The Show

No, nothing to do with Major League Baseball, it's also the shorthand name for the PGA Merchandise show recently in Orlando.  The Show is to golf about the same as pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training, a harbinger of better days to come in the future.  And if your luck holds, this might be an Allenby-free zone...

Shack has a link-laden post on the first two days of the show, and we'll piggyback on his efforts.  Before we get to specific gear, we'll also give you this link to the Golf Digest micro-blog where the Loopsters are posting regularly as they make their rounds.  And no, what you're now is a full-sized blog, it just happens to have a micro-readership (pace Spinal Tap, our appeal is increasingly selective).

So, what's new and interesting?  Are you, like many, put off using a trolley by how difficult it is to get in the boot:

But Sun Mountain is combating those complaints with the Reflex push cart, which folds

up nearly instantaneously and neatly to a size that's barely more than two cubic feet. The cart's E-Z Latch system takes the Reflex from open to folded in three steps that might take all of five seconds even on a day when you've used its beverage holder for nothing but refills on Coors Light.

I'm pretty sure that I could get that, my golf bag and Robert Allenby into my trunk...oops, I lied about it being an Allenby-free zone.

Too much head movement in your golf swing?  Then this is for you:

Tour View, a wonderfully simple but effective training aid, won the Most Innovative Concept Award at the 2015 PGA Merchandise Show. There is a story here. 

The $29.99 device was created by Mike Jones, the son of a golf professional. I always pay attention to the children of golf pros, because so many of them have spent a lifetime contemplating the mysteries and joys of the game. Jones, like his father, Gene Jones, Sr., became a teaching professional. 

Developed through many teaching sessions, Tour View allows any golfer to see and feel what it means to keep the head stable.

How much extra is it with the full Groucho mustache?

Golf Board, which we saw last year, had a hands feet-on demo for folks, which at a minimum made for good photos and video:

The Bend, Ore.-based company won the 2014 PGA Merchandise Show award for best

new product. The company claims the GolfBoard speeds up the game, reduces turf wear and attracts a younger audience. 

Between those already using the product and those who have orders in, GolfBoard officials said more than 100 courses have signed up so far.

That looks great, but where does the twenty pound staff bag go?

Golf Digest has this slideshow of its Editors' Picks, though it's all a bit underwhelming, the typical mixture of bizarre swing aids and microscopic advancement in golf-related electronics.  Examples of the former include:

THE PERFECT PUTTER

Sometimes -- and by sometimes, I mean most times -- the best training aids don't look all 

that glamorous. Case in point: Players can use this stimpmeter-looking device ($239) to find exactly how much a putt breaks. Once you've found out what the perfect putt looks like, you clip on the accompanying alignment aid and remove the stimpmeter-thing. Now, you can practice putting knowing if you hit it with the right speed, it'll roll straight into the hole. Plus, there's something therapeutic about seeing the ball go into the hole over and over. Justin Rose is using this in his practice routine. Remember how he putted at the Ryder Cup? --

Mark Broadie, call your office.  Justin Rose is a very good player, tee-to-green, that is.  In 2014 he was fourth in Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-green and 108th once he reached the green.  Having Rose as your celebrity endorser for anything related to putting is the equivalent of having Tim Herron endorsing Diet Coke.  Maybe he'd be worse without it, but good luck proving it...

And this topical item:

ARM-LOCK CONVERTER PUTTER GRIP

Ed Klein, a stockbroker from Aberdeen, Wash., and club professional Ronnie Espedal

created this grip as an alternative for those who use an anchored-putting stroke, which will be banned starting in 2016. The converter grip ($30) replaces a regular grip on a putter, with the bore in the grip angled so that the shaft can aligned with your forearm. The design increases the effective loft of a putter by 2 degrees, alleviating the need for a forward press. The company also has a counterbalanced grip for those who prefer to use a traditional stroke.

I'm not surprised that someone is going after this market, though this explanation puzzles me.  Doesn't a forward press reduce the loft on the putter?  This is obviously how Kooch putts, but as I understand it to make it work you need something in the vicinity of 9 degrees of loft on your putter, making experimentation difficult.

DST GOLF COMPRESSOR CLUB

The DST ($99) isn't your typical warm-up club. For one thing, it's not weighted like most others in the category. Oh, and it has a bent shaft, which is what makes it truly unique. The bend mimics the position that a traditional shaft takes at impact, helping you naturally align your hands forward. If you're able to get into that position, it means you'll be hitting down on the ball, the best way to make solid contact.

I'll have to take their word for it...

On the electronics side, there was this:

BUSHNELL TOUR X

Why (and how) could any golfer play without a laser rangefinder? I'm addicted to mine.

That's why the Tour X ($500) caught my eye. It vibrates when the laser locks in on a target, and it comes with two faceplates: a black version that restricts the device to measuring actual yardages to conform with the Rules of Golf and the red version, which reads the actual yardage, slope percentage and calculated yardage. Also, a toggle on the Tour X allows you two switch between reading red numbers (which are easier to see early/late in the day) and black numbers (which are easier to read under sunny skies).

No doubt that Schrager is painting the red plate black as we speak....(inside joke for the Willow Ridge readers).

All in all, kind of a yawn this year....