ORLANDO, FLORIDA | The PGA of America recently announced a major move of one of its large annual golf merchandise events to the new PGA headquarters in Frisco, Texas.
Just not the PGA Show.
The annual winter exposition took place last week at the massive Orange County Convention Center here, drawing nearly 30,000 industry attendees for the traditional start of the new golf season.
The PGA of America and PGA Golf Exhibitions disclosed that Omni PGA Frisco Resort at PGA Frisco, the new home of the PGA of America, will host the 2023 PGA Buying & Education Summit on July 31-August 2.
But the biggest off-floor buzz among the individuals attending the 70th PGA Show concerned whether the summer golf show’s move to Frisco from its traditional Las Vegas location this year might be a preview of the larger winter show leaving Orlando for north Texas in the future.
“We are excited for our PGA Show community to experience PGA Frisco and the Omni PGA Frisco Resort during the 2023 PGA Buying & Education Summit,” said PGA Golf Exhibitions vice president Marc Simon, whose Reed Exhibitions purchased the show from the PGA of America in 1998 but still coordinates and communicates any major decision with the PGA.
“Many aspects of Orlando combine to create a PGA Show destination that we would be hard-pressed to match anywhere else," Simon said. "From the exhibit and meeting room spaces of the Orange County Convention Center and the expansive practice facilities of Orange County National Golf Center to the easy and affordable access of the Orlando airport and the scale of hotel, dining, golf and entertainment options, plus the likelihood for warm weather like we enjoyed at this year’s Demo & Fitting Day – all of this adds up to Orlando as an ideal destination for our golf industry to gather at the PGA Show.”
Depending upon which pro or group was interviewed, the move was imminent in the next five years or wouldn’t happen ever.
“Interesting you would ask that question,” said Jeff Smith, vice president and managing director of the Omni PGA Frisco Resort. “I’ve probably been asked that a dozen times in talking with people over the last two hours.
“We’re thrilled to be hosting the summer PGA Show. They (PGA) reached out to us several months ago, and we’re thrilled they will be here this summer. As for any other moves, that’s really a question for the PGA of America.”
John Easterbrook, a PGA senior vice president, said the PGA “is not currently considering moving the (winter) PGA Show. Moving the summer show out of Las Vegas this year made total sense to us."
The roadblocks to a potential move of the massive PGA Show from its birthplace in Florida would be many and varied, much like the PGA’s moving the association’s headquarters from Florida to Texas.
Jim Richerson, a former PGA of America president, said that when he was on the board of directors, officials looked at other city convention centers capable of hosting an event the size of the PGA Show. They found only Orlando and Las Vegas.
“If they moved the PGA Show to north Texas, I’ll still come, because I like Dallas, but I really think pros like playing golf in Florida in the wintertime.”
Chip Brewer
Dallas voters recently passed a $1.5 billion bond package to expand the Dallas Convention Center, which is 45 minutes south of the PGA of America’s new headquarters, but the upgrade would be ready no sooner than 2026.
Another factor is the weather. Orlando temperatures average in the low-70s in January, and the area offers plenty of golf options and family entertainment, notably via the numerous theme parks. The mercury in Dallas averages mid-50s in January, and snow is not uncommon. Last week, while the daytime highs reached the 70s and 80s here, parts of north Texas got 2 inches of snow. Orlando hasn’t seen the white stuff in 46 years.
The overwhelming number of PGA professionals from the Northeast, Midwest and overseas come to the show to escape winter for a few days and, in addition to their work, play golf.
Advantage: Orlando.
A former PGA of America director, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, had a more direct assessment of the situation: “It would be a disaster. The show could lose 40 percent of its attenders. People from the East Coast are not flying to Frisco, Texas, for uncertain winter conditions when they could drive to Florida, where it’s usually good.”
Chip Brewer, Callaway Golf’s CEO and a former resident of north Texas when he worked at Adams Golf, might have put it best when talking about any thought of moving the PGA Show.
Art Stricklin