ORLANDO, Florida – The PGA Merchandise Show is – as far as the golf industry is concerned – the major annual event for the sport, and last week’s 65th staging of the show at the Orange County Convention Center underscored that.

The Show, which draws about 40,000 visitors annually, featured more than 7,500 PGA professionals from all 50 states and 87 countries. In addition to those from the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Korea, Japan and Taiwan had big contingents. Over 1,000 media representatives from 25 countries were also on hand, and 36 countries received television coverage.

Exhibits were spread over nearly 10 miles of aisles in the massive Convention Center as manufacturers put their new products on display and the two Chicago club manufacturers were in the thick of things.

Buoyed by a big year in 2017, David Glod — president of Batavia-based Tour Edge – did more than put his new lines of Exotics, Hot Launch and Bazooka brands on display. He also revealed some strategic changes for the 32-year old company.

With the company showing a 25-per cent growth over the previous year, Tour Edge has beefed up its staff – particularly on the marketing side. It’ll have commercials on The Golf Channel and tour players will have an increased role in promoting Tour Edge products. Tour Edge clubs helped PGA Tour players win 10 tournaments in recent years without the company paying them to use their equipment.

“We’ll have a little different approach this year,’’ said Glod during his company’s media day preview. “We’ll go heavy on the Champions Tour.’’

One Champions Tour player, Tim Petrovic, even spoke on Tour Edge’s behalf during the Show preview event.

Chicago-based Wilson stepped up production of its innovative Driver vs. Driver2 series during the Show’s Demo Day and Tim Clarke, head of the company’s golf division, announced two new judges – hockey great Jeremy Roenick and PGA professional/coach Rick Shiels.

The series, which made its Golf Channel debut in 2016, features aspiring club designers competing to have their concepts transformed into the model that Wilson will use for its next driver. Clarke returns as a judge and Melanie Collins will again be the emcee of the series, which will make its TV debut in the fall after the Ryder Cup matches.

The Chicago-based Western Golf Association also made news, announcing a groundbreaking initiative to promote youth caddie opportunities. It’s called Carry the Game and will operate under the WGA umbrella with the U.S. Golf Association, PGA of America, The First Tee and Youth on Course also involved in the project.

“Through Carry the Game, our goal is to provide young people with an early introduction to golf by creating life-changing opportunities to work as a caddie,’’ said John Kaczkowski, the WGA’s president and chief executive officer. “Ultimately we believe the experiences and mentorship gained through caddying are invaluable to a young person’s development and will help cultivate a lifelong passion for playing the game.’’

Other product introductions included Callaway’s line of Rogue drivers and fairway woods with Jailbreak technology; Cobra’s F8 drivers with Cobra Connect technology; TaylorMade’s M3 and M4 drivers with new Twist Face technology and Titleist’s new Tour Soft and Velocity golf balls.

The best three new products among merchandise displayed at the show, as determined by voters from the PGA and the top buyers, were Chippo Golf, a game for backyard, beach or tailgate events; Rhineland Cutlery, custom engraved cutlery sets targeting golf events; and Tsu Tsu Sport, a colorful apparel collection.

Each PGA Merchandise Show also has an Inventor’s Spotlight, for products not yet available at retail outlets. Best of those, according to selectors, was the Impact Improver — an indoor training device.

Many of the products introduced in Orlando will also be available at three upcoming Chicago area shows – the Tinley Park Golf Expo Feb. 9-11 at the Tinley Park Convention Center, the Northern Illinois Expo Feb. 16-18 at the Lake County Fair Grounds and the Chicago Golf Show Feb. 23-25 at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.

RevelationGolf has done lots of good things since Elk Grove resident Donna Strum created the program in 2005. Strum, a therapeutic recreation specialist, quit a job at a hospital to work with children and adults with physical disabilities, breast cancer survivors and at-risk youth.

It wasn’t until two years later, Strum and her assistant, Kathy Williams, took the program to military veterans, that RevelationGolf really took off. By 2008 there were weekly golf clinics held at various locations. Williams is an LPGA Class A teaching professional, a former Evans Scholar and head women’s golf coach at the University of Minnesota.

“Now the military veterans program is 90 percent of what we do,’’ said Strum. “The need is so great. Our programs are used as part of healing and recovery.’’

Golf, obviously, has proven to be a tool to cope with both physical disabilities as well as those suffering from such things as post traumatic stress disorder. The RevelationGolf program works, and its slogan, “a new beginning to a great game,’’ is most appropriate.

Strum says RevelationGolf gives 1,200 lessons a year to 350 “unique individuals.’’

And, it’s not just men who need help. Women and the children of the veterans have benefitted as well and Illinois PGA members have been involved from the outset. Strum, working with medical personnel, administers her program for both the Illinois PGA and Project Hope, the national version organized by the PGA of America.

Strum and her medical staffers put interested Illinois PGA members through a four-hour training session before they are allowed to work with the veterans. The first two hours are classroom work in which the different physical disabilities and the emotional side effects are discussed. Then the professionals get an hour of simulations, hitting shots from various stations under conditions that their students are facing, before getting introduced to the veterans themselves.

Some of the participants have the use of only one hand. Some have tremors. Some are visually impaired. Some are using prosthetic legs. The golf professionals are given a taste of what it’s like to be in that state.

Don Habjan, the head professional at Makray Memorial in Barrington, took his training with RevelationGolf in the fall of 2005 and has been working as a teacher since that time. Patrick Lynch, the head professional at Cantigny in Wheaton, and Cog Hill’s Carol Rhoades, the IPGA Professional of the Year in 2017, have also been long-time instructors in the veterans’ program.

Also prominent among the instructors are Brandon Evans, head professional at Village Greens in Woodridge; Jennifer Ferrell, head professional at Glendale Lakes in Glendale Heights; Matt Tullar, assistant head professional at Cantigny; Mason Wall, of the Todd Sones Golf School at White Deer Run in Vernon Hills; and independent teaching professionals Cory Ferrell and Louise Davis.

“We use a medical model for everything that we do,’’ said Strum, “and there are usually at least two teachers at every event along with one or two therapists.’’

Clinics and related events were held at 16 locations across the Chicago area in 2017, and not just at golf facilities. RevelationGolf has put on its events at dozens of hospitals and worked with a wide variety of charitable organizations.

One of the key locations is the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center at Great Lakes Naval Base in North Chicago. The PTSD veterans there were treated to sessions on a weekly basis in 2017. They were held on a bi-weekly basis before that.

Susanne Brown, a recreational therapist at that facility, could attest to the value of RevelationGolf.

“So many of our PTSD veterans suffer from persistent thoughts and memories that plague them throughout their day’’ she said. “In participation (in RevelationGolf), they have shared their ability to release those thoughts, even if only for the time they are golfing. Participating in golf, they turned their focus instead on the game and their skill. That gave them momentary release and freedom….It is exhilarating to watch them as the stress and tension fade from their bodies and their faces.’’

Women going through crises at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago were treated to the RevelationGolf programs for the first time this year – 15 participated — and the three Veterans Golf Days – held at Cog Hill, the nearby Chicago District Golf Association’s Sunshine Course in Lemont and Willow Glen in North Chicago drew a record 80 veterans. Those special days were expanded to include a dinner as well.

The RevelationGolf program doesn’t run in just the warm weather months, either. Links & Tees, in Addison, hosts clinics on Tuesdays and the Buffalo Grove Dome does the same on Wednesdays during the winter months.

A date has also been set for RevelationGolf’s 13th annual fundraiser. It’ll be held on June 11 at Rolling Green Country Club in Arlington Heights.

I’m excited, and most appreciative. Last night three of my pieces from 2017 were cited in the 24th annual International Network of Golf Media Awards presentation, which climaxed the first day of the 65th PGA Merchandise Show at the Orange County Convention Center.

My Daily Herald piece, “Koepka wins first major,’’ was the winner in the Competition Writing category. It told the story of Brooks Koepka’s victory in the U.S. Open at Erin Hills last June.

I also received Outstanding Achiever mentions for two pieces, one for Travel Writing and the other in the Competition Writing category. The Travel piece, “Simply Grand,’’ appeared in the Daily Herald and spotlighted Wisconsin’s Grand Geneva Resort. (This piece also was published in Chicagoland Golf). It was the second year in which I’ve been cited in the Travel Writing category.

The other mention was for “Make It a Double,’’ which ran in the Chicago District Golfer. It was a report on Patrick Flavin’s victories in the Illinois State Amateur and Illinois Open.

Damon Hack, of The Golf Channel, was emcee for the event and a couple of my Wisconsin buddies – Chuck Garbedian (Radio Show) and Gary Van Sickle (Profile Writing) – were winners in other categories. Tony Leodora won for the third straight year in the TV Show division.

PGA National Resort & Spa, home of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic, is up for sale.

The resort, which includes five courses in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., fetched $170 million when it was acquired by Walton Street Capital of Chicago in 2006 from a Florida investor, according to a report in the Palm Beach Post. Another $89 million was spent on renovations since that purchase, according to that report.

Now PGA National is apparently on the market again, according to a website set up by the resort’s broker. PGA National includes 339 hotel rooms, a 40,000 square-foot spa and 42,000 square feet of meeting space in addition to the golf courses.

Best known of the courses is the Champion, which hosted the 1983 Ryder Cup, 1987 PGA Championship and the Senior PGA Championship from 1982-2000. It’s been the home of the Honda Classic since 2007 and features one of the toughest three-hole stretches in golf — Nos. 15-17, which has been dubbed The Bear Trap following a redesign by Jack Nicklaus.

Rickie Fowler is scheduled to defend his title in the Honda Classic from Feb. 22-25 and the resort has agreed to host that tournament through 2021.

AN EARLY WOMEN’S OPEN: For the first time since 2001 the U.S. Women’s Open will start in May, ahead of the U.S. Open. In the U.S. Golf Association’s 2018 scheduled, announced this week, the 73rd annual championship will be played May 31-June 3 at Shoal Creek in Alabama. It is the key part of a reorganization of the USGA’s championship schedule.

Shoal Creek, another Nicklaus design, will host its third USGA championship, having previously hosted the 1986 U.S. Amateur and 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur. It’s also been a PGA Championship site.

DORMIE GOING PRIVATE: The Dormie Club, a Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw design in Pinehurst, N.C., was well-received immediately after its 2010 opening. Now it’ll be undergoing some major changes.

A Nebraska-based investment company purchased the club and will add it to its Dormie Network – a group of destination clubs that includes Briggs Ranch in Texas, ArborLinks in Nebraska and Ballyhack in Virginia. The Pinehurst location will get a new clubhouse, halfway house and on-site lodging and gradually revert back to its original status as a private course. The plan is to have an invitation-only membership by 2020.

REE JONES BREAKTHROUGH: The renowned architect of nearly 230 golf courses now has his first one in Mexico. Danzante Bay opened last month along the Sea of Cortez as part of the Villa del Palmar Resort.

Eleven holes were available last year and the new seven, Nos. 7 through 8, cover different terrains that include beaches, cliffs and canyons.

KEMPER LANDS TOBACCO ROAD: Northbrook-based KemperSports is always adding courses to its portfolio, but one of the latest is especially noteworthy. Kemper will now provide consulting services at Tobacco Road, one of the premier courses in North Carolina.

In other developments, Kemper has been named to manage Diamante Country Club in Arkansas and The Club at Grandezza in Florida and will be involved in a $5.1 million renovation project at Forest Creek in Texas.

ALL ABOUT WHISKEY: Glen Garden Country Club, the Texas course where legends Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan got their start as caddies, is now situated on the grounds of Whiskey Ranch – the only whiskey distillery on a full-functioning 18-hole course.

Glen Garden had been closed for three years, after Firestone & Robertson Distilling Co. purchased the property. The company has since built five buildings on the property and re-configured the course with plans to open it for charity and private events.

TOPGOLF GOES INTERNATIONAL: Chicago was one of the first areas to get a Topgolf location, and now there are 37 spread across the world. The company has recently opened venues in Canada, Mexico and Australia and will open another in Dubai in 2019.

I was just sad to learn of the passing of Dick Nugent, the long-time Chicago golf course architect, on New Year’s Day. I don’t know more details, but Nugent was 87 — a very nice man and and one of the most prolific architects in the Chicago area.
A University of Illinois graduate — he also played football for the Illini — Nugent started his architectural career working for the legendary designer Robert Bruce Harris. He later hooked up with fellow architect Ken Killian, and they handled the design work for Kemper Lakes.
While Kemper Lakes was his best-known work, Nugent created over 90 courses in 12 states. Among his other noteworthy ones was the Dunes Club in New Buffalo, Mich. — the only 9-hole course to be ranked in Golf Digest’s Top 100.
Many of his designs came after he and Killian split up their partnership in 1983.
In addition to Kemper Lakes Nugent’s credits include some of the Chicago area’s best public layouts — both courses at Harborside International, George Dunne National, Golf Club of Illinois, Foxford Hills, Heritage Bluffs and Buffalo Grove.
He was also involved in projects at Deerpath, Big Run, Twin Orchard, Midlothian, Fox Lake , Glencoe, Glendale Lakes, Sunset Valley, Poplar Creek, Bull Valley and Ivanhoe.

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – This is what I was told.

Jack Nicklaus designed the Legend Course at The Club at Ibis for an opening in 1991. More than 20 years passed, and club members asked Nicklaus to come back and check it out again. He did, and his immediate comment was `What was I thinking?’

In his early years in course architecture Nicklaus’ designs were frequently considered too penal. This was apparently one of them. The tournament player side of Nicklaus was more reflected in his course designs back then. He liked his courses to be challenging.

Having not played the original Legend, it was difficult for me to imagine what it had looked like before the current re-design was unveiled this month. (Nicklaus hit the ceremonial first tee shot on Dec. 13 and the course opened for play a week later).

According to a long-time nearby resident – a non-member who happens to be a scratch player, the new version “is more accepting to all types of players and conditions. It’s playability instead of brutality. Bravo!’’

From my perspective as a first-time visitor I can’t imagine the Legend beating up any players. The fairways are extremely wide. The number of bunkers isn’t excessive, and those in the new design frame the landing areas quite well. The greens, already in excellent condition, are well contoured but provide fun for any player, be it a high or low handicapper, man or woman.

In short, this is a most enjoyable place to play. The course can welcome back big tournaments (it plays 7,442 yards from the tips) if the membership so chooses as well as stimulate beginning players (the front set of tees provides a course of only 4,492 yards.

The Club at Ibis is in the heart of Nicklaus country. In fact, it may be the center of it design-wise. Two of Nicklaus’ sons have also designed courses on the property, which is part of a gated community that requires those who live in its 1,900 residences to be members. Jack Nicklaus II, now the president of Nicklaus Design, created the immediately friendly Heritage Course, which also opened in 1991. Steve Nicklaus designed the Tradition Course, a links-style layout that opened in 2001.

Nicklaus’ renovated Legend has a particularly scenic par-3 at No. 5 but a more memorable one at No. 13. This one has an island green, fountain in the water fronting the green and a path of artificial turf leading into the putting surface from behind the green. With those features there’s no denying it ‘s the course’s signature hole.

Jack Nicklaus, the one of Golden Bear fame, has been a resident of nearby North Palm Beach since the 1970s. His Bear’s Club, in Jupiter, has been a haven for established PGA Tour players since Nicklaus and his wife Barbara founded the club in 1999. Nicklaus also handled a 2014 redesign of the Champion Course at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens – just four miles from The Club at Ibis. The home of the PGA Tour’s annual Honda Classic, PGA National’s Champion Course features one of the sport’s most treacherous three-hole stretches from Nos. 15-17. It’s been declared, appropriately enough, “The Bear Trap.’’

As established as the Nicklauses are in south Florida, this year has been an extraordinary one for the clan. In November, a month before the opening of the Legend at The Club at Ibis, the patriarch of the clan oversaw the opening of the Banyan Cay Resort & Golf – another members-only club in West Palm Beach.

This one is significant because it was the 300th course that Nicklaus created. Other designers have created more. Tom Bendelow designed over 600 in a 35-year career that started in the 1890s. Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed over 500 and Donald Ross over 400. None, of course, could rival the playing record that Nicklaus had to complement his architectural resume.

The Legend Course at the Club at Ibis may be Nicklaus’ most recent design but certainly won’t be his last. He and his staff of designers has 410 courses open for play in 39 states and 41 countries, and 57 more are under development in 19 different countries.

Over my nearly 50 years writing about golf I’ve played a wide range of Nicklaus courses, some high profile and some not. My favorite is one of the latter – The Club at Porto Cima, a private club in Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks that opened in 2000.

Nicklaus was apparently quite proud of it, as the club’s website attributes this comment from him about the course: “On a scale of one to 10 this is as close to a 10 if there ever was a 10.’’

It’ll be hard to top that accolade, but Nicklaus has done so many quality courses that are special in their own way and to their own set of players. The Legend will stand up quite well to all of them.