Golf show will appeal to masses

Free golf, great close-out prices on apparel and equipment, vacation prizes, free clubs for kids and a chance to win a new Toyota will highlight this year’s seventh-annual Spokane Golf Show, which takes place Saturday and Sunday at the Spokane Convention Center.

The show will open at 10 a.m. both days and run until 6 p.m. on Saturday and until 4 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets can be obtained at all TicketWest outlets for $8, or at the show’s website – www.SpokaneGolfShow.com – where a $2 discount is being offered. Children under 12 will be admitted free.

Promoter Tom Stebbins is hoping for a record turnout, but admits weather could play a big part in how many golf enthusiasts show.

The recent run of unseasonably warm temperatures has undoubtedly stirred the sleeping interest of local golfers.

“Which is good,” Stebbins said. “But selfishly, I’d be glad to see it be in the 30s this weekend.”

In past years, Stebbins explained, warm weather during the show has hurt attendance, mainly because most golfers would rather play than spend a free weekend afternoon pricing equipment and golf getaway packages.

Still, the event has grown considerably since its infancy – between 10-20 percent annually, according to Stebbins. And it continues to provide area golfers with some brief, late-winter relief from cabin fever.

Every adult attending this year’s show will receive a free round of golf at Dominion Meadows Golf Course in Colville, and the first 2,500 through the gate will randomly receive an additional free round at either Twin Lakes, Columbia Pointe, Kokanee Springs, Meadow Lakes, Prairie Falls, Stoneridge or Sun Dance.

Area PGA professionals will hold instruction seminars during the show, which will also feature a hitting net where customers can try out the equipment that will be on sale.

The first 1,000 kids under the age of 12 who attend will receive a free golf club in conjunction with the PGA Clubs for Kids program. And entrants in the show’s longest putt contest will have a chance to compete for a new Toyota automobile.