Why do So Many Golf Magazines Fail?

[Ed_Baker]

BarnyF:

O.K. so we have the redan,alps,biarritz,leven,and now the bung hole.
Can't say I've ever played the bung,is this a Fazio innovation?

[Greg "The Ad Guy" Menefee]

Brad, Matt, and Dan,

The battle isn't between Advertisers and Editorial, it is between Editorial and Publisher/CFO/Shareholders. Money drives everything. Period.

Then again....you've made me stop. And think...

Perhaps the past twenty-odd years I've spent in the advertising business hasn't been "totally" wasted. See, your posts have inspired me to bigger and better things... well your posts AND my German heritage (my mother immigrated in 1955 to the States).

As of today, I, alone, will focus all of my efforts and energies, as an Ad Guy, and, of course, a German, to the total domination of all print media. A Blitzkreig, if you will, of all poorly written, poorly researched, superficial and often unsubstatiated documents which ultimately lead to magazines and, yes, newspapers which are poorly published.

For I am an Ad Guy. Invincible. Unstoppable. The Superior Race. I have Powers far beyond a mere mortal's comprehension.

Heil David Ogilvy!

[Matt_Ward]

John Morrissett:

Thanks for your questions!

The Jersey Golfer is a quarterly publication which is sent to all golf clubs and courses in New Jersey. Circ size is about 35,000 copies. We've been operating since 1990.

We have no website, but do keep back issues and copies of all major stories we have ever done. Copies are provided to interested parties at a cost of only the mailing. I can forward to you a couple of back issues you may have missed. Please provide your home / work mailing address to my e-mail location:
mattwardgolf@hotmail.com.

We have no subscription plan since copies are furnished directly to the clubs / courses. Thereby we are completely advertiser dependent upon revenue generation.

Our staff size is about 10-12 people, mostly freelancers who have an interest in golf.

Dan:

Appreciate your take on the magazine business as someone who's be in it. Clearly, the advertising pressures have built on all sorts of media. I do credit Golf Digest with being better yesterday than it is today. Revenue generation is now the sole driving force at all publications and as a consequence you get watered-down pablum puff pieces most of the time.

As far as your second point is concerned I can name a number of different and provactive stories carried by Golf World and GolfWeek over the last few years. I will post them later today. I would thoroughly recommend reading Sports Illusrated and its Golf Plus section. The writing by Alan Shipnuck is often very good and insightful. Ditto Jaime Diaz.

Scott:

With all due respect to Links and Washignton Golf Monthly they are merely opportunities to promote real estate and development. Yes, they do have some interesting features from time to time (I do like Wayne DeFrancesco and his take on golf), but it's truly doubtful you will see a very probing and insightful critique on courses. It's as I said before golf writing of the "lite" variety. I'm not saying that to bash them, but I would think that serious and avid golfers would want a bit more than a daily routine of fast food Burger King / McDonald's reporting.

Regards,

[Greg "The Ad Guy" Menefee]

My journey begins in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the newsprint is better used for wrapping tuna and halibut than for ink.

Oh, and Barry F., you must know Dan quite well. Yes, he is a tight-assed bitter man.

For God's sake, he eats Lutefisk... that's enough to make any man – mortal man, that is, not us Ad Guys – a tight-assed bitter man.

[Paul_Daley]

Brad:

Thank you for educating us about life inside
a golf magazine with your thoughtful answers.

I have a complete set of Jan-Dec issues (1930 and 1931) American Golfer. The content is first-rate, however, the magazine still managed to utilise advertising without that element dominating the overall feel.

I see what you mean about merging; it solves one problem but creates another.

[John_Conley]

Brad:

Re: LINKS.  No, I don't pay, and Yes, I do like it.  I always told Henry as much.  Because of my familiarity with some of the courses featured, who not so coincidentally are advertisers, I picked up on the fact that "seldom is heard a discouraging word" about any of these courses mentioned.

If you didn't know it was an advertiser-serving publication and looked to it for gospel opinions you'd be very misled.  However, the photos are always pretty - even the ads are interesting! - and the courses featured are usually ones I'm interested in.  

A year ago the "Classic Old Course" was Interlachen, very dear to me.  I also got to see photos of Taconic, somewhere I've always wanted to play.  This issue has a piece on Golden Ocala, one of the most enjoyable courses in our area.  Etc...

I don't think you were speaking ill of Links, but I did feel compelled to add a bit on the reasons I do like getting that FREE copy in the mail.

(Truth be told, I'd probably pay for it if asked.  Actually, I just checked my checkbook and it says I did send them $15 in March!  They must have used the "gotta pay or we're dropping you" ploy employed by some magazines.)

And don't worry, Brad.  Golfweek is still and always will be my favorite.  Unless of course you ever left to have a strictly architecture mag of your own!!    

[Neil_Crafter]

Very interesting stuff. Just thought I'd give people some advance warning of the publication in December of a significantly upgraded and expanded magazine on golf design, previously the Journal of the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects, now known simply as "Golf Architecture".

Original articles from Geoff Shackelford, Jeff Mingay, Peter Thomson, Mike Wolveridge and others, on topics such as Temptation in Design, Diagonal Hazards, a review of Pacific Dunes, Great Holes of Austalian Golf and the Redan will make this issue quite interesting reading.

It will be available in the US and the rest of the world through mail order subscription by credit card and in Australia on the news stands.

We are also dependent on advertising revenue for our existence, but our advertisers such as Toro, Rainbird, Aventis etc make no demands on our editorial independence. All the same, we did not plan the magazine to be a series of critiques that might slam some new courses that this editor may not personally like - our mission is more to educate and encourage better understanding of golf design and its principles.

I will post the subscription details later this month under a separate post. Hope you guys can support our endeavours.

Cheers
Neil (Editor)

[Scott_Burroughs]

Neil,
That sounds great!  I think you'll get a good response from many on this site.

Isn't it 4 in the morning there?  An editor's work is never done.

[Paul_Daley]

Good luck with this great endeavour Neil, it deserves to succeed.

[John Morrissett]

Neil--

Thanks for the promising preview; please include subscription later.  Part of me wishes you hadn't made the post since, with winter almost here, it's too soon for me to start daydreaming about Australia!

Matt Ward--

Thanks for the info.  I have a better picture of how things work.

By leaning heavily on free lancers, I would assume that would cut down on expenses usuaully involved with full-time staff members.

Please help me with one example: If your magazine profiles a coure (let's say a new one in the AC area), do you take the pictures yourself, or do you just hire someone to take them for the magazine?  It is surprising (and sometimes impressive) when the writer of an article also provides the photography.

[Matt_Ward]

John Morrissett:

Using freelancers always help with any expenses but we won't assign anyone a story who really does not have any writing experience and a keen appreciation of golf.

Second, when we do a course review we let the facility know that a rating is a independent determination of how good that facility stacks up against others in their particular category (i.e. private, taxpayer owned, upscale daily fee, etc.).

We try to have both the writer and photographer present when the review is carried out. Sometimes they are one in the same person. We've been very fortunate to have some top quality photographers who really understand golf. Sad to say, but many top facilities in NJ really do not have a current portfolio of photographs. You'd think the high profile courses would spend the $$ but very few do.

If you're interested in having a few copies of the magazine forwarded to you please leave me your home / work mailing address at my e-mail address: mattwardgolf@hotmail.com

What's really interesting is that as fees in New Jersey have risen (we are the 6th most expensive state to play golf in the USA / source: National Golf Foundation) we have taken to task all of the facilities that charge top dollar, but fail to deliver consistent day-to-day value in terms of conditioning and related on-course elements. The Jersey Golfer does not care about esoteric features such as how big the clubhouse is, whether the beer is cold and if the shower heads envelope the entire body. Our reader is about golf ... pure golf. We have facilities that have no compunction to charge FULL FEES but still have temporary greens and do not tell you this PRIOR to paying. That's nothing less than a rip-off. You'd be surprised to know that the owners of these facilities take umbrage at us for saying so and then forever pulling their advertising. I say good riddance.

Sad to say but much of today's media is not about quality information it's just about endless clutter that is valueLESS for the reader. Golf magazines today play it "safe" because any semblance of perceived criticism may impact bottom line revenue totals. Any golf magazine that cannot be dedicated to the pursuit of clarity in writing and conveying a clear perspective is just junk ... pure and simple.

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

Neil,
That sounds great.  I do not see any need to slam new courses, just don't feature them.  Seems like a simple philosphy and there are always plenty of good ones to feature.
Please email me your subscription info, I would be interested.
bencd@golftravelinformation.com
Regards

[ed_getka]

Neil,
Thanks for the post. Count me in as a subscriber. I will be looking forward to your post with the info.

[Paul_Daley]

Neil:

Please put me on your list as a subscriber.
Thank you.

[Jeff_Brauer]

There was a magazine explosion (no, not the kind happening in Afghanistan right now) in the late 80-90's, primarily due to the economic expansion. It seemed there was/is a magazine for every interest, plus a lot of new general interest magazines.  

There was an article in Time or Newsweek about it, and the failure of many new ones. In a nutshell, they said that many successful old line magazines were started and run by devotees for devotees, so they really knew what their readers wanted.  They listed two of my favorite subscriptions, including Golf Digest as examples of the former, which are still going strong.

They further stated that many newer magazines were run by journalism professionals or corporate types, who simply saw a revenue stream first, content second! It reminds me of the time my wife interviewed with Chuckee Cheeze Pizza (she was a food scientist) for a job.  At one point, the interviewer mused "Our customer surveys say that we should probably improve our food", completely thinking that something else (i.e. kids entertainment) was a more important factor in suceeding in the restaurant business than better tasting food).

Well, you can only fool people so long, and even shorter when money gets tight.  That's why they fail, because golfers know what we want, and when the content is "sincere" and/or authentic.  

To me, T&L and Maximum Golf fit the second description, never put a lot of content in that appealed to me - who really wants Cigar and Brandy articles? - and were probably doomed to extinction in the first recession from the start!

Jeff

[BillV]

Neil

I too am interested in receiving this magazine.  Notify me at redandoc@hotmail when it is ready for shipping.

[John Morrissett]

Matt Ward--

Thanks for the information.

I certainly agree to the benefits of having the writer and photographer present at the same time.

One item that puzzled me: Your reference to a course having a portfolio of photographs.  Does this mean you would let the course supply the photographs for the article?  

When the course provides the photographs, do you feel obligated or compelled to let the reader know that the course is providing its own views (literally) of the course?

[Matt_Ward]

John Morrissett:

Good question.

In general terms I always like to see a full range of photographs -- whether we take them or the club does.

Very few of the high profile clubs in the Garden State have a really solid set of pictures.

In our next issue we feature a cover shot that is an aerial shot of the 9th hole at Shackamaxon (Scotch Plains, NJ) designed by A.W. Tillinghast and features one of the very first island greens of its kind. The shot was taken by a person hired by the club, but its overall quality and presentation is really solid. If you see a copy I'm pretty confident you'd say the same thing.

When a club provides pictures we make the final determination which ones, if any, will be used. Many times we need the help of others because we don't like to run the same picture a second time.

If it comes from a slightly different angle so be it. Even then, we want to make sure the angle shown is not really divorced from the actual line of actual play for that particular hole so as not to confuse the reader.

John, as far as informing the reader our opinion is simple -- quality sells. If a picture is good does it really matter who took it? We just don't run publicity shots that are being promoted to push a certain emphasis when clearly nothing of genuine interest is involved. Since I and a number of our staff people are very familiar with nearly all Jersey courses we believe our internal quality control is very good to prevent such a thing from happening.

Hope this helps ...

Still can send you copies of the mag if you provide a mailing address of some kind if you're interested in receiving. My e-mail was posted in an earlier thread.

Regards,

[Brad Klein]

Neil, I'd love to write for you as well and join that august group of architecture writers.

[RBoyce]

Scott B,

I agree with you that Washington Golf Monthly is a good read for a regional. Wayne DeFrancesco is worth far more than the price of admission (free).

I must admit, though, that I was a little bemused when I saw that the cover, YES THE COVER, of the magazine was a full page glossy advertisement for Nissan.

Never have I seen that done before.

[Mike_Cirba]

I would just like to add something to this discussion, and it's not because I consider Matt Ward a friend.

"The Jersey Golfer" is a serious, straightforward, quality magazine that is as free from editorial and advertising restraint as Matt suggests.

The course reviews, whether one agrees with them or not, are no-holds-barred.  

I suspect they piss quite a few people off and that is part of the job of a journalist!  

I frankly can't think of another regional golf magazine that takes the chances that they do, or which is so consistently concerned with course design and maintenance issues.  

[Matt_Ward]

Mike Cirba:

Thank you for those kind words. From someone who is a golf aficionado they are deeply appreciated.

Your're absolutely right honesty does not necessarily translate into greater advertising profits when course reviews are not the "glowing PR pablum" most developers want. But, we believe that creating a voice of credibility cannot be sacrificed on the altar of expediency by just going along to get along. Our readers have consistently said to us that is not what they want and I know our long time advertisers respect us for that.

I also need to thank on this thread my long time friend and professional colleague publisher Lowell Schmidt and his wife Shirley for their devotion to regional golf coverage.

Given the interest of this topic I will be forwarding copies to a number of others on GCA who have expressed interest in "The Jersey Golfer." Our latest issue will be sent out in the next 7-10 days. I will also be including various past articles of architectural interest we have done.

And, to all those interested in Jersey golf, in 2002 we will once again be listing our biennial course ratings. I hope many on GCA who are knowledgeable about Jersey golf will respond at the appropriate time.

Thanks.

P.S. I'm always interested in getting feedback on how we can be a better magazine. Any comments should be e-mailed to mattwardgolf@hotmail.com or call us at (908) 233-9998.

[Scott_Burroughs]

My, how we forget that we have a brutally honest regional course reviewer right here in the treehouse.  Gib Papazian tells it like it is in the Bay area.

[Michael M. Thomas]

This is an interesting subject. I wrote a col for T&LGolf (American Express)from its inception until the last issue, when I quit. When AE was thinking about starting the mag, they asked for my advice. I suggested some of the following ideas, all of which assumed a mag aimed at people who take golf seriously.
- emphasize courses and architecture
- good classic golf writing (Wodehouse stories illustrated by New Yorker cartoonists; we did do the James Bond excerpt from Goldfinger).
- limit instruction to the kind of "fixes" one needs on the road - when one is at Dornoch and a hook appears
- "A Round with..." with real achievers (not 2nd-rate movie stars or models) like opera stars, scientists, architects, CEOs. that emphasizes how golf fits into their life
- Great Golf Art
- Equipment - but show irons the way a golfer looks at them - down, from above - and makes a buy-no buy decision
- don't take a tired subject (ie Myrtle Beach) unless you have a new angle
- make each issue a "keeper." Make it stylish. Make it classic.
- And , above all, make it like a great golf course: its readerly lofgic should be apparent from the first page (which should be the first page!)
- There are plenty of golfers out there who are good writers. Use them!
- be smart about seasonality
- overseas and regionally, use local writers who know the territory

Now the thing is, mag business people are fixated on newsstand sales. But even GD only gets 10% of its circ on the newsstand. Which says the mag has to be reader-driven, and driven by the right kind of reader. Above all,a successful golf mag has to be edited by people who care as much about the game as their readers - this is why the two top monthly titles and the two big weeklies dominate the field. I can't beat them at their game any more than I can beat Greg Norman at his.

[Ran Morrissett]

Michael, Great post and I agree with you - the old U.K. Country Life magazine idea would and should work in this country.

A backbone of quality writing on golf course architecture from golfers from around the world is also what we want for this website.