For the 17th consecutive year, the Portland Golf Expo will aim to get area golfers ready for their first swings of the season. After a long winter, golfers are eager to get started.

“Golf is right around the corner,” said Scott Mayer, a co-owner of the Portland Golf Expo. “I think people are ready.

The annual expo will be held Saturday and Sunday at Holiday Inn By The Bay on Spring Street in Portland. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $9 at the door, but there are discounted admission prices available at www.portlandgolfexpo.com.

“We’ve got some pretty neat stuff going on,” said Mayer, the director of golf instruction at Nonesuch River Golf Course in Scarborough.

“We’ll be giving away thousands of dollars in door prizes and drawings. It’s a great chance to get deals from local courses. We want to make golf more affordable.”

The golf expo will offer improvement clinics for players of all ages and abilities, clinics on getting your body in shape for the season, discounted equipment from top companies, long drive, closest to the pin and putting contests along with chances to win Cape Cod golf vacations and free rounds.

In addition, attendees will receive a bonus subscription to Golf Digest or Golf World magazines.

“The big news is that Willowdale Golf Club in Scarborough is making a grand entrance into the show by giving away 1,000 rounds of golf,” said Mayer.

“The first 500 paid admissions through the door each day will receive a free round of golf (limit one per person). The course has been upgraded over the last few years. I played the course five times last year and the greens were in great shape.”

The clinicians include Dr. John Hayes, a Portland chiropractor, who will talk about improving golf posture through exercise, maintaining strength for seniors and three keys to explosive power; John Carey of Cleveland Golf on gap fitting your clubs and playing the correct ball; Ron Bibeau, head pro at Riverside Golf Course on fundamentals and how they affect your game; Mayer on the fundamentals of the mind and how to play the game of golf and Jim Fairbanks, assistant pro at Nonesuch River GC, on 100 yards and in. Check the website for clinic times.

Authors Ken Altshuler and Dennis Walch will be there to talk about their golf books. Altshuler wrote “Golf Foreplay – Everything you need to know about golf except how to play.” Walch, a former Westbrook High golf coach and teacher, wrote “The Greens of Maine – I Played Them All.” Walch writes about achieving his goal of playing every public course in Maine.

A silent auction – “Operation Homefront” – is back for the second year. It raises money to provide financial and other assistance to the families of service members. Last year, the golf expo donated $2,000 to Operation Homefront.

Every year at this time, golfers begin to guess when the courses will open.

“I’ve been a golf pro for 22 years,” said Mayer, who grew up in Rockland.

“I’ve noted each year the date we open and with the exception of two of three seasons, it’s been the second weekend in April,” he said.

After a tough winter, golfers will be thrilled if that proves true again.

 

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at: tchard@pressherald.com

 

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