Wandering The PGA Show

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

– J.R.R. Tolkien, in The Fellowship of the Ring

The scope of the PGA Show was so sprawling that it will be some days before I can process it all — let alone process all the photos I took.

My first PGA show was a fun — but exhausting — experience. I walked 16, 649 steps on day one; 15, 675 on day two, and 17, 138 on day three. All that, and there still were parts of the show I didn’t get to.

My friend and occasional partner in golf crimes Bill Cuebas — The GolfFather — told me that I needed a plan going in. I needed to know what companies I wanted to visit, list their booths numerically and schedule appointments to facilitate taking the least number of steps between the locations. Otherwise, he said, I would waste a lot of time and effort rushing from one end of the vast hall to the other.

The GolfFather was right, of course. His assumption, however, was that I had any idea who I wanted to see. There were a couple companies that I had a prior relationship with, as well as some that were recommended to me by various PR people I know. For the most part, however, I didn’t even have a concept of a plan.

It is hard to make a plan for whom to visit when you have yet to discover whom you want to visit.

So I wandered. In doing so, I saw a lot of interesting things that I never would have thought about. There were, for example, companies that just did shopping bags for people to carry their purchases out of pro shops. Another company specialized in metal racks for the bag rooms at clubs.

I wandered, and “wasted time” and saw much, yet did not see it all.

Seeing everything, however, is not the point of the PGA Show. It is an industry show, and as such, people DO come with a plan: a plan to stock their pro shop or retail outlet with apparel, accessories and equipment; get new hardware to keep their course in peak condition; find new ways to keep the members happy; consider new teaching aids for their schools; find sources of gifts and awards for the member-guest.

I saw innumerable people whose name tags were some variant of “Buyer.” Some were more specific, such as “Apparel Buyer.”

The booths were full of people following a plan; evaluating certain specific kinds of merchandise, placing orders, and checking items off their lists. Serious business was being conducted.

Some of my media friends also surely had plans. They have been going for years; they have people to contact for stories they need to write. They know their magazine or website wants x number of words on specific equipment, shoes, apparel and so forth.

Fortunately, I have not imposed any such constrictions on myself. I just write about what interests me. And to find what interests me, I wander.