The second installment of my review of the 2015 Toronto Golf and Travel Show will focus on the other aspects of the event….Golf! There were many opportunities to swing different clubs, win prizes, buy some new toys and see the newest technology at work. The moment my friend and I entered the pavilion, we knew exactly where to go – the demo section! This may have been a crazy plan since we had not swung a club in 4 months, but by beating the rush, we were able to take our time and demo any club we wanted.

My first club was the new Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815. It had a stiff shaft and was nice to look at during set up. It may sound silly, but some clubs I will not use because they do not fit my eye while standing over the ball. As I swung the driver, it felt very comfortable and loved the feel of the ball off the head of the club. I hit about 10-15 balls and by the end felt very comfortable swinging the Callaway driver. I would consider buying this club in the future.

Next I tried the TaylorMade AeroBurner. It had a new design and it did not fit my eye very well. I guess I am not a fan of the colour white for a driver. Overall, I was not impressed with the club. It is not that it did not perform well, but it just did not fit my swing or comfort zone. I am not sure if the performance of this driver was mental or physical.

Lastly, I hit the TaylorMade R15 460 TP Adjustable Driver. This was a very good club. It too had a stiff shaft. It was easily comparable to the Callaway driver. The dual sliders were set to the outer edges which made the club very forgiving. I liked everything about this club and might be a choice for me in future.

Next we went to the long drive contest. For $5, we received 4 balls. One for practice and three for the competition. We actually tried this twice and my longest drive was 279 yards. My friend, Jean, out drove me by 2 yards. I am sure I will hear about this in the summer when we hit links for real.

We passed the $10,000 hole-in-one competition, but did not try it. There was a long line and we decided to spend our money on a 15 minute lesson instead. I will be talk about that experience in my next article.

We walked by the putting contest. It was actually disappointing. The putt was extremely difficult and the prizes were not worth the $5 dollar fee to play. Many were trying it, however it did not peak our interest.

There were 4 different discount stores. They had a variety of old and new clubs, old and new clothes, and other accessories. The price on golf balls was disappointing compared to previous golf shows I attended. My overall impression was that there were deals to be had, but you needed to look. I bought a Drysack Stand Bag Poncho. It was only $5 dollars and worth the price. In all fairness, I was not looking for anything in particular, so the stores did not hold much interest for me.

I did, however, find something I was looking for! The TEE CLAW – “Practice Like You Play” kit was on sale for $13 dollars which included 3 TEE CLAWs, tees, and lanyards. This is something I had researched and was very happy to find them at the golf show! I am looking forward using them on the range this spring.

These above highlights were another small part of the sights I saw at the Toronto Golf & Travel Show. On a side note, I am not associated with any of the products mentioned above. My next post will be about the lesson I recieved that might make my journey to scratch that much easier. So stay tuned!

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!