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For some years, there has been a yawning gap in South Africa’s golf calendar – an open and inclusive trade show.
This gap was filled for the first time in over 20 years with the launch of the inaugural PGA Golf & Lifestyle Show, which took place from 18 to 20 September at the Campus in Bryanston in Gauteng.
The PGA of South Africa’s decision to lend its brand to the initiative were summarised by the association’s CEO Dietrich Uys:
‘‘The PGA of South Africa is proud to support the PGA Golf & Lifestyle Show. Golf has evolved into a lifestyle, and growing the game remains at the heart of what the PGA and its Members strive to achieve every day. Partnering with an event that provides a neutral platform for the golfing community to connect, engage, and experience the sport is something we are truly pleased to be part of.’’
Based on what I saw over the three days, the PGA’s confidence was well placed, and in terms of the ‘neutrality’, it was amazing to see the numbers of brands, many of which I had never heard of before, using the show as a platform to promote new services and products
These ranged from EXO’s new state of the art synthetic glove, ‘The Sox Factory’ (who said that the ‘humble’ sock should not be considered as a vital part of a golfer’s equipment – given how far we all walk!), and the ‘golfcaddy’ (no longer a case of a good walk spoiled with one of these by your side), to ‘Prescription Clothing’ (using the show to test the market reaction to a new range of clothes for female golfers), GrubzUp with their new home grown F&B software, and MobiG showcasing a range of SA manufactured carts, with local after sales support.
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As a life and founder member of the PGA of South Africa, it would be fair to say that I have ‘been around for a while’, so it was refreshing to see so many new products and brands in the market place, all looking to engage with South Africa’s golfing public
Happily, some of the usual ‘suspects’ were also in place, with Srixon taking a very central and well supported position in the main concourse, and with Titleist, Garmin and FlightScope, among others, having an interactive presence, with swing analysis and various related promotions.
However, I was struck by the absence of some of the major brands, and particularly by the thought of what these brands’ principals might think of their marques not being represented at the first major golf trade show in this region for more than two decades.
It was very good to see initiatives such as the John Collier Survey (its ESG benchmarking tools are used FOC by 215 of South Africa’s golf clubs) hosting an awards’ function. CMASA and the PGA of South Africa also held presentation and workshops, with GolfRSA and the Sunshine Tour taking up a prominent position at the entrance to the main marquee area.
Before the show I had asked Guy Bower (one of the event organisers) what the short, and longer terms goals were for the event:
“This first year will be key, as it is with all events, to getting a solid mix of companies and brands involved from across the golf business spectrum. We believe that this, in combination with the activities and extra value elements for the general public when they buy tickets, will offer everyone real ‘value for money’ for their involvement in the show, and enable us to build for the future. We want to then build the foundations in year one, off which to develop the PGA Golf & Lifestyle Show into the biggest, most comprehensive and best golf show in Africa.”
Was everything perfect – of course not, as the organisers themselves were quick to point out, but these types of events are highly organic, with things changing all the time as new challenges arise, and new elements, brands and exhibitors are added to the original programme.
That said, a great flag in the sand was put out by Guy Bower, Steel Slater and their teams.
Based on the comments I heard on my walkarounds, when I was out looking for ‘trouble’ (rather like a glass of ice cold water in a mouthful of bad teeth!), the responses from visitors and exhibitors were very positive (80% of the latter that I spoke to said that they would back in 2027), it would seem that the flag had hit its mark, and the PGA Golf & Lifestyle Show, looks well set to become an eagerly anticipated annual feature on South Africa’s golf events’ calendar.
