NEC Golf Show - Birmingham

By Paul Simpson Last updated: 12th December 2009

With 11,000 customers making it through the door and leading manufacturer TaylorMade recording record figures for the number of sets of irons sold in a single day at a UK event, the three-day NEC Golf Show in Birmingham proved a big success.

The Golf365 team of Dave Tindall, Matt Cooper and Paul Simpson turned up on the opening day and here's what golf nut Paul made of it all.

Friday, November 27th

I've been meaning to go to a Golf Show for the last few years and having missed the one in London I was determined that my one remaining day's holiday of 2009 should be used to head down the M1 from Leeds to Birmingham's NEC.

Comedy legend Jasper Carrott, a keen golfer playing off 16, got proceedings underway and from the off Matt was on a mission, making his way to the stand of the English Women's Golf Association (EWGA) to 'make a few contacts'.

We set ourselves up for the day ahead by taking advantage of the delicious free samples of energy giving oat bars from SSP Golf, which are specifically tailored to a golfer's nutritional and energy needs out on the course, and following some hands on therapy courtesy of the Mobile Massage Company the first stand to catch the eye of 'dedicated follower of fashion' Dave Tindall was that of London-based UKKO - the official clothing partner for this year's show.

Dave was very impressed by the quality and attention to detail in their clothing, which is made exclusively by British manufacturers from across the UK, and which looks certain to see the company succeed in achieving its aim of offering golfers a range of clothes with 'green to bar' appeal.

Whilst at the UKKO stand we discovered that they had already made inroads into the world of golf by linking up with the recently launched 66 Pro Tour. The tour stages one-day 18 hole events which have attracted the likes of former European No.1 Ronan Rafferty and a host of professionals from the Challenge and PGA Europro tours and it will be scheduling 12 events and a tour final in 2010.

Staying with fashion, we managed to catch up with Matt whose master plan for the day was seemingly falling into place. Not only had he secured contacts in the EWGA but he was now getting himself fitted out at the Subseventy stand for a party later that day to launch the website of Ladies' European Tour player Breanne Loucks.

Subseventy have been producing quality, funky golf clothing since 2004 and their new range caught the attention of us all and in particular Matt who was delighted to come away with a pink belt, which we are informed went down very well at the 'pink-themed' party that night.

The next stand to catch my eye was that of Optimizegolf who had a wonderful new piece of kit, the Shotmiser G320, on display. The device is a handheld golf GPS system, which replaces the current G300 model, and does far more than just provide you with yardages to the front, middle and back of the green.

The device has many easy-to-use features and using the very latest in touch screen technology does everything apart from swing the club. We were taken through a demonstration where you can not only see the usual distances to the green but you are able to rotate the device so that the screen adjusts to where you are aiming and you can then pinpoint where you want to land the ball.

One stand I was surprised to see at the show was The Belfry. Surely the spiritual home of the Ryder Cup doesn't need to drum up any publicity I thought, but after speaking with Director of Sales Ian Cross it became apparent that they want to get the message out about their continuing pursuit of excellence.

More than £3million has been spent in the last three years to keep The Belfry in its rightful place as one of the UK's finest venues. The flagship Brabazon course has been extended, drainage has been improved and several of the holes have been redesigned; the PGA National course has undergone a major facelift and is now a true inland links and The Derby has had £120,000 spent on drainage alone.

A game of 'spot the celebrity' followed with Birmingham City trio Lee Bowyer (scored the winner against Wolves the very next day!), Maik Taylor and Stephen Carr quickly identified, followed by former England goalkeeper David Seaman and ex-England wicketkeeper Alec Stewart.

But the best was yet to come.

Whilst discussing, and hoping for an invite to, the Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship, who should wander over but none other than snooker and Strictly Come Dancing star Willie Thorne. Now, the first words to come from the snooker legend surprised us all as he took one look at Matt and said 'don't I know you?' Shouldn't this be the other way round Dave and I thought to ourselves but apparently they had met once before, behind a scoreboard at a tournament, but we thought it best not to ask the circumstances of this previous encounter.

A tour of the American Golf Discount shop helped to establish Christmas wish lists and as the day had flown by we decided it was time to swing some clubs. First up was the very popular 100ft Putt, at which we all failed, followed by the nearest the pin simulator which yielded similar results and which made us all realise how hard it is to swing a club with dozens of people watching you.

We decided to stay away from the big manufacturers such as TaylorMade and Nike, who were rightly receiving plenty of public attention, and made our way to the Nickent stand where we all got the chance to flex our golfing muscles. I'd never swung a Nickent club before but assisted by the knowledgeable and helpful pro Stuart Archibald, I found that they have produced a quality range of equipment with good solid feel.

Stuart also gave us a fascinating insight into life on the minor tours and just how hard it is, financially, to keep your dreams alive of making the big time.

After picking up some more freebies from the 0800 Sports shop - some energy shot drinks to help us through the carnage that is the M1 on a Friday afternoon - and witnessing a woman stood in a tank of water demonstrating a pair of waterproof socks, it was time to go.

With Matt flagging and with a party to attend we did consider 'borrowing' a buggy from The Caddy Car Company to get us back to the car but fortunately for us the NEC cater for the weary visitor by laying on free buses, even though we did get on the wrong one.

Still, a great day was had by all.

The show manages to capture all aspects of the game from club, gadget and clothing manufacturers, courses, travel and accommodation, nutrition and health and even new ways to play the game courtesy of GolfMission (see Mark Kendall's feature).

Despite having to endure a seven-hour round journey from Leeds to Birmingham on the roadwork-ridden M1, I'm already pencilling in a return to the NEC next year.

Paul Simpson