There are few things in golf better than finding a once-hit Titleist Pro V1 ball in the rough. But here’s one: Finding an invention that will shave a couple strokes off your game or make your friends jealous with your too-cool acquisition.
That’s why so many PGA Show attendees drop by the New Product Zone to see if someone found lightning in the bottle. Almost 100 new products are on display. They range from the large (a wireless charging golf cart) to the small (a Utilitee golf tool used to clean the grooves, clubface and golf ball), and everything in between.
Products will be evaluated by a panel of PGA of America Golf Professionals and influential golf buyers, with three overall Best New Product Awards announced on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
Some interesting products include a slope vision precision putting system that turns your putter into a slope-reading tool, a magnetic golf glove holder to keep them from flying off your golf car and a ring line that ensures the line you place on your ball is in a precise manner.
“Things are always evolving in golf,” said Dave Stewart, PGA, Director of Golf at MacDill Air Force Base Palms Golf Course in Tampa. “You’ve got to come up with new things. There’s some cool stuff out there, and this is the place to see it.”
Sean Arthur, PGA Director of Golf at Hamilton Elks Golf Club in Ohio, agreed with one of Stewart’s choices.
“I like the birdie bottle, and there’s a little turf thing that goes around the edge of bunkers,” Arthur said. “That’s really good. I like it because if you can go in and hide your bunker edges, and you don’t have as much wash-out.”
Stewart believes the new products have a better chance of success these days as the sport attracts younger and less-traditional players.
“You see a lot of the younger guys that watch a lot of YouTube videos, and then they see a lot of training aids,” Stewart said. “I tell them, ‘Whatever suits your eye, whatever you want to do, give it a try.’” —Craig Dolch