Taken a tour of Merion Golf Club in the video above, and you can get a hole-by-hole look at the golf course here.

More and more golfers are turning to online options when purchasing golf products and gear. As golf clubs and gear get more advanced, they also get more expensive. So shopping online is a great option as golf consumers can find a much wider selection and better deals. Think about it. Do you really want to be shopping at the pro shop at a country club? Sure, many of the members there don’t mind as money isn’t an option, but for the average player, value is critical for these products.

Of course for certain products you want to feel them and try them out. That’s why traditional golf stores still have a loyal customer base. Golf chains are still a huge business, as we can see from the recent deal where Golf Town bought Golfsmith for $96 million. But savvy consumers know they can shop around at these stores to figure out which clubs and irons they want to improve their game, and then they can look online to find the best price. They can also take advantage of sales and coupons as well, as one can use one of these promo codes for tgw.com to get better deals. Become an educated consumer, and then shop around online to be a happy one as well!

It will also be interesting to see how the industry deals with fewer buyers as well and how that might affect prices. There is so much competition in the industry now. For example, with golf courses and country clubs there was a huge building boom as golf’s popularity exploded during the Tiger Woods years and while the economy was booming. But then the economic crash hit and there was way too much capacity. Also, golf’s popularity has been declining a bit after the huge spike in interest, and that’s affecting demand. Golf courses aren’t as crowded and some even went under or were sold for a loss. This will inevitable affect demand for clubs, irons and gear, so those of you looking for deals online might find even better prices in the future.

As you probably expected, the recession is having an adverse impact on golf course memberships and country club memberships.

Recession-battered golf courses aren’t just coping with lighter crowds. Some are edging perilously close to bankruptcy. Courses from Florida to Arizona, where golfing was once a daily exercise, face major cutbacks or foreclosure.

Myrtle Beach, S.C., a once-booming 70-mile strip of beachfront property nicknamed “Golftown, USA,” has been hit especially hard: Where there were about 125 golf courses in 2006, there are now around 100.

“It’s just a shakeout of golf,” says Donald Wizeman, CEO of Myrtle Beach Golf Association, which produces a website for golfers traveling to Myrtle Beach. “The real estate market is so depressed here.”

Things are just as bleak in Arizona. Eight golf courses in the Phoenix area have gone through foreclosure or bankruptcy since commercial properties started facing serious financial problems in 2008, according to IonDataExpress.com, a real estate analysis firm. Many more are reducing their hours this summer, says Tom Stine, co-founder of market researcher Golf Datatech.

You should also expect to find incredible deals for golf travel and green fees on courses all around the country.

Is your trunk a mess with all the golf gear, dirty shoes and golf clubs? You probably need to check out this cool trunk organizer from Samsonite. It’s an ideal solution if you golf often and you want to keep your stuff organized (or your wife is on you about it!).

The organizer is the ideal size for any trunk or back seat. With two levels, it fits nicely in the trunk but it doesn’t take too much space. The bottom level has room for three shoes, so you can fit more than golf shoes. The ventilated mesh front door makes it easy to see what’s in there and it makes it possible to air out the shoes while storing them.

The top level has a bunch of compartments to store all sorts of stuff, from phones, to sunglasses and cigars, along with golf gear like gloves and tees. It also has movable dividers so the user can customize it in the way that fits his needs. There’s plenty of room for stuff like shirts, shorts, jackets and more.

It’s also a great gift, so keep this one in mind as you’re shopping for Father’s Day!

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