London Golf Show hailed as a success

Posted on 06/05/09. By Lee Todd

More than 16,000 golfers defied the recession to visit the London Golf Show's fifth outing.

And not only did they make the make the trip to Docklands, they also spent plenty of money with visitors leaving ExCeL laden with goodies and full of praise for the annual event.

Gillian Morris, 56, travelled up from Southampton to be one of the 16,830 golfers who attended and was very impressed with what she found.

She said: "We've had a good day - there's a lot here. I've liked the clothing and I think they've covered the whole spectrum with what's here.

"There's quite a few bits that have interested me and I've spent lots of money.

Everybody's been giving show discounts which has been good and really encouraged me to spend my money."

Buckinghamshire's Anna Pitfield, 29, echoed her sentiments, saying: "The highlight of the day has been bargain shopping in american golf and I'm also looking forward to having a go on the longest drive.

"The range of products on offer is good, we've bought a few things and seen some bits and pieces we'd never seen before."

Jim van Son must have made one of the longest trips to the show as the 32-year-old from Antwerp in Belgium, travelled to the show Friday morning and travelled back the same evening.

He said: "This is the fifth time I've come to the London Golf Show just because it is the best golf event I've been too. The first year I saw it on the internet and thought it would be nice, so we came over for the day and every year it's gotten better, and cheaper.

"And it's great fun, it's a day away and it's a bit different to what we can do in Belgium or Holland and France."

And John Pye, 63, who made the shorter trip from Southend with his son Adam, summed up the feelings of van Son, and many other visitors, when he said: "We both love golf so we've come here for a look around and they seem to have everything a golfer could want."

Colin Brunton, chairman of the Golf Show Group, said: "Putting a show together in the current economic climate has not been easy but we did it and seeing thousands of smiling faces at our fifth event made it all worth while.

"The feedback we've had from visitors and exhibitors alike has been positive and as always we'll be looking to build upon this success and come back bigger and better next year."