Whether — or should we say weather? — it’s unseasonably snowy, cold or warm can have a big effect on the bottom line for the Denver Golf Expo.
Last year, when a major snowstorm hit the metro area the weekend of the Expo, the show drew its fewest attendees since 2002. This year, a dramatically different weather issue tooks its toll, according to organizers.
The three-day Expo, which concluded on Sunday at the Denver Mart, attracted 8,130 people, said Mark Cramer, who, along with Lynn Cramer, has run the show for the last 16 years. That total is up 13 percent from last year — and marked the first time since 2011 that attendance has increased compared to the previous year — but as noted, 2015 was a low point. From 2011 through ’14, the average for the show was 10,132.
Mark Cramer believes the issue was in stark contrast to last year: weather so warm that many golfers hit the course and played rather than possibly coming to the Expo. Temperatures approached the mid-60s on Friday and Saturday, while Sunday’s high was more typical — in the high 40s.
“I have mixed feelings,” Cramer said. “I came in with expectations high. After the blizzard last year, I thought there would be a real strong bounceback. But again, weather kind of bit me. The weather was too good. Talking to golf course operators, their tee sheets were full. If you multiply that out, that’s a lot of golfers. The courses have been under snow for two or three months. If I wasn’t doing the show, I would have finagled a tee time.
“I think we would have been between 9,000 and 9,500 if the weather had not been so nice. I’m looking forward to getting back to my (more) regular dates next year, Feb. 10-12. Those have been good dates for us.”
Other numbers from this year’s Expo were a mixed bag compared to recent norms.
The CGA’s Used Club Sale, which raises money for junior golf development programs through the Colorado Golf Foundation, sold $6,150 worth of clubs and equipment at the Expo. While that number was down considerably from recent years, it brings the total raised from the event since it started in 2002 to $146,500. The total over the last five years has surpassed $66,000.
“We didn’t have the high-end donations” that we had in recent years, said Dustin Jensen, the CGA’s managing director of operations, who helped oversee the Used Club Sale. “But it was a good show. We moved a lot of lower-dollar things. We appreciate the donations and the opportunity to showcase all that we do.”
Elsewhere, about 290 kids went though Junior Golf Central, with its Drive Chip & Putt theme — up a little from 2015. And Colorado PGA professionals gave 375 free 10-minute lessons to Expo attendees (left), down somewhat from 2015.
Cramer plans to move both Junior Golf Central and the free lesson area from the back to the front of the Expo next year.
Meanwhile, Cramer said he sold out exhibitor booths this year, with the CGA, CWGA, Colorado PGA and the new Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado among those on hand.
“I’m disappointed when I don’t meet (some of my expectations),” Cramer said. “But it’s also about getting customers in front of exhibitors. I always see myself in partnership with exhibitors. I didn’t get my numbers, but talking to exhibitors, they were very happy. The people that were there came to buy. There were less ‘tire-kickers.’
“It was a good show. I was proud of it. Just about all the (exhibitors) I talked to were really happy.”
