wall next to Schwetty Balls, “ recalls Larry Jackson, CEO of the company.  “Our only display was a glass bowl to collect business cards.”

Since then, Loudmouth has brought an explosive energy to the golf fashion world – and grown their PGA Show footoprint. This year, Loudmouth’s spacious booth showcased a 28-page catalogue and a super lineup of clothing and accessories — everything from pants, skorts, hats, swim trunks and belts to licensed logo clothing, and golf bags for men and women. Jackson says his splashy drop cloth and paint ball designs are some of his hottest sellers.

One thing for sure, in scoping out what was new and different; we found a noticeable break from the tried and true black, white and khaki. Shagadelic Pink, Mango Disco balls and other eye-popping colors and patterns have also found a home in other products like watches and shoes.

Abigale Lynn featured innovative, interchangeable ball marker bracelets with vivid-colored bands while G/Fore shoes now come in purple with fuchsia ties, emerald green and charcoal with hot pink soles and other combos. G/Fore also has a super-charged rainbow collection of golf gloves.

Throughout the showroom, dazzling colors and great tech fabrics rendered in neon-like oranges, greens, and other eye-popping hues like those from Abacus, sparked imaginations. Abacus also rolled out a teaser for the upcoming Solheim Cup — a smart white and turquoise uniform for the European team.

Cutter & Buck too strayed from the muted pastels to strong, saturated teals punched up by white and pewter in their sharp Annika Collection. Bonjoc has expanded its ball markers to more than 100 whimsical motifs like flowers, penguins, lady bugs, and cupcakes.

Crest Link, a Malaysian-based apparel company, featured a lot of lime green, purple and hot pink in their soft, buttery microfiber Polyester shirts while Glove It’s socks, carry-all bags and gloves came in patterns like “Lime Tile” and “Jazzed,” some looking like abstract paintings and virtual gardens of jungle flowers.

Zany visors from Flair Hair with built-in spiky fake hair in surreal colors like green-orange and lime-soled spikeless golf shoes from GoBe Golf and Ecco also turned heads.

Zensah compression socks may sound therapeutic — and they should because they are, but — the colors and argyle patterns go the extra mile with combos like turquoise, black and lime reminding us that something that works can also look great.

Equipment & Tech

On the equipment side, clubs, bags, balls and gear picked up the vibe with SunMountain’s orange Journey club glider bags and their pull carts, in lime green and orange. Datrek bags were also rendered in brights ‑ silver accented by strong purple along with lime green and orange versions and TourEdge’s golf sets for women debuted bags and drivers with splashes of color.

Among the balls, the shimmering metallic Chromax and hot pink, yellow, orange and lime Volvik balls proved white is not the only choice to tee up.

And Golf Buddy has done it again with Golf Buddy VT3, a talking GPS  golf watch preloaded with 36,000 courses. Strap it on your wrist or snap it out and clip it to your hat and it will tell you the distance to the green with just the push of a button.

For golfers looking for color, fun and bold, this year’s PGA Merchandise Show floor had it all.

Feature image courtesy of Florida Leisure.