Local Knowledge

“But wait, there’s more!” Our latest episode of Local Knowledge looks back at the Golden Age of golf infomercials

January 24, 2022
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Golf fans during the mid-1990s and early 2000s undoubtedly recall seeing a seemingly never-ending wave of infomercials. It felt like these longform ads were running on loop every time you turned on the TV. And their products were popping up at every golf course you played.

It was truly the Golden Age of golf infomercials, a time that produced some memorable names. The Alien Wedge. The Perfect Club. Medicus. Swing Magic. Tight Lies. The list goes on and on, but you get the point. There were a lot of them.

So where did all these infomercials come from? What made golf such a perfect partner for this kind of advertising? And why did they almost completely vanish?

In our latest episode of Local Knowledge, we examine all of these questions. But wait, there’s more! We also take a deeper look at two of the era’s biggest success stories, Barney Adams and Charles Kallassy, and why they were willing to roll the dice to promote their products in this manner.

So please join us for a fun look back at this interesting time period in the golf industry. And if you act now, we’ll send you . . . kidding. You're only getting the podcast. Here it is: