Greater Philadelphia Golf Show

Last Sunday I attended the final day of the Greater Philadelphia Golf Show. The show was held at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pa. The show returned to Philadelphia after a several year absence following the closing of the Fort Washington Expo Center.
There were numerous golf vendors at the show, including such retailers as RockBottomGolf, Edwin Watts Golf and Wheat Road Golf. There were plenty of bargains to be had on both new and used golf clubs. TaylorMade, Callaway, Nike, and Cleveland seemed to dominate the club offerings, with a few also offering Mizuno, Srixon or Bridgestone.
There also a few exhibitors offering information of golf packages and golf travel to places such as Myrtle Beach; Florida; Ocean City, Md.; and Williamsburg, Va., but there were fewer representatives from area golf courses and country clubs as I have experienced at past golf shows.
The show also offered the opportunity to try the latest equipment from the major manufacturers at an indoor Demo Range, and there were contests for closest to the pin, longest drive, and putting.
One of the neatest things I saw at the show was the Arnold Palmer Indoor Golf Game, which The Muni Golfer actually received as a kid from Santa in the late 1960s. A miniature Arnold Palmer is attached to the end of what looks like a club shaft, but by pulling on a trigger on the underside of shaft, you can make The King swing one of several clubs--Driver, 4-wood, two irons, a wedge and a putter. Arnold hits small styrofoam balls to a felt green, around which you can place plastic replicas of a water hazard and two sand bunkers. Once on the green, you putt a marble into the cup, complete with flag, which fits into a small round cut-out area on the green. Watching the man who brought this game back to the marketplace hit balls brought fond flashbacks to my childhood.
I went to the GP Golf Show, not looking for clubs, but for accessories, particularly Wilson Staff products. I was very disappointed that so few vendors carried anything from the Wilson Staff line. I did, however, find a slightly used Wilson Staff FwC 7-Wood at one vendor for $19.95. The club needed a little cleaning and re-gripping, but it was a bargain too good to pass up. It was my only golf purchase of the day.

Photos by The Muni Golfer