The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - 15

THE LAST WORD

Technically speaking, it's show time

T

he proof is so pervasive and all-encompassing that there's no longer
any basis for arguing the movement to all things tech. From your five
year-old to your grandmother, each day
brings new and more expeditious ways to
do old things with a click on an app or
an online search. Accordingly, it comes
as little surprise that the annual round of
early season golf industry shows offer an
ever-increasing number of technological
advancements in everything from irrigation controllers to golf shirts. The days of
breathlessly awaiting the unveiling of the
latest souped up driver, can't miss putter
or mistake-proof wedge are gone. They've
been overshadowed by fancy gizmos and
gadgets that measure, analyze and refine
our swings, electronics that enable us to
share every moment of our rounds with
pals stuck in their offices or at junior's soccer game, simulators that allow us to practice our games regardless of how much
snow is piled in the yard, and a package of
electronics that can change the most basic of practice ranges into an outdoor pool
table or pinball machine.
Next week's PGA Merchandise Show
in Orlando's Orange County Convention
Center ( Jan. 23-26) is certainly no exception to the high-tech trend. The tech bombardment begins early with the annual
Demo Day on Tuesday at Orange County
National Golf Center. For the first time,
the massive 4-sided range will include
several portable JumboTron-like screens
streaming live content from The Golf
Channel such as their Morning Drive
programming as well as programming
from the PGA of America and other industry entities. The screens will then move
into the Convention Center's Equipment
Test Center for the balance of the show.
Demo Day itself is tellingly enough sponsored by Toptracer Range, the technology
behind the hitting bays of TopGolf 's driving range/sports bar empire.
This year's show will also feature a
"test track" for mobile golf course equipment such as golf boards, fully equipped
golf carts and other movable feasts. It goes
without saying that many of the products
featured in this year's first ever Inventors

www.PellucidCorp.com

Spotlight and the annual New Products
Center display will skew significantly toward the digital or high tech category.
Technology doesn't overlook apparel either
- this year's show features a Performance
Textiles Fair which will provide an opportunity for vendors to meet directly with
factory representatives to discuss sourcing,
inventory and technology advancements.
This year the Golf Industry Show
moves to San Antonio, the midpoint of
the show's 3-year rotation from Orlando
to San Diego. As it was three years ago,
the show will be held in the Henry B.
Gonzalez Convention Center, Feb. 3-8.
This year, however, the Center will have
a new look, having been reconfigured to
make the entire show floor continuous.
As usual, there will be a touch of a real
golf course feature on the show floor, with
an indoor bunker complete with an overlooking press box. Attendees can review
information regarding today's bunker construction and irrigation system technology.
Attendees can also take some of the
latest golf course and operations technology for a spin at the revamped Test
Drive Tech Center. For those concerned
about over-exposure to the River Walk's
Tex-Mex cuisine, if not the Texas sun,
the show's Wellness Pavilion will conduct
blood pressure, cholesterol and skin cancer
screenings.
And, for those superintendents who
need a dog to help discourage visiting
geese or other pests, or just want some
companionship during those early morning course inspections, this year's GIS will
be giving away the selection and ownership rights to two puppies.

A questionable deduction
In addition to Craig Kessler's usual
learned analysis of legislative developments and their impact on the golf industry, I was interested in some comments on
the recent Tax Cuts and Jobs bill by World
Golf Foundation CEO Steve Mona as
reported by Alex Miceli in his Morning
Read publication earlier this week. After
reviewing some of the work by the We Are
Golf collaboration of golf industry leaders and their lobbying firm, Forbes Tate

Partners, on a series of objectives including
Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) legislation
and its impact on golf course water features (revoked by Trump executive order),
including golf courses as eligible recipients
of federal disaster relief tax credits (some
success on a case by case basis, but none to
date in getting golf courses as a class included), conservation easements and others, the group and their lobbyists found
themselves dealing with the implications
of the hastily composed and passed tax bill.
Mona said that We Are Golf and
friends were understandably caught by
surprise when the basic tenets of the new
bill became public, especially since many
of the Republican Congress members
who rushed it through hadn't read the bill
in its entirety either. While holding out
hope of some advantageous changes in a
"technical fix" to the bill, Mona's current
estimation is that while businesses lost the
50 percent deduction of business entertainment expenses (including golf ), which
stands to hurt golf outing and entertainment business significantly, that loss may
be mitigated if not surpassed by additional
business golf that businesses and corporations can theoretically now afford thanks
to the 14 percent corporate tax cut from
35 to 21 percent.
When I read Mona's hopeful assessment, I couldn't help but be reminded of
Jake's line in Hemingway's The Sun Also
Rises: "Gee, wouldn't it be pretty to think
so." Mona's hope that corporations will
allocate some of their tax cut largesse to
golf outings is reminiscent of the current
administration's contention that corporations will share a portion of their windfall
with their employees, or for creation of
new jobs. This is despite what both history and several recent polls of corporate
leaders have indicated - namely, that those
types of windfalls typically end up in the
pockets of company executives and stockholders. As Mr. Kessler indicated in his
piece earlier in this issue, the only likely
golf beneficiaries of the new tax bill are
exclusive private clubs who may end up
with some of the tax windfall enjoyed by
the country's 1 percent.
Alas, as it ever was.
-Jim Dunlap
The Pellucid PersPecTive

15


http://www.PellucidcorP.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018

TOC
2017: Relative calm but no recovery
Impact of tax cut, minimum wage increases guesswork for golf
The future may be digital – the challenge is to make it work
Change up Demo Day for fun and profit
December golf weather impact: Year-end Merry Christmas!
San Diego operators ‘weathering’ golf ’s storm
Tours ruin armchair officials’ day
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - TOC
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - 2017: Relative calm but no recovery
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - 3
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - 4
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - Impact of tax cut, minimum wage increases guesswork for golf
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - 6
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - The future may be digital – the challenge is to make it work
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - Change up Demo Day for fun and profit
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - 9
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - December golf weather impact: Year-end Merry Christmas!
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - 11
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - 12
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - San Diego operators ‘weathering’ golf ’s storm
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - 14
The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - Tours ruin armchair officials’ day
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