This is what the PGA Merchandise Show looked like in the mid-1950s at Dunedin Golf Club. Standing in the dark sweater and the white Hogan cap is Gus Andreone, who lived to be 107 and was the oldest member ever of the PGA of America. Photo: PGA of America Archives
Nearly a half-century before commanding enough square footage to rival an airport, the PGA Merchandise Show was held in a parking lot at Dunedin Golf Club, in a city named after the Scottish Gaelic, “Dùn Èideann,” for Edinburgh.
In those days, PGA professionals from the Northeast and Midwest made a habit of spending their winter months in different parts of Florida, organizing their own games and tournaments as they worked on their swings and enjoyed some friendly competition with their friends.
Sales representatives from equipment companies in those same parts of the United States – Wilson, Spalding, MacGregor and Acushnet among them – also headed south for the off-season. A...