When did the noble experiment of describing a fine little game become a monster of greed and misinformation.  I see the modern golf magazine as a symbol of everything thing that is wrong with the game driving up prices for owners, members and casual players.  Has a private club ever sold a membership through advertising?  Has a player ever improved his game through reading a one page tip?  Do we need to be "sold" on new equipment every month?  How much of the cost of balls and clubs are there to buy more ads?  Are you entertained by the wit and insight of the writers?  Are the pictures realistic?  Do you care about Toro or BASF?  What good are the magazines and would the game be better off without them?

Jim,

I do not like that both Callaway and Nike make balls strikingly similar and yet almost half the price.  I blame the magazines and the PGA Tour for driving up the prices.  I am weening myself away from the con job but it is not easy.

Half the price of what? The Titleist ball?

Do you think Callaway would keep their prices where they are if they could sell any balls?

I don't subscribe to any golf magazine but I recently received a 2 for 1 offer from Master Grip which also included a year's subscription to Golf Digest.  All for less the $15.

Why amateurs use golf balls that cost $45 per dozen is fodder for a psychology study.  I use and pay for ProV's despite knowing that they probably don't move my GHIN index a tenth of a stroke over a season versus a ball that costs half as much, like the NXT.  It ain't economically rational.  To the extent my preference for the ProV is grounded in anything, it's the way they look rather than perform compared to the lower priced alternative.  

The golf magazines are obviously part of the marketing machine that drives such irrational behavior.

One thing any ad based magazine will not do is a blind study like Consumer Reports did just last year showing a $14 ball is as good as a $48 ball.  I have recently been conned by the graphs on the side of the Callaway boxes.  According to the graph the HX is not only longer than the Hot but also longer than the HX Tour.  Maybe so, but the graphs are incredibly out of scale.  Something needs to be done to protect us from ourselves.  There must be no truth in advertising in golf.  The magazines need to step up and get some credibility.

Perhaps take a look at Golf Odyssey. I don't know anything about this publication (stumbled on it in a Google search), but if you're worried about advertisers influencing content then this is probably a good place to start. From the website www.golfodyssey.com/ :

Golf Odyssey, LLC publishes a monthly, subscription-only newsletter and a website. Now in its 16th year, Golf Odyssey: The Insider’s Guide to Sophisticated Golf Travel is dedicated to the publication of honest and unbiased evaluations of great golf destinations in the United States and abroad. Independence and confidentiality are the cornerstones of its editorial approach. Golf Odyssey travels anonymously, pays its own expenses and does not accept advertising from golf courses, resorts or restaurants in order to serve subscribers with objective information and discriminating advice.

I can guarantee you that playing the Titleist ProV1 is economically viable for me. I use 1, 2 at the most per round (not counting the occassional lost ball) and if I played the NXT I would be a few strokes worse per round...I'd lose distance control and chipping ability...All I need to do is win one way (more or lose one way less) in a $5 bet to make it worthwhile...

Your game is obviously more refined than mine.  My short game stinks no matter what ball I use.

Actually, I think my game suffers sometimes because I use an expensive ball. On holes with lost ball potential I am prone to try to avoid a lost ball, causing me to steer rather than swing, which of course never works.

There are an estimated 50 to 61 million golfers worldwide. A diverse group to be sure.

I've always been pretty happy to receive my Links Magazine in the mail and always find time to sit back and soak up the beautiful photography of the many beautiful courses, many of which are discussed daily on this site. I haven't thrown away a single issue in over 5 years.

As for golf tips and Tour stats in the others, I'm not interested, so I choose not to buy.  

I think you are bit harsh on golf magazines.

Selling stuff is what ALL magazines do. It does not matter if it is Golf Digest, Elle, GQ, Car and Driver, Home Theater, etc. Their main objective is to help sell their sponsors' stuff. I don't think golf magazines are any special in that regard.

Only magazine that you can trust is Consumer Reports.

And yes, I LOVED the testing they did on golf balls. Turned out ProV1's performance with mid-irons were poor (big dispersion). I am guessing it was due to the old seamline. Didn't take too long for Titleist to fix that after the results were published.

But did we ONCE hear ANY golf magazine speak ill of the mighty ProV1? Don't think so.

Da Comrade -- Stop the capitalizm wheelz of progress and that will set us free.

Quote from: Dan_Callahan on September 27, 2007, 11:49:35 AM

Perhaps take a look at Golf Odyssey. I don't know anything about this publication (stumbled on it in a Google search), but if you're worried about advertisers influencing content then this is probably a good place to start. From the website www.golfodyssey.com/ :

Golf Odyssey, LLC publishes a monthly, subscription-only newsletter and a website. Now in its 16th year, Golf Odyssey: The Insider’s Guide to Sophisticated Golf Travel is dedicated to the publication of honest and unbiased evaluations of great golf destinations in the United States and abroad. Independence and confidentiality are the cornerstones of its editorial approach. Golf Odyssey travels anonymously, pays its own expenses and does not accept advertising from golf courses, resorts or restaurants in order to serve subscribers with objective information and discriminating advice.

Now, John, what can you find wrong with that!

Golf Odyssey looks interesting. I think I will try their trial subscription.

Did anyone else try to get the free report?  These guys douched me out with six screaming banners trying to get me to buy their book on enjoying Bandon.  They stink.

I bet these hacks at Golf Odessey have one great time at the resorts that they hawk books about.  I'm still pissed that they promise no ads and then flash six banners in one page at me to buy their book when I take them up on their free offer.  Then what do you know...when I get to the free offer the time has expired and I am too late.  If I was them I wouldn't admit I work there either.

John,
You would have loved Golf Journal. All golf. No ads. Well-written. USGA killed it. It cost too much money to produce.