PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – From the beginnings of the game, Montgomery County has played a lead role in the development of golf in Pennsylvania … and in the country. With almost 50 golf courses in this small county, 28 miles long and 14 miles wide, it claims a rightful title as the Golf Capital of Pennsylvania.
For those reasons, the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board began an initiative a few years ago and named it Destination Montco Golf. The role of that organization in promoting golf and the history of golf in Montgomery County is the focus of the September episode of the award-winning Traveling Golfer television show.
“We realized a few years ago that the golf history in Montgomery County was something very special,” said Mike Bowman, president of the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board, the marketing entity that created Destination Montco Golf. “Not only was there an interesting history story but, looking forward to the future, golf has the potential to make a huge contribution to the economic picture in the area. Our goal was to make people aware of the quality golf available in the area and suggest they take advantage of it when they come to Montgomery County for business or to enjoy all of the great tourism opportunities locally.”
According to the National Golf Foundation, golfers are playing more golf than in past years. More importantly, they hitting the road in record numbers throughout the last few months and that trend should continue through the fall. Drive-to destinations, such as Montgomery County, could benefit most from this trend
“Whether people are traveling for business or pleasure, Montgomery County is perfectly positioned to offer a healthy side order of golf to their visit,” explains Tony Leodora, Traveling Golf host. “We looked at the golf scene in Montgomery County through the historic angle of the events and famous architects connected with the Greater Philadelphia area. Then we also looked at the modern side of the story, portraying the emergence of a wave of new, top-level daily fee courses.”
Telling the story of golf in Montgomery County was a comprehensive project, featuring in-depth interviews at eight courses, plus providing a look at another 12 courses. To add flavor to the impressive golf scene, there also is a segment on the outstanding shopping, dining and history scene found in Valley Forge and Montgomery County.
Full information on all facets of Montgomery County can be found on the website at www.valleyforge.org.
The September episode of the Traveling Golfer airs as a scheduled weekly feature show on NBC Sports and NBC Sports + throughout four markets in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. NBC Sports airings are 10:30 a.m. on Sundays, 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and 11 a.m. on Thursdays. NBC Sports + airs the show at 8 p.m. Mondays and Fridays. In addition, the show airs nationally, three times every day, on the new Fun Roads Network (funroads.tv/schedule) – in the San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Wichita and Detroit markets –plus, beginning in September, Fun Roads expands to Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Washington State, North Dakota, Raleigh, Orlando, San Jose and Boise. Additionally, national and international expansion is planned via connected TV on Roku, Amazon Fire, SelectTV and GlewedTV.
The Traveling Golfer also airs a number of times in the Month of August on “Rivertalk” on HTC-4 in Myrtle Beach.
The show also airs on the Traveling Golfer network of websites … including The Golf Director Network and The Myrtle Beach Golf Channel (see full list of sites on travelinggolfervideo.com).
As part of every Traveling Golfer show there is the additional feature, “Tech Talk”, hosted by Tour Edge Golf experts, such as President Dave Glod. With years of experience as a club maker, Glod presents an inside look at the research and development of high-quality golf equipment.
Responding to golfers’ never-ending demands to learn more about interesting golf courses and golf resorts across the country and around the world, well-traveled host Tony Leodora created the Traveling Golfer so he could take viewers on video trips to some of the most exciting golf locations. For the fourth time in five years, the show was honored as the No. 1 Golf Television Show in America in the prestigious International Network of Golf awards, presented at the PGA Merchandise Show in January of 2020.
The Traveling Golfer is a series of monthly shows hosted by Leodora, who has 19 years of experience in televised golf. The featured destination stays on the website for one month, before being replaced by a new show. Alternate shows also air in a two-month rotation. All old shows are archived for continued viewing
on the YouTube Network and on the home website, www.travelinggolfervideo.com.
For more information about the Traveling Golfer, or to find out how a property can be featured on the show, call TL Golf Services at (610) 721-8186.
