Lady Blue Hen Invitational returns to RBCC

Rehoboth Beach Country Club will again hold the Lady Blue Hen Invitational women’s college golf tournament, beginning at 8 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 19.

In addition to the University of Delaware, participating teams in the two-day contest include Penn, Harvard and Georgetown University. 

Spectators are welcome.

Tifosi Optics sunglasses 

Sports eyewear sold in the Cape Region and elsewhere can be daunting for the budget conscious. Prices north of $200 per pair are not uncommon.

On the other hand, Tifosi sunglasses designed for a variety of sports sell at a much-reduced price point and with no obvious drop in quality. Most models at the company’s website can be bought for as little as $25 on up to about $80.

I met Henk Van Dongen, marketing director for the Georgia company, at the 2024 PGA Show. The founders came from a cycling background. When they founded in the company in the early 2000s, they focused on that market. The company’s reach soon expanded to other sports, especially golf, running, active lifestyles and most recently pickleball.

“We see a lot of crossover,” Van Dongen said. Among other options, Tifosi now offers sunglasses with magnifying readers, familiar to the seniors among us. Many of the model lines can also be made with prescription lenses for only $99, if the prescriptions are within average ranges.

Tifosi glasses sell at major outdoor retailers such as REI, Edwin Watts and Fleet Feet, in addition to 600 active pro shops throughout the country.  

I asked Van Dongen how Tifosi keeps its glasses reasonably priced. He quickly responded, “We have no pro athlete endorsements.” He also said most of the stores that sell them turn over the product two to two-and-a-half times per year. The higher-priced competition does not sell at nearly the same rate, he said. 

There is something to be said for the volume business model.

Puma Golf Shoes

Puma Golf had a busy booth at the 2024 PGA Show. I focused on a few of the new shoe lines.

The PhantomCat Nitro ($160) has a new and very different spike design. Four spike sets, shaped like an oval rubber band instead of the usual circle, are molded at strategic locations into a neon-green, very firm TPU outsole. According to a company representative, these flex spikes are part of a comfort story, intended to sit at the main pressure point locations on the sole. 

The TPU surface also features ridges that are molded into place. These provide secondary traction help while keeping a soft touch on the greens.

The Nitro Sport model ($160) features a mesh upper. The mesh look is aimed a matching a sports shoe aesthetic compared to the obvious golf orientation of the PhantomCat.

The Avant Spikeless model is available for men ($140) or women ($110).

Golf VX

At last year’s PGA Show, I was surprised by the number and variety of golf simulator companies displaying their stuff.

That experience only hinted at the even larger number of simulator competitors renting booths at the 2024 PGA Show at the Orange County Convention Center’s West Concourse.

The machines were a hit for the more than 7,000 PGA club pros in attendance. Many of them have already been involved in the installation and operation of virtual reality devices at their golf clubs. There are also increasing numbers of stand-alone simulator businesses in the United States, such as Dustin Smale’s 24/7 Foreland Club near Bear Trap Dunes in Ocean View. On a per-capita and actual basis, however, market penetration for golf simulators in Korea is far greater.

At this year’s show, I met Michael Perkins, business development manager for Golf VX. The Korean-owned company has its U.S. operations based in Northbrook, Ill., near Chicago. Perkins said its production facilities are in Seoul, South Korea. The company already has over 2 million users.

Golf VX continues to emphasize its marketing and sales efforts toward commercial and personal users. However, Perkins said its newest initiative is to branch out across the U.S. with a franchising model. 

The franchise purchaser is primarily responsible for the initial real estate acquisition for the site, with Golf VX overseeing installation, training and the rest. The data sharing and shot-making analyses are handled with Golf View’s apps, currently operable on smartphones and tablets. He said the company’s software feedback will eventually use laptops or desktops.

In essence, the franchise owner provides the working space for the simulator business, relying on Golf VX for the successful operation of the equipment.

Perkins said the company is also going through the challenging regulatory process to introduce liquor service at these franchise locations. It is working with an Italian company to develop the package of capital improvements needed to supply this part of the service. 

He said Golf VX expects the lead time from entering the franchise agreement to opening for business to be about five months. As Perkins noted, however, with the current crazy quilt regulatory system for alcohol service, all bets are off as to when that part of the new business could open.