Leaving Las Vegas? Not on your life, but the PGA Fall Expo will have a prominent new address in the city of glitz, glamour and golf for 2006. This year's PGA Fall Expo is moving to the south end of the renowned Las Vegas Strip, taking up residence Sept. 13-14 at the posh Mandalay Bay Casino & Resort Convention Center.
The 2006 PGA Fall Expo will also include a VIP demo day and golf outing on Tuesday, Sept. 12, at the Bali Hai Golf Club, a plush South Pacific-themed golf facility adjacent to Mandalay Bay Resort.
After two successful years at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the PGA Fall Expo is moving to Mandalay Bay, the fifth-largest convention facility in the United States and the largest meeting facility located on the famous Las Vegas Strip. "We are pleased to bring the PGA Fall Expo to the premier facilities of Mandalay Bay and Bali Hai," says PGA Golf Exhibitions Vice President and Show Manager Ed Several. "The first-class convention center setting combined with the proximity to the acclaimed Bali Hai Golf Club and many top hotel accommodations provides the ideal Las Vegas venue for the industry to gather."
Mandalay Bay has become a favorite Las Vegas oasis for visitors in general, and for golfers in particular, with a Nike Golf store on the premises and the palm trees, white sand and verdant fairways of the Bali Hai Golf Club next door.
An 11-acre beach with 20 cabanas, the Shark Reef that allows visitors to see sharks and other aquatic creatures up close, 32 restaurants and lounges on-site, the legendary House of Blues, and a shopping complex that knows no peer in Nevada are also popular attractions at Mandalay Bay. The Mandalay Bay Convention Center features 38,818 square feet of exhibit space and 26,100 square feet of meeting and function space. It seats 12,000 in a full arena setting, and has hosted Tiger Woods' annual Tiger Jam charity concerts and many other championship boxing matches and concerts. The Convention Center also features four pillarless, high-ceiling ballrooms ranging from 31,000 to 100,000 square feet.
The 2006 PGA Fall Expo hopes to build on a highly successful 2005 Fall Expo in Las Vegas. Last year, 332 golf-related manufacturers filled more than 55,000 square feet of exhibit space. More than 4,000 industry professionals were in attendance, with 450-plus attendees converging on the Callaway Golf Center for Demo Night to test the latest equipment.
"Las Vegas in September is the perfect place and the perfect time for the PGA Fall Expo," says Barbara Andrews, vice president of Putt Pal USA, which unveiled its line of brushes to sweep loose impediments off putting lines and greens at the 2005 PGA Fall Expo. "Last year, the traffic was excellent and the Expo was tremendous for making new contacts, networking and introducing our product to PGA Professionals and buyers."
The 2005 PGA Fall Expo was ideal for Magique Golf to re-launch its line of golf equipment. "Our main objective at the Fall Expo last year was to educate and inform PGA Professionals that the Magique brand is back in a redesigned, retooled company dedicated to providing quality, custom-fit golf clubs at a favorable price point," says Sean Sheppard, president of Magique Golf. "The PGA Fall Expo and Las Vegas were ideal for us." nProfessionals that the Magique brand is back in a redesigned, retooled company dedicated to providing quality, custom-fit golf clubs at a favorable price point," says Sean Sheppard, president of Magique Golf. "The PGA Fall Expo and Las Vegas were ideal for us."
By Roger Graves
