<apxh:p>UPPER PROVIDENCE Off the greens, diehard golfers will likely be shelling out plenty of green to fuel their passion for the game.</apxh:p><apxh:p>And with so many warm, sunny days in a winter thats largely been playing hooky, the Philadelphia Golf Show has the best marketing tactic it could possibly ask for to attract an estimated 20,000-plus links-hungry types to its annual event at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks this weekend.</apxh:p><apxh:p>Besides fantasizing about a spring season thats due to tee off ahead of schedule if we can trust Elmwood Park Zoo groundhog Noras forecast golfers can browse through a sweeping assortment of equipment, apparel and accessories, as well as catch some enlightening presentations and entertainment geared to their favorite sport.</apxh:p><apxh:p>Joining seasoned vendors from across the country will be new retailer Fu Kha, who just opened his Golf Etc. Exton franchised location at Festival in Exton shopping center last September.</apxh:p><apxh:p>Being a new store my main purpose in going to the show is getting the exposure and letting people know theres a new store in the area and showing them what we do, said Kha. Ive always been an avid golfer and the golfing industry was something I wanted to get into.</apxh:p><apxh:p>Kha believes that Golf Etc. is an alternative to big box sporting goods stores ... with a personal approach, that offers the latest technology, with a professional repair shop, performance club fittings, and pro-line equipment, bags, balls, footwear, apparel, gift items and accessories.</apxh:p><apxh:p>Repair services available include re-gripping, re-shafting, spine aligning, swing weight matching and frequency matching -- many of which can be completely the same day.</apxh:p><apxh:p>Although Kha chose Chester County as his location because there are a lot of golfers and golf courses here and there wasnt any other specialty golf store to serve this community, he is seeing a lot of golfers from Montgomery County coming in for one of the shops exclusive BGF fittings.</apxh:p><apxh:p>That stands for Better Golf Faster, a software-based scrutiny of your golf form that culls essential specs for your custom-built golf club.</apxh:p><apxh:p>More than 10,000 golfers have been fitted through BGF, noted Kha. It takes into account your swing, tempo, release, and comes up with series of recommendations and thats where we come in ... fine-tuning and pinpointing what you need. We can fit you with Ping irons and then order the irons from Ping, but its not brand specific at all, so if you have a driver head you already like we can pull that shaft out and put a new shaft in.</apxh:p><apxh:p>Kha will be highlighting his shops BGF aspect at the Philadelphia Golf Show.</apxh:p><apxh:p>I only know of one other company in the area that does something similar to what we do, he said. Most golf stores dont take it to the level that we do and just order straight from the manufacturer.</apxh:p><apxh:p>Many places offer so-called custom fitting but very rarely will you find a place that does this properly and those who do will never offer this service for free. The reason being, properly fitting golf equipment to an individual takes a great deal of time.</apxh:p><apxh:p>With a motto that promises to fit your game, the shops performance fitting expertise includes iron, driver. fairway wood, wedge, putter and ball fittings.</apxh:p><apxh:p>Kha attended many golf shows when they were held at the Valley Forge Convention Center and has been a regular at the PGA shows in Orlando for years.</apxh:p><apxh:p>I know the Oaks show is not as big as Orlando, but the buzz at the PGA show is that everyone was pretty optimistic, he said. The economy seems to be coming around and a lot of people are excited about the golf forecast for 2012.</apxh:p><apxh:p>Follow Gary Puleo on Twitter @Mustangman48.</apxh:p><apxh:p>FYI <br>Philadelphia Golf Show<br>Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks</apxh:p><apxh:p>100 Station Avenue<br>Oaks<br>Feb. 10: noon to 6 p.m.</apxh:p><apxh:p>Feb. 11: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.<br>Feb. 12: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.</apxh:p><apxh:p>Admission: $10; free, children under 12.</apxh:p><apxh:p></apxh:p>

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