Golf’s leading equipment and technology companies are launching new drivers, fairways, hybrids, iron sets, putters, wedges, shafts, launch monitors, simulators, hitting mats, and other innovative products this week at the 2023 PGA Show. And where can PGA Professionals and PGA Show attendees test and evaluate these new products?
At the all-new Equipment Test Center (ETC), one of the largest indoor practice ranges located at the end of the Equipment Hall on the PGA Show floor.
The fully-netted and turfed ETC features 44 hitting bays and practice targets, as well as a 3,750-square-foot ETC putting green to test short-game skills with new putters and wedges from participating exhibitors.
“The Equipment Test Center allows us to compare the latest golf clubs from all of the major manufacturers side-by-side so we can see and feel for ourselves how various clubs perform,” says John McLaughlin, PGA Director of Golf at The Club at Savannah Harbor in Savannah, Georgia. “It’s a great way to let off a little steam, too, after walking the Show floor and attending meetings all day.”
Leading companies such as Bridgestone Golf, Caliber Golf, Callaway Golf, Cobra Golf, Fiberbuilt Golf, FlightScope, Foresight Sports, Forever Lawn, Full Swing, PuttLink, Graphite Design/Pro’s Choice Golf Shafts, Keep It in the Black, Makefield Putters, Mizuno USA, Nippon Shaft, Power Tee, Rapsodo, Srixon/Cleveland/ASICS, Yonex Corp. and several others will show off their latest innovations during normal PGA Show hours the remainder of the week.
“We always attend the Demo & Fitting Day, but then we also test clubs at the indoor ETC to determine exactly which clubs from which companies are going to be in our lineup for the coming year,” says Joanna Coe, PGA Director of Instruction at Baltimore Country Club in Maryland. “We reinforce our opinions about certain equipment, and we usually take time to test a lot of putters. It’s great to have so many putters to test under one roof at the ETC.”
The Equipment Test Center, sponsored by Clubhouse Events, is a “must” stop for PGA Show attendees who arrived in Orlando following Tuesday’s Demo & Fitting Day.
Fiberbuilt Manufacturing, Forever Lawn, Synthetic Turf International and SmartTargetGolf are the 2023 Equipment Test Center hitting mat sponsors, while Zero Friction is the official tee sponsor and Sister Bay/Prestwick is the furniture sponsor.