Just got back from the golf show...

[PatS]

i dont know about the rest of you guys but my wife just won a 1 year membership at the canadian club .yahooooooo. plus i finally got to meet my idol dan killbanks for the very first time. now that alone is worth 10.00 . ha ha ha ha .

[dbleber]

I free membership, I'd say so! I never win anything, my wife said it's because of all the bad charma I have from being such an Asshole! Nice eh!

[Sphere Hunter]

Did anyone happen to notice which courses are in the lineup for the Ottawa Citizen this year? I was hoping it would be in the paper today but can't seem to find it.

GarthM

Asked the guys at the Citizen booth and he said the courses were Talon, Kanata, Preditor, Loch March. This is definitely not the correct order but the good news is what course is NOT in the rotation. No Stonebridge! I just shaved 15 shots off my total. Not a fan of SB.
SH

[sharkhark]

When and where is to toronto show? I would love to check it out

Next friday thru sunday 10-12th I think are the exact dates.
Every manufacturer with all options, indoor driving range, swing monitor etc.

Friday at 1 is clinic with Jim Mclean, who u may know from tv/golf channel.
Pretty much guaranteed of free stuff, plus alot of places throughout ONt offering major discounts to consider them for golf trips.

[BullDog]

I was happy with what I saw. Sure, the equipment was sparse, but there was more than enough to keep me interested with enough golf deals and coupons to keep me playing a couple extra games between now and June.

I'm glad I didn't take the largely negative reviews from yesterday *that* seriously.

Off to Upper Canada!!!

[GarthM]

Asked the guys at the Citizen booth and he said the courses were Talon, Kanata, Preditor, Loch March. This is definitely not the correct order but the good news is what course is NOT in the rotation. No Stonebridge! I just shaved 15 shots off my total. Not a fan of SB.
SH

Interesting lineup. Definite advantage to the CL members this year. Have to agree on the SB thing as well because although I like the course enough for a normal round, it has not been nice to me in tournament play.

G

[chipandput]

I really only go to the show for the green free coupons. I expect the same year after year, but the coupons more than make up for the admission cost.

You are right buddy. The coupons worth the amission price. As for the parking, it's not so bad cause if you go to the Montreal's golf show you have to pay 15$ to park and you're a long way from getting in.

[BC MIST]

Interesting lineup. Definite advantage to the CL members this year. Have to agree on the SB thing as well because although I like the course enough for a normal round, it has not been nice to me in tournament play.

Predator July 4
Kanata July 10
Loch March July 24
Talon July 26

Looks like the organizers have an in with the Clublink folks. I wonder which CL member will win this year.

Getting SB out of the lineup is a huge improvement and a ban on Thomas McBroom designed courses would make it even better. (Nothing personal) What a tournament it would be if the lineup was Outaouais, Loch March, Rideau View and Eagle Creek!!

[GarthM]

Looks like the organizers have an in with the Clublink folks. I wonder which CL member will win this year.

No kidding! Just replace Loch March with Hautes Plaines and call it the Ottawa CL Open!

[BC MIST]

No kidding! Just replace Loch March with Hautes Plaines and call it the Ottawa CL Open!

Never considered Hautes Plaines, but you are right.

Actually, having the tournament at courses like Hautes Plaines, Carleton Golf & Yacht Club and the like would be very interesting because these courses require accuracy and shotmaking at its finest versus just hitting the ball long. This might even allow a few pea shooting 60 year olds to contend.

[gumby]

went to the show with hopes that things might be better this year, but it seems
that there was less there this year than before. It took all of about 30 minutes to check out what was there...as usual only old stuff thats been around for a while for sale at the booths,and hardly any new clubs to try out...you would be better off going to golftown to see new equipment. This year the coupons for courses, other than
upper canada were not up to par( ) as well...just my opinion.

[sandbagger72]

was there a long drive challenge?

[mjf]

Asked the guys at the Citizen booth and he said the courses were Talon, Kanata, Preditor, Loch March. This is definitely not the correct order but the good news is what course is NOT in the rotation. No Stonebridge! I just shaved 15 shots off my total. Not a fan of SB.
SH

Doh! I'm hoping to get into the Citizen this year... but with Stonebridge out of the rotation, I'll lose any advantage I might have had since it's pretty much my home course.

On the other hand, since the handicap cutoff is likely to be somewhere around 3 due to all of the creative handicapping that seems to be done to gain entry into the tournament... it likely doesn't really matter. I've got some work to do to get my index into that range.

MJF

[NoBack]

was there a long drive challenge?

Nope

["Richard"]

what stops someoen from lying about their HDCP to get in? I thought I remember someone saying if you don't make the cut or something you can't go back again? They must have osmething in place to stop scrubs from signing up every year and wasting everyones time

[mjf]

what stops someoen from lying about their HDCP to get in? I thought I remember someone saying if you don't make the cut or something you can't go back again? They must have osmething in place to stop scrubs from signing up every year and wasting everyones time

I'm not sure. I guess it would make sense to not allow players who shot way above their handicap back into the tournament for a year or two. They may also want to do a check into who signed off on their handicap index...

Then again, if I am fortunate enough to qualify for the tournament this year, I might be one of those people who embarass themselves by shooting 15 strokes over my handicap despite the fact that my index will be accurate. I guess anybody can have a bad day... especially in a tournament if you're not used to playing under that kind of pressure.

MJF

[fundonny]

Okay, who is the golf show for? Us, right? The majority of us aren't satisfied, so can we do something about it? Anyone feel like writing a petition or a form letter?

I know Toronto is a much bigger market, but don't we deserve a good show at least?!?!

[Sphere Hunter]

Doh! I'm hoping to get into the Citizen this year... but with Stonebridge out of the rotation, I'll lose any advantage I might have had since it's pretty much my home course.

On the other hand, since the handicap cutoff is likely to be somewhere around 3 due to all of the creative handicapping that seems to be done to gain entry into the tournament... it likely doesn't really matter. I've got some work to do to get my index into that range.

MJF

Interesting. I guess I never really saw it from your point of view. I have seen some huge scores over the years (including my own). It seems there is always a story to go along with the score. I don't think the handicap method for choosing players is fair but what else can they do? I have a 2 or 3 handicap. In reality, I know I'm more like a 5 or 6 but the course I play at is rated fairly high even thought it just isn't tough at all (Greensmere). Playing Stonebridge is probably the exact opposite. Not sure what the rating is but with distaster looming in every direction, it's bound to catch you once in a while adding to your score and your handicap. Fix the rating system and the handicaps can be more fair.

I will say that the Citizen tournament has grown to be a much better field over the past few years. I guess that means it's finally attracting the best players in the region which also flushes out some of the more questionable ones.

Remember when you look at the scores that the players are all amateurs. This can lead to brutal scoring sometimes. At Kanata last year, I shot 32 on the back nine but blew out the front for a 74. A few weeks later, at Stonebridge, I hurt my back on the first hole and cruised in with a 91 including a sweet 9 on the final hole. They don't publish the stories, just the score and that can be misleading.

I hope you get the opportunity to play in the event. It is very well run. I hope they change the rules for choosing players so more new blood can compete. What if they had 4 qualifying days, one at each of the chosen courses. Took the top 15 from each day, then sent those players off the play the remainder of the tournament. This would allow for many more players, at least for one round. I doubt that would change the final results.

BTW - I have played with a few guys in the Citizen Tourney who have no right owning the handicap they do. There's really no way to police this other than trusting the captain of each respective course to be honourable. But, if a player wants to cheat his handicap down, there's really nothing to stop his from doing so. Golf is an honourable game.
SH

[Kilroy]

The majority of us aren't satisfied

I do not think this is a fair statement. Thousands of people attend the show every year and go home happy. Bear in mind that someone who is disappointed (or thoroughly impressed) is more likely to post about it than someone who was simply satisfied with what it was.

The Golf Show is a business. The booths are rented. You cannot force the big manufacturers to get booths. If they feel the market is too small they won't come. You have to remember that Canadian markets are really small compared to American markets. I am sure that they find even the Montreal show small by their standards.

[dH]

Considering California has more people than Canada... If you want to see the big boys your best bet is to go to Toronto or Vancouver. Those are the 2 hubs for fairs in Canada. We got alot of space but few consumers.

[el tigre]

Okay, who is the golf show for? Us, right? The majority of us aren't satisfied, so can we do something about it? Anyone feel like writing a petition or a form letter?

I know Toronto is a much bigger market, but don't we deserve a good show at least?!?!

Strictly speaking, we are not "entitled" to any show at all - let alone a good one.

The golf show is a business that is supposed to make money for the people running it - and like any other consumer show those profits are driven by attendence. The real $$$ come from the exhibitors (not from the admission fees), but if your attendence is down then the exhibitors don't come back next year and your show gets smaller - plain and simple. A smaller show draws less people and it becomes a vicious circle. That is the trap that the Ottawa show seems to be caught in, and IMHO a petition or form letter is not going to change that - in fact the more we bash the show the lower the attendence will be and the worse it will get.

What the show needs is better marketing and some new ideas and attractions to get people to attend. Then more exhibitors will come back, which will attract more attendence the next year, etc. The marketing, publicity and media coverage for this show has always been rather poor - why don't they work with their exhibitors to advertise the show and discount their admission prices to get more people through the door? Last year they had a long drive contest on a simulator that was very popular - why not bring it back? What about a used club exchange/area similar to what they do at the ski shows? A special clubfitter's demo area?

What is needed is some new ideas! Anybody got some?

[covanant]

I just wish there were more retailers present.
Nevada bobs,GolfTown,ChuckBrowns,where were they?
You would think the big 3 here in Ottawa would be there duking it out?
Golfworks seems to think the market in Ottawa is good.
Just my 2 cents,but 10.00 was a good entry price if you ask me.

[dbleber]

You get your 10 bucks worth but it still is not a true Golf Show. I agree with covanant, the big 3 retailers need to get in there and show what they got. T & L? C'mon how many of us buy our equipment from them? They don't offer very much and it shows. I would like more Ottaa courses and valley courses get in there and offer some more 2 for 1's and other discounts. They should want to get people out to there courses and a 2 for 1 is a great way to do it that doesn't break the bank. The real question as stated above is how do you get more people to come and set up a booth? Marketing, I guess. Ottawa seems to have a pretty large golfing community regardless of its population size, companies should be all over us to spend our big bucks.

[Colby]

It is a Golf and Travel Show, with an emphasis on the travel. And it's expensive, especially with the strength of the Canadian dollar these days, for some of the vendors to be here. For example, the same weekend as this show, there's one going on in Boston, I think that's where it was at, so where would the best $$$ be spent by the manufacturers? Ottawa, or some bigger US City, and if Toronto is coming up in the next week or so, the money might be spent better there.

Everyone is looking for a deal. Most of the local courses are pretty busy unless the weather is crappy, or course conditions are poor. Where is the incentive to give away free or discounted rounds? And T&L needs to be there, they are a small player in the golf equipment market in Ottawa no matter what they advertise, and the others are either liquidators and/or small local manufacturers. I didn't see some clubmakers that I have seen in the past.

This forum has a pretty skewed group of golfers. There are a lot of low handicap, well below the "average", golfers. There are a lot of people who are interested in gear, and there are a lot of people interested in club making. That is not really your "average" golfer in the Ottawa area. A lot of these people play a few times per year, score 90-100, usually higher, and enjoy themselves. They are looking for a fun place to go golfing, and may make a golf trip or two.

March is a good time for us to get out and check out the golf show. We are starting to get an itch. A lot of the golf destinations would be better to have a show later in the year when people may be making winter golf holiday plans. By March, we are looking at getting outside in the next month or so.

Why aren't the manufacturers there? Who knows. I would be more interested in what the general demographic of the golf show is. For some reason, I think we are not it.

[NoBack]

The show is definately going downhill.
I have been going since they came to town 10 yrs ago and it used to be great show and great time to kill and get you thinking about the upcoming season. Now you can do it in 10 minutes flat. Only good thing to come out of it are the free passes.
Other than that it was a waste of time.

[fundonny]

This is the first year I've gone alone, because NONE of my buddies, who are really into golf mind you, wanted to go this year.

[Colby]

Nope

Actually there was a long drive contest. They had it on the same simulator as the Closest to the Pin contest, but later. A good way to let someone else get a chance to win something besides the gorillas.

[NoBack]

This is the first year I've gone alone, because NONE of my buddies, who are really into golf mind you, wanted to go this year.

I know what you mean, another 4 that usually go with us stayed home too. Too bad cus it was fun once upon a time.

colby............ we must have gotten there too late or too ealy.

[ironmaster15213]

This is the first year I've gone alone, because NONE of my buddies, who are really into golf mind you, wanted to go this year.

I hate to say it but this was the first time in about 15 years I didn't go to the golf show in Monroeville (Pittsburgh Golf Show) It just seems that it's aways the same and I'm not interested in anymore used clubs or golf balls. At least last year I was able to bullship with Jason Z. inbetween his shows. This year I just hit golf shots in the dome for about 4 hours and taught a young girl and her mother a couple of basic things, I probably had a better time then going to the show and I know that I now have more cash in my pocket thanks to not going. Probably the only thing I feel that I missed out on is talking with Terry Miskolczi and his wife about Moe Norman!! I really miss that great guy,Moe Norman.