The 2017 PGA Merchandise Show, or PGA Show for short, brought the golf industry’s biggest players in equipment and apparel to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida for a week of product debuts, special events and game-growth seminars and initiatives, and Golf Tips was there not only to collect new instruction content for the coming year, but to check out the latest and greatest in gear. Here’s a final rundown of some product highlights.
TOUR EDGE EXOTICS
Tour Edge Golf probably is best known for its Exotics line of fairway woods – they’re among the best in the industry.
The company’s new EX10 driver could be the driver that finally is the fairway woods’ equal. Debuting at the show, the EX10 adjustable driver, Tour Edge says, features a lighter-weight 8-1-1 titanium chassis and new Japanese TSP Beta Ti thinner face for better forgiveness and distance.
A 10- and 12-degree head is available with a new hosel system that doubles the adjustability options, allowing players to raise or lower the loft +/- two degrees.
Additional weight screws can be purchased as a kit or individually. The kit includes six- gram, 12-gram and 14-gram weights to increase or decrease the swing weight.
Perhaps best of all, the EX10 driver has a suggested retail price of $349.99, around $200 less than many of its high-performance competitors.
MYSWING GOLF
MySwing Golf, Inc., a full-body 3D motion capture analysis system for the golf swing showed off its new MySwing Trainer. The product (suggested retail price $999) will be released at the end of the first quarter.
The company says the new MySwing Trainer is an affordable 3D golf training tool that helps grow the revenue stream for teaching professionals. With fast set-up, the company says pros spend more time teaching and have the ability to instruct multiple students simultaneously. The MySwing Trainer can set to any angle, tilt or rotation and operate with two or five sensors capturing specific movement with the pelvis and ribcage, left arm, and right arm.
“The goal with MySwing Trainer is to provide teaching pros with a rapid ROI and a system that pays for itself in a short time frame through player self-training,” said Curt Wieden, director of marketing at MySwing Golf. “Students will enjoy the challenge of achieving specific training goals and will experience faster improvement through repetition of correct motions. Pros can set the system to specific ranges to train anyone from the weekend warrior to the tour professional.”
PUMA GOLF
PUMA Golf’s Spring/Summer 2017 apparel collection is grounded in a material story it calls “Utralite, a product is up to 30 percent lighter than prior generation, ensuring “a new level’’ of comfort.
Puma says the fabric is breathable, offers excellent moisture management and is minimally constructed for a cleaner look. Ultralite is used in Puma Golf’s men’s and women’s selections in polos, bottoms, and outerwear.
In Spring Summer ’17, PUMA Golf is introducing a completely revamped men’s bottoms collection. The company says the new pants offer excellent moisture management, new, improved fit, a rebalanced pattern, curved waistband for comfort and mechanical stretch for maximum range of motion. The pants are available in both a tailored and performance fit.
PING SIGMA G PUTTER
A multi-piece face technology inspired by the soles of athletic shoes and advancements to Ping’s True Roll Face Technology have led to what the company calls “significant improvements’’ in feel and overall putting performance in the new Ping Sigma G putter models.
“The Sigma G putters represent an exciting new technology that continues our long-standing commitment to engineering putters that feel and look great but perform even better,” said Ping Chairman John A. Solheim. “The combination of the high-grade elastomer and fully machined aerospace-grade aluminum over the entire face delivers an amazing feel and sound. And with improved ball-speed consistency and forgiveness, golfers will make more putts than ever’’
Solheim said the Pebax elastomer, a material commonly used in the soles of athletic shoes for its elasticity properties, is a lightweight, high-energy return compound that delivers a soft yet responsive feel. The new True Roll Face Technology covers the entire face to provide confidence and full-face forgiveness.
Impact stability in every Sigma G model, according to Solheim, is increased as a result of the larger face insert cavities that allow weight savings to be re-distributed farther toward the perimeter to increase the MOI (Moment of Inertia. Optimally placed CG (Center of Gravity) positions help reduce skid and initiate forward roll.
A variety of blades, mid-mallets and mallets are available including Ping’s classic Anser design. Blade-style putters will carry a suggested retail price of $195; Mallet-style $215; and Counter-balanced $235.
