With the economy being what it is, keeping losses to a minimum often can be considered a victory of sorts.
Take the case of the Denver Golf Expo, which wrapped up Sunday after a three-day run. Attendance dipped for the first time this decade, but owner and manager Mark Cramer said he’s “delighted” to see the decrease kept to the 9.6 percent that it was, compared to last year’s record number of attendees.
“Most consumer shows are down 20 percent,” Cramer said Monday. “All in all with the economy and the downturn, to keep it to 9 percent, I was delighted.”
Cramer reported that 10,127 attended the 2009 Expo at the Denver Merchandise Mart. Last year the figure was 11,202, the most in Expo history.
The Senior PGA Championship trophy was on display at the Golf Expo.
The 2010 Senior PGA will be played at Colorado Golf Club in Parker.
“The other thing (besides the economy) that was working against us was the great golf weather,” Cramer said. “Usually we have great Expo weather. Friday and Saturday conditions were pretty ideal for this time of year, and probably a lot of people took advantage and went out to play” instead of going to the Expo.
While attendance was down, Cramer said his number of exhibitors at the Expo was up, to about 150 this year compared to roughly 135 in 2008.
“I think we’ve been a ‘happening event’ for a number of years, but now I think we’ve turned a corner,” Cramer said. “I can’t put a handle on it, but judging from the people who were introduced to me, there’s some enthusiasm about how we’re moving forward in the industry, and that’s very cool.”
Like the attendance numbers, the amount of money raised through the Colorado Golf Association’s annual club swap dropped from last year. The Golf Swap, where donated and consigned used clubs and equipment are sold to benefit junior development programs, raised about $9,000 this year, according to Dustin Jensen, director of youth programs for the CGA. That’s down from almost $14,000 last year, but is still the second-highest figure in the history of the Swap.
Fox Hollow head professional Craig Parzybok gives some tips to a youngster
in the Colorado Junior Golf Experience at the Denver Golf Expo.
Meanwhile, Jensen said that more than 600 youngsters went through the new Colorado Junior Golf Experience, a participatory exhibit designed to expose more kids to the game. Also at the Expo, many golf organizations in the state combined to launch a web site (coloradojuniorgolf.org) that they hope will be a go-to resource for youngsters seeking instruction, camps/clinics, tournaments and caddie opportunities.
“Things couldn’t have gone any better” at the Expo, Jensen said. “We had a ton of kids come through.”
About 200 people attended Saturday’s CGA Tee-Off Luncheon, where First Tee chief executive officer Joe Louis Barrow Jr., gave the keynote speech. Afterward, Barrow said he believes the golf industry will weather the bad economy.
“Golf has some challenges in the next few years “¦ but golf has too much to offer not to succeed and come out on the other end,” said Barrow, who’s also an executive vice president of the World Golf Foundation.
In that vein, Barrow noted that the “Get Golf Ready” grass-roots initiative will launch this spring. The program is designed to introduce golf to adults in five lessons for $99. Barrow said “Get Golf Ready” will be offered at 700 locations by the end of this year, and hopefully at 5,000 in five years.
