TP_021617

tinleyjunction.com News
the tinley junction | February 16, 2017 | 5
Expo gives golfers lessons, peek at new equipment
Ryan Esguerra
Freelance Reporter
Bryan Picorz sets his feet
and drives his ball into the
e-golf driving range at the
Tinley Park Golf Expo. The
golf ball, which is caught by
a safety net in the demo area,
continues to sail onto the virtual
green, giving Picorz the
exact length and distance of
his drive as it would be if he
tee’d off in real life.
“It is unreal,” Picorz, a
Midlothin resident, said of
the virtual golf simulation. “I
actually did a short lesson on
this already in a small group
and it severely improved my
game.”
The e-golf station was just
one of the many attractions
that golf fans like Picorz had
access to over the course
of the weekend at the golf
show, which was held February,
10-12, at the Tinley
Park Convention Center.
“Anytime you swing the
club it helps you out, especially
if you are able to do it
in the middle of winter,” Picorz
said. “I will probably be
here every year.”
In its sixth year, the Tinley
Park Golf Expo, presented
by Tenco events, hosted over
10,000 visitors and 100 retail
exhibitors throughout
the course of the weekend.
Attendees of the consumer
golf show had access to golf
club retailers, golf courses,
resorts, training aids for children
and adults, large demo
areas, major manufacturers
selling top gear and a golf
skills competition for the
longest drive, longest putt
and closest to the pin contest.
Co-owner of the Golf
Expo, Gregg Tengerstron,
said that he and his partner
Joe Copeland brought the
golf expo to Tinley Park to
serve golfers from around
the south suburbs looking
for a place closer to home.
“We felt that the golf
community was really underserved
previously here;
there were not show down
here with the closest being
Chicago,” Tengerstron said.
“It has been a great success
for us. We service the entire
I-80 corridor, while having
people come in from Iowa,
Michigan and Indiana that
seem to have a good time.
“Just seeing all of the
smiling faces and people
leaving happy really makes
it all worthwhile.”
In his fourth year of coming
to the golf show, Kevin
Burke, of Indiana, worked
with professional golf instructor
Andy Mickelson,
of Mistwood, golf course on
his swing. Burke said that he
made the drive to the expo
looking or a new putter grip,
but stopped to take advantage
of the free lessons.
“This is a nice show, always
very well put together,”
Burke said. “It’s always
great to get a lesson, you
do what you do but when
you have someone who can
tell you what you are doing
wrong or right that helps.”
Mickelson, who has come
to the show for the last three
years, said the chance to
work with golfers like Burke
one-on-one is what makes
golf shows like this so successful.
“We are thrilled to be out
here at the show,” Mickelson
said. “To be able to touch as
many customers as we do
over this weekend is a great
opportunity to showcase our
professional talents in front
of our students.
[Tenco events does] a fine
job with this event every single
year here; it is getting a
good turn out and it just continues
to grow.”
The Tinley Park Golf Expo
is the second golf show put
on by Tenco events; the first,
the Northern Illinois Golf
Expo, was held in January.
Tengerstron said that a major
Patrick Ferriter takes his turn in the long putt challenge Feb. 12, at the Golf Expo in the Tinley Park Convention Center.
Photos by Tim Carroll/22nd Century Media
theme in both events, but in
Tinley Park specifically, was
the events atmosphere.
“We want people to be
able to walk in here and
feel like it’s a friendly atmosphere
and that they are
welcome to,” Tengerstron
said. “We have a little something
for everybody and we
wanted to show that.”
Tengerstron, who has
organized the show all
six years, said that he has
watched it continue to grow
and credits the success of his
show in-part to the growth of
the south suburbs.
“It has built on itself every
year, the first year we had
about 65 exhibitors but we
have maxed out every year
since,” Tengerstron said. “I
think that this shows that the
south suburbs are growing,
lots of golf courses and golfers
from around here; just
lots of people.”
Braulio DeAnda tries his hand at the expo’s closest to the pin competition.