The United States Golf Association signed on to become a participating partner of the Golf Industry Show beginning next year in San Diego.
Currently providing an educational session for the Golf Industry Show, the USGA will increase its presence with additional programming, promotion and sponsorship activities.
“The United States Golf Association is pleased to formalize our long-standing involvement with the Golf Industry Show,” USGA Executive Director David Fay says. “The USGA has actively participated in the GCSAA Conference and Show and the current Golf Industry Show since the conference's inception in the late 1920s. With our annual Education Conference, trade show booth, and staff volunteering as seminar instructors, the USGA Green Section continues to work with golf's allied associations to support and safeguard the game."
The Golf Industry Show combines education, networking and solutions for golf course superintendents, owners/operators, general managers, chief operating officers, architects, builders and others in the golf and club management industries.
The Golf Industry Show is presented by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) and the Club Managers Association of America (CMAA), along with participating organizations, the Golf Course Builders Association of America (GCBAA), the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) and the National Golf Foundation (NGF). It was formed with the combination of three trade shows, the GCSAA International Golf Course Show, the NGCOA Trade Show and the CMAA Exposition. GCSAA and NGCOA merged their trade shows into the annual Golf Industry Show, beginning in 2005 in Orlando. That inaugural event was ranked the 82nd largest trade show in North America that year by Tradeshow Week 200. The CMAA joined the Golf Industry Show in 2007.
In a joint statement, current Golf Industry Show partners expressed excitement about the USGA’s participation: “The show and corresponding education conferences attract a wide diversity of participants. We believe that adding the USGA only enhances what we have to offer and provides a more complete menu of resources. It is a partnership that will expand beyond the show to ultimately strengthen the game and industry.”
In addition to the inclusion of the USGA, the Golf Industry Show will follow a different format in 2010. Based on feedback from attendees and exhibitors, the schedule will be modified so that all events (education conferences and trade show) are held on weekdays. Responding to member and exhibitor desires to preserve more of their weekends for family and personal time, the trade show portion of the event will be conducted Wednesday and Thursday (February 10-11), with virtually no competing events. GCSAA and NGCOA education will be held on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. CMAA education will end on Saturday.