The 25 greatest and goofiest products and pitches at the 2025 PGA Show

ORLANDO, Fla. - The PGA Merchandise Show never fails to excite me for the year ahead in golf.

I have been blessed to attend every Show that's been held since 2012. Technically that makes me a seasoned veteran, but after talking to golf course architect Steve Smyers, who told me he was on a 52-Show streak, I was reminded that I am still relatively young in what I hope is a long life in golf. Matching Smyers' current mark would mean attending every Show through 2064, when I will be 74 years old.

Challenge accepted.

The golf industry's offerings will change in untold ways in that time, but I'm confident that if people are still playing golf then, big companies will still be hawking heavily-researched products while small-time dreamers will be making their pet projects a reality, with intriguing and occasionally perplexing results.

Wandering the floor each year reveals a great deal about the trends - sometimes outright fads - in golf. Some of them blow up and become part of the fabric of the industry. Others come and go like tulip fever. At the 2020 PGA Show, I counted 19 different vendors of CBD-infused products. This year, I didn't notice a single one.

Perhaps the frothiest industry within the industry is that of golf launch monitor and simulator technology. Big names like TrackMan, ForeSight, Golfzon and Full Swing had huge presences on the floor of Orlando's Orange County Convention Center. Toptracer, the technology arm of Topgolf, had the largest single booth space in Show history, with a full-width range setup to show off its green-grass practice-shot-tracking capabilities as well as its indoor Swing Suite concepts, complete with hangout areas for people to schmooze while waiting a turn to hit some shots. Perusing golf equipment always creates an itch to take some swings.

There were several other simulator brands, too, and while I know the concept is becoming popular in the U.S., is it really big enough to support all of them? Consolidation must be coming soon. And while I like the idea of simulator golf as good-but-far-from-completely-satisfying substitute for the real thing, I can't shake a discomfiting feeling. With the overwhelming majority of new golf courses being built for high-income (and extremely-high-income) folks, and with land and water becoming ever more scarce, is there a dystopian American golf future where only the 1% can afford to play outdoors, and the rest of us have to settle for the less immersive feel of astroturf and the ugly delayed thump of a ball hitting a screen? Here's hoping equipment manufacturers get on board with the USGA and R&A's equipment regulation proposals and we can keep golf's physical footprint reasonable.

The other major golf trend is that seemingly everybody and their sister has a golf apparel brand nowadays. The main exhibition space for the PGA Show is divided neatly into two halves, traditionally with equipment and hard goods in the northern space and apparel and soft goods in the south. This year, apparel showed a significant increase in footprint, crossing the Rubicon between the two vast rooms. There were also more than a dozen apparel booths in an auxiliary space at the far southern reach of the Show floor, near where Third Eye Blind played a concert one evening (in case you had any doubt as to the prevailing demographic of Show attendees). Golf participation is growing, yes, but can it support all of these brands? The barrier to entry has gotten so low that individuals can invest a little bit in some production overseas and try to sell their way into legitimacy through some pro shops and direct-to-consumer online sales. There is bound to be a lot of turnover in this space.

Before the list of the products that resonated most with me, a note on golf clubs. Frankly, it is difficult to nominate specific golf clubs for spots in this piece, largely because golf equipment has plateaued across some categories, while others come down to the individual needs of the player. I haven't hit a truly suspect club from a major manufacturer in years; they're all quite good. That said, it's been a long time since my mind was blown by a club, either. Average quality is decently high these days, with few outliers in either direction.

I have grown to resent most golf cart GPS systems because they have started to make some golf courses and resorts feel as if they don't need to give or sell golfers yardage books anymore. This is wrong. Yardage books engage golfers; GPS screens can be helpful but they're more distracting. A yardage book is also a perfect memento of a round. They're how I fell in love with courses, so I am going to ride for any company that continues to make them. BestApproach is a great one. If your course has recently abandoned yardage books, tell them to get in touch with this Arizona-based supplier.

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Do yardage books still have a place in golf?

I've had a few weeks to confirm this, but Payntr is in position to become the next significant golf shoe brand, stepping up to offer a popular alternative to FootJoy and ECCO. Their new Eighty Seven model and associated Speed Classic line, designed in collaboration with PGA Tour player Jason Day, incorporates a thin, lightweight, strong carbon-fiber plate from Carbitex that allegedly helps with both stability and even distance. Whether it's a gimmick or legitimate technological advancement, Payntr makes an attractive and comfortable pair of golf shoes.

While I haven't gotten my hands on the new Mizuno Pro X or Mizuno Pro S models yet, I like that the brand has continued to reintroduce the classy script of the Mizuno Pro sub-brand throughout its offering. I tried Mizuno balls a few years ago and found them very good at a competitive price point. We'll have to see whether the new pro line is a step forward.

Bridgestone is both the choice of Tiger Woods (plus a growing roster of pros) and the brand that arguably offers the most comprehensive lineup of golf balls for the bigger part of the handicap bell curve. It's an odd-numbered year, so that means an update to the high-quality but lower-cost e12 series golf balls. The latest offering comes in three models: HiLaunch, Straight and Speed. They all include Bridgestone's Mindset marking, which is meant to help golfers hone in on the target in three-step fashion on every putt.

I had never heard of this company before last week, but I learned they have a long history helping athletes hold onto handlebars, bats, sticks and even video game controllers. They make the official bat grip of Major League Baseball. That they now make golf grips makes sense; their DuraSoft Polymer (DSP) material is purportedly resilient enough to keep golfers from needing to put new grips on their clubs as often as is currently necessary. As a no-glove golfer who has sworn by Winn's cushioned grips for years, I look forward to putting some Lizard Skins grips to the test this year to see if they live up to their self-hype.

A lot of entry-level golf products are ineffective or gimmicky, but BucketGolf's oversized clubheads and use of a pickleball-like object has some charm. So does the opportunity to design your own backyard golf course using the large, kitschy targets. Just be prepared for a few ugly divots from newbies.

Pinehurst-based U.S. Kids has been helping the youngest golfers into the game for decades, and their entry-level offering for 2025 - a super-lightweight iron with an oversized head that works well with foam and real golf balls - has a simplified molded grip to help small hands rest properly on the club.

Adjustability in drivers and fairway woods is standard these days, but there have historically been certain limitations. Most times, in order to increase or decrease the loft of a wood, it is necessary to also change the lie angle, which can have negative downstream effects on performance and fit. Cobra's new hosel has an impressive 33 settings, including the ability to change loft while preserving lie, and vice versa. It's standard on new models.

A husband-and-wife team from Northern Ireland bring beautiful craftsmanship to golf in a way that reminds of the early days of American nouveau-accessories giant Seamus. Brass, bronze and wrought iron all factor into Swifts' lovely offerings, as do quality leather goods.

It's not exactly my personal taste, but I appreciate the whimsical, seemingly pro-wrestling-inspired take on a closest-to-the-pin award in the form of a gaudy, chunky gold chain.

Golf has become artsier than ever with the rise of several brands like Lie + Loft and Ballpark Blueprints providing home-office material for golfers. This brand, an Atlanta-based group of buddies selling designing and selling prints as a side-hustle, is worth a look.

After a modest first couple of years back in the golf business, Ashworth seems poised for a new breakout. Tim Gavrich/GolfPass

Yankees legend Derek Jeter is a co-founder of Greatness Wins. Tim Gavrich/GolfPass

Southern Shirt Company (SSCO) has an appealingly laid-back style. Tim Gavrich/GolfPass

The dizzying list of golf apparel brands on display at the PGA Show belies the simple fact that the vast majority of golf shirts are, fundamentally, almost identical. They are some blend of polyester and/or cotton, often with something stretchy like spandex. A small handful of different weaves provide a little bit of textural variety, but about 75% of the difference in golf apparel brands comes down to aesthetics and vibes. Nothing wrong with that, but just a word to the wise.

I tend to shy away for the wild colors and gaudy prints that have become part of the golf-bro starter kit in recent years. Solids and stripes are good enough for me, preferably in something that will launder well. I have been pleased to see the resurgence of Ashworth Golf in the last couple of years. With original founder John Ashworth back in the fold, they seem poised to continue to grow, leaning on a bit of 1990s and 2000s nostalgia among their customers. Another brand that's on the upswing is Greatness Wins, whose Show booth sported more colors than the basic whites, grey and navies that dominated early offerings. I'm no New York Yankees fan, but credit former captain and co-founder Derek Jeter and his fashion team for coming up with some good golfwear. Finally, I was taken with the booth of Southern Shirt Company (SSCO), a general casualwear band based in Birmingham, Alabama that I hadn't heard of before last week. Their striped polos look to have the right amount of color for me.

Let me preface this section by saying that I have considerable respect for anyone who goes to the trouble of bringing a product to market. But at the same time, some products miss the mark in ways that are occasionally hilarious. The high water mark for bizarre golf stuff was the years following the Recession, when a lot of avid players took a shot at making that wacky golf gadget they'd always been thinking about making, but 2025 was a strong year for weird items as well, perhaps none more unsettling than...

Fly-by-night golf inventors seem fascinated by the humble golf tee. Either they think there's some significant distance gain locked up in the tiny lightweight things or there's some sacredness to them. The PegMate is the classic solution in search of a problem. It's an $8 silicone strap that is supposed to keep you losing your tee. I have never paid for golf tees, and I will never have to (witness the bags of them I have in my office). Not only does it require the other end to be anchored into the ground - presumably by a second tee - it is a nauseating pinkish tan color that reminds of human tissue. A comprehensively silly product if there ever was one.

Putting is the most mysterious and maddening part of golf, so it makes sense that a lot of weird putting gadgets have sprung up. This one might take the cake. Based on the already dubious putt-reading method of plumb-bobbing, it requires the golfer to make hash marks on his or her putter that signify the percent slope when held above the ball on a tilted part of the green. The spacing of these hash marks depends on the length of the putter, and come on a simple ruler-like piece of cardboard. The kicker: that little piece of cardboard is supposed to cost $50. Oh, and if your putt breaks a particular way, you're supposed to "read" it by straddling your ball, facing away from the hole. Just another way to slow down play and take feel out of the game.

The idea behind this putting aid is not a bad one: it's best to keep the putter head low to the ground during the stroke. But the execution doesn't quite work here; in order to keep the built in ball rolling along the green during the stroke, a golfer has to make an exaggerated and unnatural effort to keep the putter low. And at $249, the price tag is steep.

If a putter and a Soap on a Rope had a love-child, it would be this strange putting aid with a shaft that is basically a limp noodle. A flexible shaft has been known to help golfers dial in a consistent stroke tempo, but this one takes it to an uncomfortable extreme.

To date, the most expensive golf ball I have ever encountered is the non-conforming offering from Attomax, which has been tested to fly up to 15 yards farther than the likes of the Titleist Pro V1. It's up to you whether you're comfortable going off the USGA/R&A reservation, and paying $249 per dozen for the privilege. Reminder: moving forward a tee box costs nothing.

Trackable golf balls have been tried before but they all have the same problem: they're expensive, they don't perform like normal golf balls and the ability to track their location won't do you any good if they end up in dense scrub or a pond. Whatever the price, it becomes a literal sunk cost at that point.

First of all, the vast majority of golf operators know better than to sell bottled beer on the course, rendering the bottle cap aspect of this product unlikely to come in handy. And second, who wants a bulky base propping their golf ball up on a tee? Almost no one, I hope. What's more, the fact that there's no anchor on the other side of the tee means it's likely to topple over under the weight of a ball. No thanks.

The more resorts I visit, the clearer it becomes that binge-drinking is becoming more disruptive to the golf experience. If you are willing to sell shots of Fireball at 7:30 am, there are golfers who are going to take you up on it, and things are going to go downhill from there. The Wasted Wedge is just another catalyst for on-course debauchery that threatens the peace of other groups. Just do what other golf cultures do and drink heavily after the round.

Every year, it seems a handful of exhibitors believe they've successfully redesigned the golf bag, only to create far more problems than they solve. Case in point: whatever portability this golf backpack might offer is instantly undone by the fact that clubs have to go in head-down, meaning golfers will have to guess whether the club they're pulling is the one they want.

I cannot remember the last PGA Show where there wasn't at least one attempt to market a boxy plastic golf bag. They never work, and while this one does have an interesting idea - store the clubs on the outer shell and store all your gear in the central interior - it is undone by the fact that at nearly 20 pounds empty, it is more than three times the weight of quality traditional stand bags with plenty of storage of their own.

I like how this 3D-printed trinket that mounts to a golf cart via magnet looks because it reminds me of the old Concorde supersonic passenger plane, but it doesn't seem to do anything that any golfer willing to toss a few blades of grass in the air can't already do for free.

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