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The Traveling Golfer and Callaway Golf Canada
are helping keep a great tradition alive

By Rick Drennan

Golf shows have been around since Bob Harlow, agent to the great tour player Walter Hagen, organized the first one in New York in 1924.

Over 65 exhibitors turned a local Armoury into an indoor golfing mecca that included a two-day fashion show, and a 36-hole exhibition match between Hagen and Gene Sarazen on "Le Petit Golf" course, a nine-hole par 20. The Haig won the match 7 and 6, and golf show organizers knew they had just tapped into a rich vein of gold.
The first show was all about participation and giveaways, and that's been the one-two punch at Golf Shows ever since.

Canada has one of the highest participation rates for golf in the entire world. It also has one of the shortest seasons in which to play. Put those two factors together and it's easy to see why Golf Shows are so popular in the off-season; it's all about anticipation.

This past winter, the Traveling Golfer helped Ontario players bridge the gap between seasons by participating at indoor shows in Montreal, London, Ottawa, Hamilton, and the granddaddy of them all, the Toronto Golf & Travel Show.

From January to mid-March, these shows leapfrogged around the province, and the Traveling Golfer booth welcomed thousands of visitors. It certainly helped that Callaway Golf Canada provided a wide assortment of giveaways to these visitors, and during the shows, the Traveling Golfer provided visitors the chance to enter draws giving two lucky winners prizes of golf destination packages to Mississippi and North Carolina.

A lot of beauty and enthusiasm was added to the mix as the Hooters gals helped man the booths – driving up participation and interest for winter-weary participants.
"It was a ‘can't miss recipe for success', " said Claudio DeMarchi of the Traveling Golfer.

"The shows provided visitors a chance to sign up for our golf newsletter – and those numbers have grown exponentially. We now have over 40,000 subscribers."

For the second straight year, the ‘Winning Tee Promotion' was a huge hit at the shows.

Each visitor received a golf tee upon entering, and each one was redeemed for great golf prizes – everything from free subscriptions to Canadian Golfer magazine, to free wings at participating Hooters. Callaway Golf Canada again stepped to the plate big-time with some great golf giveaways, including Diablo drivers, 3-woods, and golf balls.

"The Traveling Golfer and Callaway Golf Canada have really solidified our partnership over the past two years, said DeMarchi.

"Helping grow the game of golf in Canada is the ultimate goal of Callaway Golf," says Thomas Yang, senior vice-president, International. "Participating in golf shows is just one of the ways the company is accomplishing that goal."

That participation reached a new level of sophistication at the Toronto event when its new Tour Fit Van was unveiled to an eager public. The van is the latest addition to Callaway's custom club fitting offerings, which already include the five Callaway Golf Performance Centres across Canada.

The magazine never looked so good!

Working the booth in Toronto.

A lucky golf club winner!

The Tour Fit Van allowed golfers to see how custom fitting for a club works. The van was fitted with the Callaway's Optifit Fitting System, which showcases I-MIX Technology, giving customers the choice of over 400 driver combinations. The system also featured Trackman™ Technology, which used radar to analyze a player's golf swing and ball flight, as well as the TOMI putter fitting system, which captures and analyzes critical parameters of your putting stroke in real-time.

"The lineups to get inside the van were huge," said Barry Wallis, the education performance manger at Callaway Golf Canada. "There were 10 to 20 people at the van all day. We want to get our clubs in the hands of golfers."

Callaway actually sports two vans that will criss-cross the country this spring and summer, bringing the company's building and fitting expertise right to the customer. For more information on the Callaway Golf Performance Centres and Tour Fit Van, visit www.mycallaway.ca.

Canadians are not only great participants in the game of golf, but they're willing to travel to far-off places to satisfy their cravings. Despite a slowing economy, DeMarchi said the number of Canadians traveling to the United States to golf continues to climb.

The Traveling Golfer continues to grow its relationship with destinations in Mississippi and North Carolina, and its trip giveaways and cross-promotions with those two U.S. states have paid big dividends.

"Building relationships with states like Mississippi and North Carolina, and helping golfers find the perfect vacation spot is part of the Traveling Golfer mandate," said DeMarchi. Working with firms like Gendron Travel of Montreal, Merit Travel and Ultimate Golf Vacations, Toronto, also helps boost interest for visitors to the Ontario golf shows.

The winner’s of the Traveling Golfer trips have recently been announced. Brian Stewart of Scarborough will be taking three friends to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to enjoy 5 nights and 4 rounds of golf, and Rick Pelley of Nepean will be taking in the sights and sounds of Fayetteville, North Carolina during his 5 night golf trip. Brian entered the contests when he attended the Toronto Golf Show, and Rick entered while attending the Ottawa Golf Show.

The shows offered the opportunity to test new clubs before buying, and the Nevada Bob's Club Test Range was again a popular spot. Nevada Bob's staff worked with the suppliers for some great show specials.

And participants had a chance to get their hands on the National Golf Course Owners Red Book, taking advantage of big savings in green fees this year.

All in all, it was another successful off-season for the Traveling Golfer. We got to meet some truly dedicated players in Ontario, and everyone had fun and won a prize.

I guess that's in keeping with the reason the very first golf show was held in the first place: to up participation and give away some great prizes.

You could say, we're keeping up a great tradition.

04/09