Feeding Your Golf Addiction In The Winter Part 18: Visit The Local Pro Shop

This is the 18th in a series on things to do to feed your golfing addiction in the offseason:

milesVisit The Local Pro Shop

A certain way to feed the golfing addiction in the offseason is to spend an hour or so in the local pro shop. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a well stocked shop within driving distance, such as the Miles of Golf in Ann Arbor (pictured), Carls Golfland, GolfSmith or Golf Galaxy (all of which we have in Michigan). I also sometimes drive to nearby Toledo to see the stuffed-to-the-rafters US Golf. A Dick’s might do in a pinch.

While there, I’ll spend time looking at all the new clubs, pulling them out of their racks and seeing how they look at set up. At Carls, and my local GolfSmith, I can also try them out in the outdoor or indoor driving bays. Then I head on over to the putting green, where the shiny new flat sticks stand at attention. None of the shops seem to mind at all if I spend forty minutes trying one putter after another. The stacks of golf ball boxes also are fun, for it’s here that I generally first notice new offerings, and rebranded old models.

I’ll also take a look at the shoes, although, of the local shops, only Carls carries the Ecco brand I favor. New shirt designs are of passing interest, as are the hats. I’ll try on a few gloves.

One of the attractions of US Golf and Golf Galaxy are the large selections of golf trinkets, gadgets and gizmos. I love the variety of things that inventors, marketers and retailers think that golfers need, and a good many of them end up listed as the Ridiculous Golf Item of the Week.

Before I leave, I generally buy some small-ticket item: a box of balls, a ball mark tool, socks (I always need to replace those), or a gizmo. A small golf purchase both satisfies the golfing addiction, and leaves me feeling somewhat less guilty about using the proprietor’s shop as my own personal golf playground.

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