Orlando Golf News

The Latest in Game Improvement, Goodies and Gimmicks You’ll See in 2008

While you were either shivering in the January cold or (hopefully) out chasing around the little white ball in a warmer climate, the golf industry was trying to figure out what you want NEXT, and showing it off to retailers, golf shop owners, and our intrepid reporters at Golfer’s Guide. With more than 10 square miles of show space hosting 1250 different golf-related companies, thousands of people in the golf industry from all over the world visited Orlando in mid-January. Our regional publishers have their Top 11 list of interesting products worth a look:

Clubs

1.) Adjustable shafts
They’re all the rage now with the new USGA ruling allowing you to change shafts between rounds of play. Most of the major clubmakers will be out with some form of adjustable shafts in ’08, the most extreme being TaylorMade’s kit, featuring three shafts, all the weights and tools, and yes, the driver head, goes for $999. www.tmag.com 

March
17th             Members St. Patrick’s Day Scramble
29th-30th      WPCC 2-Man Challenge

April
l6th-17th      “Driving 4 Life”
                   ALS Charity Par 3 Challenge

ORLANDO, FL - ABD Development has opened a spectacular 8,000 square foot community clubhouse at Providence, the 2,200 acre golf and country club community on Ronald Reagan Pkwy. (U.S. 17-92) off CR 54 in Polk County.

David Kohn, president of ABD Development Company, said amenities at Providence include two lighted tennis courts, a stateof-the-art fitness center, several swimming pools and a play area.

Kohn said the number of visitors to the Providence Sales and Information center tripled in January and sales of new singlefamily homes, custom homes and town homes at Providence are brisk. 

The Edwin Watts Amateur Golf Tour will open its 2008 season on March 22 at Walkabout Golf and Country Club in Mims. Fifteen tournaments are scheduled on some of the finest courses in central Florida. “Last year we played a terrific schedule; this year our lineup is every bit as good” said Tom Mirus, Tour director. “We will be taking the tour to the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie in May. We are excited about thecoming season. We will again qualify fifty players (10 from each of the five flights) for the national tournament in October.

The national finals are being held in Hilton Head, SC now and the players that made the trip last year loved it. I am sure competition for the invitations will be strong again this year. Plus, our players competed for over $60,000 in prizes last year.” The Edwin Watts Amateur Golf Tour is the first Florida affiliate of the Egolf Amateur Tour. There are local tours operating in seventeen states and over thirty-five cities.

Stellenbosch, South Africa – Flight-Scope by EDH Sport, a premier portable indoor-outdoor ball-flight and launch monitor, is now in use at the Brad Brewer Golf Academy at Rosen Shingle Creek Golf Club in Orlando. The facility will serve as a showcase for FlightScope, the world’s first 3D tracking radar for golf.

“We are pleased to have the Brad Brewer Golf Academy utilizing and highlighting FlightScope technology,” said Henri Johnson, founder, CEO and Chairman of EDH. “Academies around the world, as well as clubfi tters, retailers, and green-grass and practice facilities, are embracing FlightScope’s advanced technology. The Brad Brewer Golf Academy is leading the way in enhancing golfers’ instructional and clubfi tting experiences through FlightScope.” 

CELEBRATION — Celebration Golf Club has appointed Kimberly Chase sales and marketing director.

Gene Garrote, vice president of the Celebration Golf Company, said Chase has more than eight years of experience as a golf club executive with the Disney organization.

Chase is a graduate of the University of West Virginia. 

CELEBRATION, Fla. – Celebration Golf Club plans to focus on fi ve star personal service this year, initiating a personal greeting program to welcome new visitors and golfers as they arrive at Celebration Golf Club, with Vincent Ortiz and Fred Bartok appointed as the first two “official” greeters at the golf course and clubhouse
facilities.

Gene Garrote, vice president of Celebration Golf Company, explained that greeters will meet each golf club participant on arrival to assist them in locating and using club facilities.

“We want to convey the simple life of Celebration Golf,” said Garrote. “We want each customer to feel like a full-fledged member of the club from the first minute they arrive, he said.

ORLANDO - Shingle Creek Golf Club in Orlando has added yet another national honor to its growing list of accolades as it receives the nod from Golf World magazine as one of the top 100 golf shops in the U.S. for 2008, the fourth year in a row the honor has been bestowed on the fouryear-old course.

“Receiving such acclaim, particularly from a golf publication as well-respected as Golf World is quite an honor,” says Dave Scott, Director of Golf at Shingle Creek Golf Club. “This has been a team effort on behalf of our entire staff led by Dave Smiley, our Head Golf Pro, and I’m so proud of them.”

According to Golf World, Shingle Creek Golf Club’s pro shop was selected based on three criteria: the shop’s financial strength, merchandising ability and marketing and promotions creativity. 

CELEBRATION, FL- When asked by Mystic Dunes Golf Club owners to build a golf course unlike any other in the area, designer Gary Koch decided to focus on the greens complexes. He wanted to create putting surfaces that would demand as much imagination and creativity from players of all skill levels.

Mission accomplished.

The 2008 PGA Professional’s Guide to Travel recently named the greens at Mystic Dunes Golf Club as being among the most difficult in all of golf. This consumer publication is a collaboration between The PGA of America and the publisher of PGA Magazine.

“I think Mystic Dunes stands out because the greens are challenging and the areas around the greens allow better golfers to play any shot imaginable and be more creative with their short games. At the same time, they are fair enough to suit the average golfer just as well,” said Melissa Suttles , General Manager of Mystic Dunes Resort & Golf Club. 

GOLF WINNER S – Larry Nelson and son Josh Nelson won the Willie Park Trophy for their first-place finish in the 13th Annual Del Webb Father/Son Challenge at Champions Gate Golf Club recently.

The four-day event and tournament featured 18 major winning PGA golfers and their sons.