PGA Merchandise Show’s best turnout in years highlights golf boom

Suzy Whaley strode purposefully down the center aisle at Orange County Convention Center, the Park Avenue of the PGA Merchandise Show.

And it’s rush hour.

The affable 58-year-old stopped briefly during Day 1 of the annual event but declined a handshake on a day she supposes she’ll meet 1,000 people.

“COVID memories” remain fresh, Whaley says, but are also a distant memory.

The annual event, now in its 72nd year, was bustling and booming, as is the sport Whaley oversaw when the pandemic hit in 2020 during the second of her two-year stint as PGA of America president.

The 2024 show, staged last week for the 39th time in Orlando, welcomed more exhibitors and attendees than 2009 — at the tail end of the Tiger Boom and near the start of the Great Recession. Roughly 1,100 participating brands, up more than 200 from 2024, were on hand and the miles of aisles at OCCC were packed.

“The numbers are up in the game, so it speaks to that,” she said. “Sales are great; participation is great. Facilities are growing faster than they’ve grown since 2011; new facilities numbers are up. Female participation is up by 41% since ’19. It’s a multitude of factors.

“People think golf’s cool, and it shows today.”

Whaley then was off, making her way through the maw. Every step of the way, she passed exhibits from industry leaders and upstarts pushing for a piece of a $102 billion pie featuring the latest in equipment, technology, apparel and more.

“Being in the golf space, you almost have to be here,” said Laura Johnsey, marketing and brand strategy director at GenTeal.

GenTeal, making its third trip to the PGA Show, is newish to the sport. When COVID-19 hit, businesses had to find additional sales avenues, leading the company to explore golf.

Johnsey said the premium menswear line now sells in around 100 pro shops nationwide, at least half of the business coming from their trips to Orlando.

“Maybe they see our logo in a newsletter, and then they come to the show and they see the product,” she explained. “You may not get an order this show, but next show, they’re saying, ‘We’ve been to the show three times and seen you three times. I’ll get an order out of you then.’”

Greg Oakley could sense sales orders in the air as he continues to grow a company featured in golf shops worldwide.

“I can feel it, just the hallways, the energy in the building,” he said. “People are walking by and they’re looking and saying, ‘What are they doing over there?’ For us, we still need it for name recognition and brand awareness.”

The co-founder of Turtleson, a clothier based in Bristol, Tenn., Oakley has made the January trek to Orlando every year since 2000 and for his current company since 2011 — save the 2021 show conducted virtually.

“It looked like it was on the way out, on life support,” an employee for a big-name company and longtime attendee told the Sentinel. “The validity of the show was in question even before COVID.”

The comeback began slowly in 2022 as a new strain of the crippling virus emerged.

Around 600 companies showed up, but Bridgestone Golf was the only industry heavyweight on hand. Around 4,000 PGA of America members attended, down from 7,000.

“Right after COVID, this was all empty behind us,” said David Baker, president of Martini Golf Tees Inc. “Now they have booths jammed in by the bathrooms.”

Baker’s Booth 3073, among more than 7,000 spread across more than one million square feet of floor space, was several rows away from the restrooms.

In between was a new exhibit, “The Clubhouse,” highlighting racquet sports, including two pickleball courts, and ways to improve food and beverage and entertainment for members of a club. Beside it was the “Golf Fitness, Health and Wellness” stage, one of six at an event long home to just one — the “PGA Industry” stage.

The COVID lull spurred event organizers and exhibitors to re-imagine their approach to the show. Attendees accustomed to shuffling from one product or exhibit to the next one arrived last week to find additional offerings and options.

“There’s just so many more opportunities for interaction,” PGA golf exhibitions vice president Marc Simon told the Sentinel.

The “Career Zone” allowed employers or recruiters and potential employees the chance to meet and mingle; the “Inventor’s Spotlight” stage gave inventors a chance to pitch products to an audience; and “Retreat Hall” featured evening events, including a concert by Third Eye Blind.

Many who entered the show arrived at the PGA of America Hub promoting the organization’s “We Love This Game” motto and offering “Instagram-able moments,” Simon said.

Also new was a 3,750 square-foot putting green packed with people rolling the rock.

For many, golf remained the star of the show.

The PGA Merchandise Show opened Tuesday with Demo Day, where the latest equipment and training aids were available to test at Orange Country National Golf Center.

Inclement weather cut the day short for many and continued Wednesday and Thursday, preventing golfers from slipping outside for a quick 18.

“The fact that it’s been raining and chilly here has kept them in the show all day,” Simon said. “We were busy from 8:30 [a.m.] to the end of the day [Wednesday].”

People consequently awaited their chance at the putting green or at the 44 hitting bays nearby to test new equipment and balls. Simulators were omnipresent and overrun with golfers eager to make some swings.

Finding a new toy, digging into the latest technology or discovering the secret sauce via a training aid are eternally enticing in a sport that continues to exponentially grow.

According to the National Golf Foundation, green grass golf participation exceeded 28 million in 2024. This was the seventh straight annual increase and a bump of around 1.5 million golfers — the biggest single-year leap since 2000 when Woods was at his peak.

“When rounds of golf are up, everyone does well,” said a longtime employee of a major company.

The PGA Merchandise Show certainly can attest.

“What’s exciting is the amount of people who are excited about golf,” Whaley said. “They’re here on the floor.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com