Harrogate Golf Show a Success for British Professionals3 min read

(Harrogate International Centre, UK) The Golf Show 2012, run in conjunction with the PGA of Great Britain & Ireland, Foremost Golf, and TGI golf, was an opportunity for PGA Professionals, suppliers, and industry leaders to assemble for the largest show of its kind in the UK.

Three days of show time for professionals gave them the chance for to visit over 50 stands from some of the UK’s and the world’s biggest brands, meet fellow professionals and share ideas, and ensure that they kept abreast with up-and-coming developments within the industry,

The show was also bestowed the honour of hosting recent Ryder Cup winner Paul Lawrie, as well as the Scot’s treasured prize, the Ryder Cup itself, for two of the show days, giving delegates the opportunity to speak to Lawrie and see the fruit of Team Europe’s labours at Medinah Country Club only a few weeks ago.

The show’s key supporters, buying groups Foremost Golf and TGI Golf, invited their own PGA Professional members to come to the show and meet their suppliers, with a particular focus on carrying out the vital deal-making processes involved with successful retail management for club professionals in the golf industry.

The show was also a winner for the exhibiting business: TaylorMade-Adidas Golf’s attendance at the show, for example, was reportedly their most successful ever and was indicative of the usefulness of such shows to give professionals and companies the vital face-to-face time that makes for prosperous business relationships.

Throughout the show, seminars from leading industry figures and speakers were available for professionals to educate themselves and earn Continual Professional Development points, with a headline seminar on day one from a panel of industry experts, including Chief Executive of the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland and Confederation of Professional Golf Chairman, Sandy Jones, TGI Golf Partnership’s Eddie Reid, Foremost Golf Chief Executive, Paul Hedges, Direct Golf owner, John Andrew and TaylorMade-Adidas Golf’s Managing Director, Ben Sharpe. Headlining day two was persuasion and influence-focused motivational speaker, Philip Hesketh, a native to the town of Harrogate, speaking about how to be a great pro and develop professionals’ businesses.

Also included on the final day of the show was the inaugural Teaching and Coaching Conference that featured internationally acclaimed PGA Master Professional, David Leadbetter, and Founder and Director of the Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke Golf Schools, Karl Morris, speaking to a sold-out audience of over 300 professionals.

Leadbetter began the day with the first of his two seminars, explaining the evolution of his coaching philosophy and how advancements in coaching theory and technology are shaping the way he continues that evolution. His second seminar looked at different top-level players’ swing and characteristics through his own eyes and gave attendees a first-hand insight into his coaching philosophy and practices.

Morris’ seminar looked at the intricacies of the value a PGA Professional has to an organisation and ways in which this value can be highlighted and increased. As an employer of PGA Professionals himself, Morris is in the perfect place to understand the requirements and expectations from an employer side, as well as from a customer side, and passed on his expertise to the attending professionals.

Continual Professional Development is a vital part of all professionals’ careers and the show’s seminars ensured the attending delegates could take away a great deal from the show.

PGA Master Professional, Leadbetter, said of the conference, “PGA members are the light-keepers of the game, and if we want to keep doing what we’re doing for future generations, we need to grow the game, and the way we’re going to do that is by keeping up with the times, knowing everything there is to know about our profession.”

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For more information on The Golf Show visit www.golftradeshow.co.uk.