Pete Carlson golf expo returns to College of the Desert after missing year because of COVID-19
A year ago, with the College of the Desert campus closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pete Carlson was forced to cancel the annual golf expo conducted by his golf and tennis store in Palm Desert that is normally held at the college’s driving range.
“Honestly, 2020 was just a year of survival,” Carlson said. “Then the season came back in 2021 to almost normal. You just didn’t have the Canadian traffic. Almost everyone else was here. But we couldn’t hold the expo.”
That expo, with golf equipment from most of the major golf manufacturers, returns Friday and Saturday at the COD driving range off Fred Waring Drive.
“All the same players are going to be there, the manufacturer reps, with the latest clubs,” Carlson said.
The event, free to the public, is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
While golf demonstration days are nothing new in the desert, with manufacturers showing off their latest equipment, those shows often take place at private courses and may feature just one manufacturer. The Pete Carlson Golf and Tennis golf expo features more than a dozen manufacturers like Callaway, Titleist, TaylorMade and others with representatives capable of fitting individual golfers.
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One-on-one fittings
“I would definitely emphasize custom fitting,” said Barney Adams, a long-time friend of Carlson’s who founded Adams Golf. “Because that’s been the big change in golf in the last three or four years. Golf equipment sales are now a factor custom fitting for the vast majority.”
“This is a chance for people to get the one-on-one fittings from the reps,” Carlson said. “They know their product, so they can do that.”
Carlson and Adams also emphasized that the manufacturers will have the newest equipment featured in the recent Golf Digest magazine’s Hot List edition, ranking and reviewing the new clubs that will hit most of the country in the spring when weather gets better. Desert golfers can get those clubs now, Carlson said.
The expo includes not only golf club demonstrations and sales but other golf equipment like golf bags, shoes and golf balls.
While one of the allures of the expo over the last 20 years has been the ability to test clubs, buy them on the spot and even walk away from the expo with those clubs, that might not be the case this weekend. Like other areas of business, golf equipment has been hampered by supply chain issues, since most golf equipment is manufactured in Asia.
“That’s been a challenge, and it still is,” Carlson said. “Supposedly it is improving, but all the top guys, everything they have available, they are projecting longer waits to get product. We don’t want to discourage people who come out and buy then and want to get (the clubs) right away. We’ll do the best we can, but they have to recognize there could be some delay.”
In addition to the club fittings, the expo will feature two shots daily by trick-shot artist Joey O, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. A short-game clinic with former PGA Championship winner Al Geiberger and his son will be held at noon each day.
Larry Bohannan is The Desert Sun golf writer. He can be reached at larry.bohannan@desertsun.com or (760) 778-4633. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @larry_bohannan. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Desert Sun.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Public golf expo returns to College of the Desert campus this weekend
