The Cincinnati Golf Expo will debut in Northern Kentucky after being forced to move from its traditional venue in downtown Cincinnati due to construction.
The Cincinnati Golf Expo was started in 2019 by entrepreneur Jason Fryia, the founder of Golf Exchange, a golf shop and club fitter in Cincinnati. The annual event brings together golf enthusiasts, retailers and exhibitors under one roof for a weekend, offering attendees a chance to buy equipment and participate in several golf-related mini-games.
“It’s always fun to bring everyone in when it’s cold outside for a little preview of the golf to come in the next couple of months to come,” Cincinnati Golf Expo Coordinator Kelsey Krahe told LINK nky.
Traditionally, the Cincinnati Golf Expo has been held at the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati since its founding. However, last July, the decades-old facility began a multi-million dollar renovation project, forcing the Expo to find a temporary home. They found one across the Ohio River.
This year, the Cincinnati Golf Expo will be held at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in downtown Covington from Feb. 7 to 9. It will be the first time the event has been held outside the Duke Energy Convention Center.
Krahe said the Northern Kentucky Convention Center was the right fit due to the venue’s proximity to downtown Cincinnati, centralized location and size.
“We wanted to keep it as close to Cincinnati as we could to have that Cincinnati feel,” Krahe said. “We want to still pull from our Cincinnati market for everyone that can come. We’ll still get people that are coming up from the Dayton area and Sharonville area. We are happy so far with what we have at the Convention Center and are looking forward to it being there this year.”
Golf Exchange Marketing Director Issak Ramsey noted that while the Northern Kentucky Convention Center is smaller than the Duke Energy Center, the venue still allows the event to feature all of its usual games and booths.
Ramsey said the Expo generally uses 90,000 square feet of space at the Duke Energy Center, compared to the 60,000 square feet it will use at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center.
“What’s been awesome is that does not mean that we’ve had to really sacrifice anything,” Ramsey said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to be able to position games in a way where they don’t take up as much room, or we were able to cut some of the bigger items and make them a little bit smaller.”
In addition to vendors and coaches, the Expo will also feature eight golf-related games, including a long putt challenge, golf darts, a glass smash competition, miniature golf, and a flop shot wall among others.
Ultimately, Krahe and Ramsey said the goal of the Expo is to use golf to create new memories.
“The benefit of having the physical space we do is that we can create an environment where anybody – two-year-olds all the way up to 80-year-olds, because we’ve got the physical space to implement games, vendors into the Expo, you can have a whole family – multiple generations – come in together and have a really good time,” Ramsey said.
The Expo is from 2 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 7, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Feb. 8, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 9. Tickets to the Expo cost $12 and can be purchased online or in person.
