2008 Southern California Golf Show Review

The 5th Annual Southern California Golf Show started today and runs through Sunday at the Long Beach Convention Center. General admission is $10 but you can get $1 off coupon on their website.

With paid admission, you get a subscription to either Golf Digest or Golf for Women, a free round of golf, some contest entries, and a free sleeve of golf balls (the latter to the first 1000 attendees each day). Not bad for $9!

We were on the mailing list from attending last year's Pasadena show so we also had a coupon for a free golf glove from www.LogoGolfGloves.com. The glove was quite nice and had the show's logo emblazoned on the top. My husband tried it out at the demo booths and later at the range and really liked it. He's rather rough on gloves and it seems to be pretty sturdy. We heard from our local golf store that this company only does huge bulk orders though, even though the booth told us they sometimes do single orders...hmmm...

March 28, 2008 Update: Scott from Logo Golf sent me a note to let me know that they have a line called Reflex Golf that covers individual sales. They also do tournament-sized sales of 144 quite frequently. Again, they make a nice glove that is worth checking out. Thanks Scott!

Amidst the timeshares and golf resorts looking for contest entrants, there were definitely worthwhile vendors to check out. Of course, nearly every booth had a drawing of some sort to win rounds of golf, clubs, or vacations. We did pick up some of the magazines/brochures from the courses in Nevada and Arizona and entered to win tickets to the Ryder Cup. West Coast Golfer is a worthwhile read that has info about courses, tips, and the top 20 PGA golfers in the issue they were handing out. I picked up another publication called "Golfing Nevada" that has great photography and info about the courses it covers. Of course, I stopped at the Southland Golf booth and picked up the latest issue. This monthly publication covers equipment, people, travel, apparel, etc. - definitely worth a read. If you don't make it to the show this one is usually available at driving ranges and golf stores around Southern California.

On the 710 ESPN stage there were swing clinics and giveaways that included a putter valued at $150. In fact, as you enter the event, Max Out Golf and a few others were doing a free swing analysis. The virtual long drive contest was back along also as was another contest booth where players attempt to hit targets suspended from the ceiling.

Ping had an extensive exhibit in the club demo area that included computer analysis. Speaking of analysis, I interviewed one of the Body Balance guys and will post those "5 Questions" tomorrow...

Many of the club companies were offering personalized fittings when they weren't too busy. At the edge of the demo area attendees could also stop and get a free, 5 minute lesson. There were at least four golf apparel booths there, with the very best being Tattoo Golf.

Roger Dunn Golf was the main attraction at the back of the show. They're having a massive sale and the line was at least 35 deep at the register when we walked in. They were handing out snacks to those in line to make the wait a bit more bearable. Speaking of snacks, Mrs. May's Naturals was handing out those perfect little snack bars to put in your bag for unexpected hunger attacks on the course.

Unfortunately, since today was the first day there were quite a few empty booths. As I mentioned, it continues through Sunday so I would venture to guess that everyone will be there over the weekend. These are good events if you are looking for something specific or want to try some new technologies and products that you may not get to see at your local shop.