WINTER GARDEN, Florida — Just a few years ago only a few electric golf cart caddy manufacturers showcased products at the PGA Show.
Times have sure changed.
Close to a dozen such companies are expected to be on hand this week at the 73rd PGA Show at the Orange County Convention Center to launch and showcase new products and technologies.
That includes MGI, which has two new products that will become available in February, and had them on display at Orange County National Golf Club Tuesday.
"Golf has gotten more popular because of the wellness side of the sport; more people are seeing the benefit to being outdoors four-to-five hours," says Billy Holbrook, MGI vice president of sales. "It’s fantastic to have all the competition because it just brings more attention to what we're doing. It validates us to have more people bringing focus to the category.”
MGI’s new releases are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Its E-Boost electric assist pushcart retails for $599, while its latest technological advancement — the AI Navigator Halo + Halo Eye — costs $2,999 and runs off a light beam radar system with obstacle avoidance.
"That system seeks a shape, and once it sees your shape it'll lock into your silhouette and follow your shape," Holbrook says. "No more Wi-Fi where things can get wonky depending on the weather reception.
The high-end model also features geo-fencing.
"It’s protected by the course mapping as far as water hazards, bunkers and even the putting green," Holbrook says. "If there are times where you forget or something happens as it's heading toward, let’s say, a lake, it will stop well within that area. We really make a lot of our technology to protect your investment."
The E-Boost is sort of modeled after an e-bike, where you pedal independently and then use power as needed.
"The E-Boost is a push cart exclusively, but when you need some help to go up the hills or through some rough terrain you just hit the button and it turns into an electric caddy and it'll get you through those troubled areas," Holbrook says. "And you can turn it back to a push cart whenever you want to. It’s a very seamless transition."
The power lasts 14 holes, but most golfers will mainly push this product and not use the electric power on a regular basis.
Holbrook says the inspiration behind the E-Boost was simple math.
"There are over 300,000 push carts sold globally every year," he says. "We have made a massive impression on the business with electrics, so we wanted to bridge the gap a little bit. And nobody's doing it. We are way ahead of this. We've sort of created our own category with this cart."
A FULL SWING INTO A NEW CHAPTER
Full Swing is beginning a new chapter as it celebrates its 40th anniversary.
One of golf’s standards for launch monitors, simulators and cutting-edge technology surrounding both is crossing over into the baseball world for the first time, according to John DeLeon, the company’s vice president of technology.
The Full Swing KIT Launch Monitor baseball technology was unveiled in December 2025.
"It’s a nice analog because it's positioned behind a batter like it is a golfer," DeLeon says. "Technically, it's pretty similar, measuring bat and ball speeds, and getting spin rates on the incoming pitch and outgoing hits just like we do in golf."
DeLeon says the baseball monitor system retails for $6,500, and he’s seeing a lot of traction already from baseball organizations and facilities — even fathers who have built batting cages in their backyards for their son.
For now, the baseball system stands alone, but DeLeon says plans are to add golf to the mix.
"We’re eventually going to make it a dual purpose single product to include golf to where the user could toggle in between sports," he says.
DeLeon took time Tuesday at the PGA Show Demo Day to reflect on the California-based company’s influence on golf over the last four decades.
“At the PGA show simulators were sort of the black sheep and we had to set up across the street, right?” DeLeon says. “Now, we’re a centerpiece at the PGA Show. It’s really amazing how far it has come, and technology being sort of a gateway now for a lot of young golfers being introduced to the sport. I’m really proud that our technology could serve as that purpose and help grow the game in a new way.”
DeLeon says the company plans a methodical buildup of the baseball technology, much like the strategy and approach of its award-winning golf product line.
“Sure, we would like to sell out, but we want to be mindful, kind of like what we did in golf,” he says. “We want to make sure we’re doing it right. We came out with a baseline set of metrics, but we want to be very accurate, compared to what is accepted out there by some of the competition.
“Yes, we have to catch up on baseball and prove ourselves again. We have 12 data points versus 16 in golf because we want high precision and continuous improvement. We want to make sure we're dialed in so that we get the trust of the MLB just like we get the trust of the PGA Tour players.”
Speaking of PGA Tour players, Full Swing still bills itself as “The Only Launch Monitor Trusted by Tiger Woods.” Its fresh marketing material for the PGA Show features the 15-time Major winner swinging a golf club with a Full Swing launch monitor in the foreground.
“Notice that Sunday red shirt,” DeLeon says. “Yeah, there is still a strong partnership there, especially with the TGL (golf league) happening and the fact that our launch monitor powers that system.”
SEEING IS NOT ALWAYS BELIEVING
What exactly are you buying when a box of one dozen golf balls says "firm" or "soft feel?" And are you getting exactly what you are purchasing each time from your favorite manufacturer?
According to Richard Platt, the president of Rimac Golf, results using his Rimac Golf Ball Compression Tester, which has been on the market for two years, may surprise you.
Platt’s golf ball compression tester, which retails for $1,500, was one of the items that drew a crowd Tuesday at Demo Day. The tester is for the ardent golf equipment consumer, and Platt hopes to have sold 500 by the end of 2027.
The measuring device that strives to give golfers consistent ball performance was inspired from the automobile industry, where Rimac has been A leading valve spring testing device since 1930.
"This is a similar device that's used to test engine valve springs every time there is a NASCAR race where they use $150,000 engines," Platt says. "And they are making sure that the eight or the 16 springs that are in the engine are identical."
Platt says the same theory should hold true for golf balls. The lower the compression number the farther the ball travels versus a higher compression golf ball.
"If you take a bowling ball and drop it, that's a high-compression item. It's only going to bounce off the floor an inch," Platt says. "Take a basketball, which is low compression, and it’s going to bounce 75 percent of its original height. It's so basic. But the bottom line is you have to play with golf balls that are identical. It doesn't matter so much what the compression is, but whatever you've selected it better be the same.”
So the big question is how often do a dozen golf balls purchased from say a sporting goods store match compression-wise?
"We have a little 30-second video out now entitled 'Making Good Balls Better,'" Pratt says. "We purchased a box of Titleist and we had to buy three boxes to get a dozen that were the same compression. And Titleist is pretty good, right?
"You can get outliers, and when you get an outlier you have no way of knowing unless you have the compression testing machine. This is pure physics and this machine just happens to be the only way that you can know what you're playing,” he added.
