The PGA show had attendance of 40,518. That was within 50 people of last year. The number of exhibitors was 1,160. That was 65 less than last year, and some very big names were not there. That included Titleist companies, Pinnacle, Ping, Taylor-Made, Wilson Golf and Nike. I spoke to one large golf company was trying to sell its show booth because they said they are gone next year.

E-Z-GO and Yamaha introduced their new utility vehicles. The E-ZGO 4x4 has an 18hp Honda motor. E-Z-GO celebrated its 50th anniversary and had an original golf car on display. The Yamaha U-Max is a new utility car. The Club Car new Precedent car, retail price $6,500, was their primary show car.

The GCSAA show in San Diego had an attendance of 19,317. This was less than a 1% improvement in attendees over last years show in Atlanta. There were 6,200 qualified buyers, which was up from the previous show numbers of 6,045. There were only 684 exhibitors this year compared to 701 last year. Next years show will be changed to meet the merger of two organizations.

The show will be in Orlando, Feb 10-12 2005, and will now be called the Golf Industry Show. It will be a combination of the trade shows hosted by the GCSSA and the National Golf Course Owners Association, NGCOA. Both associations will operate separate education conferences that will run concurrently with the trade shows. This merger of the two shows has been a blessing for the two different organizations. The golf course business has been under difficult times in the past few years, and this combination will allow many courses to lower their expenses for attending a single show. This merger might effect the attendance of the PGA Show next year.