Pete Carlson's golf expo shows off latest technology to local golfers

Barney Adams admits he doesn’t retire well.

Eventually, Adams, 84 and the founder of several golf companies and playing ideas, finds his thoughts in retirement turning back to golf, golf clubs and trying to keep clubfaces as stable as possible at impact. He returns to old research looking for new ways to impact the game.

These days Adams is working on the Brava shaft, a stiff shaft with a baffler in the center that he believes keeps the clubface of an iron stable to avoid the 11-yard loss on shots hit just one-quarter off the center of the face.

“We wanted the clubface to be as stable as possible thought the hitting zone,” said Adams, a part-time desert resident. “We know if you hit it off center, you lose yardage. We have a technology which makes the face more square through impact.”

Adams’ shafts will be one of the smaller equipment pieces on display Friday and Saturday at the annual Pete Carlson Golf Expo.

The expo, held each year at the driving range at College of the Desert off Fred Warning Drive, features both the largest companies like Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist and Ping as well as smaller companies like Cleveland, Mizuno and others.  The free expo allows golfers to come to COD and hit clubs with manufacturer representatives on hand to help with fitting and questions.

More: Steve Stricker commits to PGA Tour Champions' Galleri Classic; will serve as 2024 Grail ambassador

“It’s like the first shot at getting the new products,” Carlson said. “It just got out from the (PGA) show in Orlando, and so we are the first go. And that’s thanks to Barney. Barney gave us the idea 20 years ago.”

Adams knew most manufacturers debut their new equipment in January at the PGA show in Orlando, but that most of that equipment wouldn’t see golf shops in the Midwest and northeast until spring. In the Coachella Valley, golf was already being played, so Adams told Carlson to bring the latest equipment to the desert in the winter and let golfers see the new equipment first. The expo has been a staple of desert golf ever since.

“We have the top manufacturers that we usually have coming back every year,” Carlson said. “It’s Titleist, Ping, TaylorMade and Callaway.  Those are the strong four every year.”

In addition to being able to get hands-on experience with a club, Carlson’s expo sells apparel and shoes to the public. Other traditions of the expo include a trick-shot exhibition by Joey O and a short game clinic featuring former PGA Championship winner and Mr. 59 Al Geiberger along with his son, Al Geiberger Jr. Music and food are also featured.

“Wear your golf shoes because this is a chance to make a productive outing of it,” Carlson said. “It’s not just a chance to walk around.”

Carlson said he expects about 2,000 a day to attend each of the two days of the expo. The expo runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Adams’ Brava shafts will be one of the smaller companies on display at the expo, though Adams says he has trained both his own staff as well as staff from Carlson’s shop on what makes the Brava important to new clubs.

“It’s a tough story, frankly,” Adams said. “Golf equipment is sold for one reason only, to go farther. All the rest is smoke and mirrors and hot air and advertising departments and so on. I’ve always said if I was selling wedges, people would want the one they think they can hit the farthest.”

The technology in the Brava shaft for full shots is much the same that Adams and his company put out in Stability shafts from putter. Again, the idea is for the clubface to stay as stable as long as possible through impact, helping putter heads stay online and square longer to make more putts.

“That’s where we learned it. When we stabilized the putter head, we have our lab in Dallas, you hit 20 footers, the distance was good,” Adams said. "The miss was right here or right there, but the distances were good. We really learned that we were controlling the clubhead through impact.  Then we said, well, if you can do it with putters, why can’t we do it with other clubs?”

Adams said the idea of a shift shaft in each club dates back to the Ping Eye 2 irons, which Adams said were the most successful irons in the history of the game.

“But like I said, it’s difficult for us, because we are a tiny little company and we don’t advertise,” Adams said. "But I can show you reviews from clubfitters who love our stuff."

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Golf: Small companies can benefit from Pete Carlson's golf expo as much as big ones