From the latest golf clubs, balls, bags, hats and gloves to crystal trophies and tricked out golf carts, you could walk the aisles for days (and many people do) as you attempt to see all that the 1,250 exhibitors have to offer. This show is not open to the general public (you must be in the golf industry or be a paying guest of someone who is to attend) so I thought that I’d give you a little peek inside.

I’ve been attending the PGA Show for 29 years and I never cease to be amazed at the stuff that people come up with to market. Coming from a golf club design background, I always appreciate the many new equipment products that help make the game a little easier and allow us to hit it a little farther (within the USGA Rules, of course). What astonishes me is all the items to hold your cigars, keep your shoestrings tied, play music in your golf cart and such. I’m not sure that I need all these things. But someone has spent a lot of time and money developing them and somebody will surely buy a few of them.

Anyway, I bet almost any dyed-in-the-wool golfer would love to see all the innovative golf items that are introduced each year at the show. The big buzz this year seemed to be the new adjustable golf clubs. Callaway, TaylorMade and Nickent all introduced special driver heads that will connect to shafts with a unique mechanical tip to lock on the head and allow the golfer to change shafts as his mood or the course set up requires. You could use a stiff tip, low trajectory shaft for a windy day; or if you need a higher launch for more carry you could swap out shafts for a more flexible tip. Just remember that according to USGA rules you can not do this during a stipulated round of golf, only between rounds. The USGA reasoning behind this new rule change is to allow the average golfer the same ability to fine tune his clubs as a Tour player has with all the hi-tech equipment vans on site at each Tour event.

You’ll pay a price for this of course. The Callaway kit (head and a couple shafts) is about $900. TaylorMade has a kit with a head and several shafts for $1,000. So much for the “average” golfer. Nickent will have a more reasonably priced kit with a driver head and two shafts for just under $500. The companies will be working on adjustable irons and putters in the near future.

A large portion of the show’s floor space is dedicated to clothing. Nike, Cutter & Buck, Izod, Callaway and others seem to do very well with their brands. You can also buy many types of memorabilia like autographed pictures as well as finely produced statues of golfers for many thousands of dollars.