Tony's Top 10 PGA Show Picks

(PHILADELPHIA, Pa.) - While the U.S. Open may be America's official golf championship, the PGA Merchandise Show is the annual championship for the business side of golf.

Every year more than 1,000 exhibitors pack Orlando's Orange County Convention Center to show off the latest and greatest equipment, products and services in the world of golf. With that many people putting their best foot forward in order to impress golfers, picking only 10 honorees is a daunting task. Yet, for a number of years Tony Leodora, host of the award-winning Traveling Golfer television show, has met the challenge head on.

His list - "Tony's Top Ten" - is an annual collection of items that caught his eye while walking the miles and miles of aisles at the PGA Show.

"It might be unfair to call it a "Best of Show" list," explains Leodora. "These are items that, for one reason or another, caught my eye. They could be great products. They could be game-changing innovations. They could be quirky products that are so different that they noticed for their unique nature. But, in each case, it is worthwhile telling our viewers about them."

This year's "Tony's Top Ten" list explores new products from large manufacturing companies such as Bridgestone and Srixon, to medium-sized American companies such as Tour Edge and Antigua, to small and relatively new companies such as Corqe and High Heat.

A lot of the excitement of the massive expo center also is show during this edition of the Traveling Golfer. Plus, viewers are taken on a quick tour of the magnificent Mystic Dunes Resort, the annual PGA Show week headquarters for Leodora and his crew.

"PGA Show week is, at the same time, our hardest week of work throughout the year and our most fun week of work," concludes Leodora. "We are all like kids in a candy store."

The episode from PGA Merchandise Show week begins airing March 1 and runs throughout the month on the Traveling Golfer Network ... including the new Golf Director Network (see full list of sites on travelinggolfervideo.com). It also will air on Monday, March 9 as part of the Press Box television show in Myrtle Beach, 5 to 7 p.m. on HTC Ch. 4, and as part of the Inside Golf television show on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia and Comcast SportsNet in Baltimore/Washington at the end of March.

Responding to golfers' never-ending demands to learn more about interesting golf courses and golf resorts across the country and around the world, well-traveled host Tony Leodora created the Traveling Golfer so he could take viewers on video golf trips to some of the most exciting golf locations. The show won a first place award for golf television broadcasts in the prestigious International Network of Golf Media Awards, presented at the PGA Merchandise Show in January.

The Traveling Golfer appears as a series of monthly shows hosted by Leodora, who has 15 years of experience in televised golf shows. The featured destination stays on the website for one month, before being replaced by a new show. The old shows are archived for continued viewing on the home website, travelinggolfervideo.com.

A network of golf websites, of all sizes, has been created to host the show. The show has its own website -- travelinggolfervideo.com. The network of additional websites includes golftalklive.net, the website of the award-winning GolfTalk Live radio show that also is hosted by Leodora. Affiliate websites that also air the show are thegolfdirector.com, myphillygolf.com, sportsnetwork.com, louguzzi.com, yetigolf.net, golfbuckscounty.com, phillygolffiles.com, playaroundgolf.net, awaywegogolf.com, mynegm.com, golfxpress72.com, golfingmagli.com and americangolfer.blogspot.com.