Wolfepaw
New member
The better half and I made the short trek to Seattle for the Golf and Travel show which was held at the Centurylink Field convention center. The Centurylink Field convention center is a huge facility so we had some big expectations given the amount of space the vendors would have. Those expectations ended up being far from met. You have to walk a fair distance to get to it as it is attached to the Seahawks football field and parking is on the other side of the stadium. You cannot see the entry to it from the main roads around it. As we approach the entry we notice a sign that says RV show <--- way, and golf and travel show ---> that way. RV show.......rhut row, not good. The center is divided up into many big areas of floor space. The Golf and travel show was only given one small section on the very end. It was MUCH smaller than I expected.
The OEM's had an area that was maybe 50 feet across by 75 feet long for testing and show space. I overheard the Callaway gang telling someone it was far smaller than they were told it would be. If anybody else went, I am curious what they thought. I have nothing to compare this to, so I have no idea if that is normal or not. There was one bigger space taken up by Puetz Golf next to them, and for the most part everything else(Courses, odd ball equipment, travel boths) were small boths that were maybe 6-10 feet wide in rows. We showed up right when things opened and went right to the OEM area. The big boys were there with their latest, but it was kind of pointless to try stuff given they had maybe 10 feet behind their tents to hit into a net. I could judge feel, but not really much else.
I am a Puma fanatic for shoes, it's all I pretty much wear so I was really looking forward to seeing their new stuff. Well, Puma didn't really have a space. Cobra golf had a 10 x 10 tent with all their stuff, and a little table with a handful of Puma shoes on it. They told me they didn't end up with any space to bring everything out. They did have a Rickie Fowler cut out standing in front which my wife liked, lol! I was pretty disappointed to say the least.
Of the smaller booths that comprised the rest, I would say 30-40% were travel related, some of that combined with golf resorts. A bulk of the booths were for golf courses in Washington and British Columbia. There were a few odd ball equipment related stuff thrown in there as well. The most interesting was custom wood putters. They were really cool looking. The guy had a ball returning hole setup about 6 feet away and I rolled in 10 for 10 with one. At six feet with no break, I should make a high percentage, but I did really like how the ball felt coming off the wood. He said the finish on the face lasts about 4 years and they will refinish them for free if you send it to them. They were $180 at the show and I didn't pick one up, but I did take some pictures if anybody wants to see them. They were very unique.
The wife and I got our picture taken with Sonny Sixkiller and got to talk to him for a while. He is a spokesperson for one of the tribal golf courses. If you are not from the Northwest you probably have no idea who that is. If you went to the University of Washington like me, then there is very few bigger legends in college football. I had a private breakfast with Don James in Long Beach, CA two years ago and that was probably the only thing bigger to me than getting to chat with Sonny Sixkiller.
We picked up more 2 for 1 vouchers than I could count and generally had a good time talking with the different people from all the courses.
I saw zero of the cloths manufacturers outside of the small amount Peutz Golf had.
I got asked about my THP gear more times than I could count. Some people knew the site and wanted to know if I was reviewing for the site since I had on the gear. I politely told them no, not officially but I would be posting about the show....and please sign up for the site if you are not already!
All in all it only took us 2.5 hours to get through everything. It was ok for what it was, and for the 2 for 1 vouchers alone it was probably worth it. They need more space for the OEM's though so they can bring out more gear beyond what they did and have a real hitting area. No idea why none of the cloths manufacturers were there. Guessing they had no space for them or they felt the event was too small.
The OEM's had an area that was maybe 50 feet across by 75 feet long for testing and show space. I overheard the Callaway gang telling someone it was far smaller than they were told it would be. If anybody else went, I am curious what they thought. I have nothing to compare this to, so I have no idea if that is normal or not. There was one bigger space taken up by Puetz Golf next to them, and for the most part everything else(Courses, odd ball equipment, travel boths) were small boths that were maybe 6-10 feet wide in rows. We showed up right when things opened and went right to the OEM area. The big boys were there with their latest, but it was kind of pointless to try stuff given they had maybe 10 feet behind their tents to hit into a net. I could judge feel, but not really much else.
I am a Puma fanatic for shoes, it's all I pretty much wear so I was really looking forward to seeing their new stuff. Well, Puma didn't really have a space. Cobra golf had a 10 x 10 tent with all their stuff, and a little table with a handful of Puma shoes on it. They told me they didn't end up with any space to bring everything out. They did have a Rickie Fowler cut out standing in front which my wife liked, lol! I was pretty disappointed to say the least.
Of the smaller booths that comprised the rest, I would say 30-40% were travel related, some of that combined with golf resorts. A bulk of the booths were for golf courses in Washington and British Columbia. There were a few odd ball equipment related stuff thrown in there as well. The most interesting was custom wood putters. They were really cool looking. The guy had a ball returning hole setup about 6 feet away and I rolled in 10 for 10 with one. At six feet with no break, I should make a high percentage, but I did really like how the ball felt coming off the wood. He said the finish on the face lasts about 4 years and they will refinish them for free if you send it to them. They were $180 at the show and I didn't pick one up, but I did take some pictures if anybody wants to see them. They were very unique.
The wife and I got our picture taken with Sonny Sixkiller and got to talk to him for a while. He is a spokesperson for one of the tribal golf courses. If you are not from the Northwest you probably have no idea who that is. If you went to the University of Washington like me, then there is very few bigger legends in college football. I had a private breakfast with Don James in Long Beach, CA two years ago and that was probably the only thing bigger to me than getting to chat with Sonny Sixkiller.
We picked up more 2 for 1 vouchers than I could count and generally had a good time talking with the different people from all the courses.
I saw zero of the cloths manufacturers outside of the small amount Peutz Golf had.
I got asked about my THP gear more times than I could count. Some people knew the site and wanted to know if I was reviewing for the site since I had on the gear. I politely told them no, not officially but I would be posting about the show....and please sign up for the site if you are not already!
All in all it only took us 2.5 hours to get through everything. It was ok for what it was, and for the 2 for 1 vouchers alone it was probably worth it. They need more space for the OEM's though so they can bring out more gear beyond what they did and have a real hitting area. No idea why none of the cloths manufacturers were there. Guessing they had no space for them or they felt the event was too small.
