A week has passed since I spent an enjoyable afternoon at the Rochester Golf Show. The Dome Arena in Henrietta once again served as venue for the exposition of all things golf in and around the Flower City. As I sit cleaning the house on this Dia de Los Presidentes, so many thoughts have come tumbling back from the show that I decided to organize and leave them with you.
> The Rochester Show gave me the chance to reconnect with some great folks I’ve met through golf. Fran Roach and Ashleigh Frieday from Seneca Hickory Stick (Lewiston) Perry Noun, III from Timber Banks (Baldwinsville); Steve Carney from Holiday Valley (Ellicottville); the Show Organizer, Kevin Woods; Lyndsay Meidenbauer Eddy from Byrncliff (Varysburg); Brent Gadacz from Gator Greens (Niagara Falls) and the list goes on.
> Cinammon roasted almonds. Sure, I can buy them at Tops or Wegman’s, but can I buy them fresh from the hands that made them? Only at the Rochester Show. We devoured a 16 ounce bag on the ride back to Buffalo.
> The optimism of…a new season that will soon be upon us. Be it lower scores or higher sales (and I’ve been on both sides of the convention booth, friends), whether your connection to the show was incumbent on finding fresh equipment, a new fitness routine or an improved method for swinging the club, you were smiling. If your reason for appearing was to attract more golfers in 2012 than 2011 to your facility, you were smiling.
> Golf balls…I picked up a dozen Nike and another 12 of the yellow Srixon. For whatever reason, spending money on balls at a show seems different from heading up the path to the local store. Can’t explain it. Probably delusional. Don’t care.
> The net. I love hitting balls with new sticks from Mizuno, Callaway and Nike, among others. This year, I traded the clubs for the camera and filmed my two compatriots as they tried out hybrids. Next year, I’ll be back to take my cuts.
> Central New York golf. I don’t think that Rochester has an identity problem. In fact, it has two identities. It’s the eastern terminus of western New York and the western adjournment of the central region. As such, I learned about Reservoir Creek, Bristol Harbor and reconnected with the aforementioned associates from Timber Banks.
And there’s much more. If you missed it this year, make sure you bookmark the Rochester Golf Show for 2013. If we’re lucky, we’ll get our Buffalo show back in 2013, but don’t get me started.
