The "New" Golf Digest

[newtogolf]

Back to original topic, yeah, what's up with Golf Digest. The printed magazine seems about half its original size. Last page of current issue is an article on how to avoid paying your golf gambling debts. Tongue in cheek yes, but still strange.

My local muni held a very casual hole-in-one contest several years ago to benefit Wounded Warriors. It cost a few bucks. They had two cameras watching the tee boxes and the green. You won something like a free cart rental if you got the ball within tap-in distance and maybe five hundred bucks for the ace. For either, you called the Pro shop immediately so they could record the time and review the video. Over the several weeks of the promotion, they did have several aces, so I wonder if the charity got any money. I always entered, overswung, and never hit the green 140 yeards away. So sad.

Number of pages is usually related to number of ads they sell.  The golf industry is declining in terms of popularity and participation so businesses will see less value in paying for print ads in golf specific magazines.

I don't know how the decline has affected readership, but that would impact ad sales as well.  I cancelled my subscription due to the poor quality of content and I doubt I'm the only one so I'd expect to shrink more and more over time unless something significant changes.

[Golfingdad]

Number of pages is usually related to number of ads they sell.  The golf industry is declining in terms of popularity and participation so businesses will see less value in paying for print ads in golf specific magazines.

I don't know how the decline has affected readership, but that would impact ad sales as well.  I cancelled my subscription due to the poor quality of content and I doubt I'm the only one so I'd expect to shrink more and more over time unless something significant changes.

Let's also not forget that the internet has killed MANY print publications, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it as well.

[billchao]

Let's also not forget that the internet has killed MANY print publications, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it as well.

Yup, I think it has more to do with print being a dying medium than golf being in decline.

[Torres9]

Personally, I am also disappointed in Golf Digest. It used to be a wonderful publication, but it is subpar now, no pun intended.

[trickyputt]

TsT should feel horrible. Its the sparkle of fresh bloggy content in Times New Roman that kills paper books every time. But then now there are those googly adsense ads to make up for all the loss. I hate those ads as much as the readers digest pablum the prints were dishing out.

[newtogolf]

Let's also not forget that the internet has killed MANY print publications, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it as well.

I agree the internet has impacted the number of print copies magazines and newspapers sell but publishers offer electronic subscriptions through Apple Newsstand and other online subscription services.  The last year I subscribed to Golf Digest my subscription included both printed and electronic versions.  The electronic version included some additional content but the ads were the same.

Every magazine and newspaper I subscribe to today (quite a few) are electronic version only (my small contribution to saving the trees and planet).   I didn't renew my subscription to Golf Digest because their content (especially the fake Tiger interview) was severely lacking in quality.  I firmly believe that complaining about a company or service is only part of the solution, you have to back it up with your wallet if you want them to really get the message.

[Pretzel]

TsT should feel horrible. Its the sparkle of fresh bloggy content in Times New Roman that kills paper books every time. But then now there are those googly adsense ads to make up for all the loss. I hate those ads as much as the readers digest pablum the prints were dishing out.

I'm not sure what you're saying here. Are you saying The Sand Trap is part of the reason Golf Digest started going weird because people prefer online blogging to paper publications? If so, I can assure you that I honestly prefer hard copies, they're better for car trips. That and I'm not sure if TST has enough people posting to the blog for it to be regular enough to compare to Golf Digest. It's mostly equipment reviews and when big events come out, as well as the periodic Hitting the Links articles.

[trickyputt]

[QUOTE name="trickyputt" url="/t/78711/the-new-golf-digest/36#post_1098066"] TsT should feel horrible. Its the sparkle of fresh bloggy content in Times New Roman that kills paper books every time. But then now there are those googly adsense ads to make up for all the loss. I hate those ads as much as the readers digest pablum the prints were dishing out.[/QUOTE] I'm not sure what you're saying here. Are you saying The Sand Trap is part of the reason Golf Digest started going weird because people prefer online blogging to paper publications? If so, I can assure you that I honestly prefer hard copies, they're better for car trips. That and I'm not sure if TST has enough people posting to the blog for it to be regular enough to compare to Golf Digest. It's mostly equipment reviews and when big events come out, as well as the periodic Hitting the Links articles.

It takes a village to raze a magazine. Not just TsT, but youtube, other websites are having their effect added to the gravitational pull away from magazines. Mobile web is probably the worst culprit, as golf resources are constantly at your finger tips, making the content of a magazine old news by the time it arrives at my house. I get the magazine myself, and read it and then share it with my customers in the waiting area. It has become a very narrow focus in the overall breadth of golf words and imagery I consume each month. I wonder, as far as unique subjects go, how to rate, count and consider a golf magazine in the overall mix of golf related things I cross each month. It has to be a small percentage.

[nevets88]

The likes of GD and Golf Magazine have one thing most cannot duplicate. Access and using that access to do long form journalism. That's one of the only reasons I'll read a dead tree magazine. For that 5-10K word piece or interview. I wonder who is the Herbert Warren Wind of today though?

[turtleback]

The likes of GD and Golf Magazine have one thing most cannot duplicate. Access and using that access to do long form journalism. That's one of the only reasons I'll read a dead tree magazine. For that 5-10K word piece or interview. I wonder who is the Herbert Warren Wind of today though?

John Feinstein thinks it is him.  He has the wind part down pat.  It is in a bag.

[trickyputt]

I suspect a long article could not carry the word count or the seperate point count of a thread on TST that had the same thesis. I need to be specific on the thesis aspect to be fair, because I would hope someone could check a compare/contrast out that made sense.

[canadianpro]

Now they feature "THE GOLFER" who killed Bin Ladin....what a great "golf" article

[dfreuter415]

Now they feature "THE GOLFER" who killed Bin Ladin....what a great "golf" article

The article starts out with a surprise statement....

"There was a golf course nearby," says Rob O'Neill, a member of SEAL Team 6. "I can't say for certain that I saw it, because I had a lot going on in my head. But I knew where it was, and I kind of looked for it off to my left on our final approach to Osama bin Laden's house. A golf course."

http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2015-02/the-golfer-who-killed-osama-bin-laden