August 2014 Golf Digest....

[Mike_Young]

For the last 20 years GD magazine and Golf Magazine made it on full page RE ads and full page Titleist, Taylormade and Callaway Ads.  My bet is the magazine does not make it another 5 years.  The full page ads are watches, cars, weiner stiffiners, and grips.  The only full page ball ad is the back cover and it is for a Top Flite ball.  No Titleist ads, no Taylormade Ads, no Callaway ads and no full page RE/Resort ads.....that says all one needs to know about where things are with the game....

[Mark Pritchett]

.that says all one needs to know about where things are with the game....

It also says all one needs to know about where things are with print media...

[Rees Milikin]

.that says all one needs to know about where things are with the game....

It also says all one needs to know about where things are with print media...

Ding Ding.  This is applicable to almost any magazine.

[Dan Herrmann]

Golf Digest, with their redesign, essentially killed the magazine.   It's pure crap now.

[Mike_Young]

Sure it tells where things are with print media but Golfweek still has equipment ads...it tells you the avid glfer is not the Golf digest customer..IMHO

[Terry Lavin]

There aren't enough avid golfers who subscribe to make any of these magazines what they were ten years ago. Think about it, they practically give it away online. And they HAVE TO, in order to compete. A broken business model, unfortunately, which leads to editorial decisions that alienate the core group.

[Mike_Young]

There aren't enough avid golfers who subscribe to make any of these magazines what they were ten years ago. Think about it, they practically give it away online. And they HAVE TO, in order to compete. A broken business model, unfortunately, which leads to editorial decisions that alienate the core group.

agree...Global Golf Post is free and the best right now...

[cary lichtenstein]

Golf Digest, with their redesign, essentially killed the magazine.   It's pure crap now.

Totally agree

[Wade Whitehead]

I guess everyone finally cured their slices.

WW

[Patrick_Mucci]

Golf Digest, with their redesign, essentially killed the magazine.   It's pure crap now.

Totally agree

I wonder who came up with the redesign and I wonder who signed off on it.

I was never a fan

[Tim_Cronin]

Golf Digest, with their redesign, essentially killed the magazine.   It's pure crap now.

Totally agree

I wonder who came up with the redesign and I wonder who signed off on it.

I was never a fan

Anna Wintour editor in chief of Vogue, is the artistic director for the entire Conde Nast group (except The New Yorker, I believe). She has to have had a role in it.

[Dan Kelly]

Golf Digest, with their redesign, essentially killed the magazine.   It's pure crap now.

Totally agree

I wonder who came up with the redesign and I wonder who signed off on it.

I was never a fan

Desperate times call for desperate measures -- which, of course, usually fail.

But when business-as-usual is *guaranteed* to fail...

[Craig Van Egmond]

At first I thought they had a picture of Tom Huckaby on the cover....but then I read it was Jason Dufner.   

[Lynn_Shackelford]

Golf Digest, with their redesign, essentially killed the magazine.   It's pure crap now.

Totally agree

I wonder who came up with the redesign and I wonder who signed off on it.

I was never a fan

Anna Wintour editor in chief of Vogue, is the artistic director for the entire Conde Nast group (except The New Yorker, I believe). She has to have had a role in it.

The new format will accelerate the demise of GD.

[David Stamm]

I think there is some truth to Mike's OP. But, I think it's more of an indication of the sales numbers being way down for the manufacturers than an overall demise of the game.


When an idea like Hack Golf is being endorsed openly by a major industry player, that's a pretty good indication that the white flag is being waived.

[Jim Hoak]

Careful on the conclusions based on your personal preference for the magazine design.  As a life-time media person, I know that "surveys in your own house" are dangerous.
When I was a young man, just starting in media, a wiser, older man told me that he did the opposite of what his friends told him, and he was right every time.
So as to the future of GD, we'll see.

[Josh Tarble]

That's a good comment, Jim.  I actually like what I've seen from the re-design of GD.  But then again, when I buy it (usually at an airport) I'm not looking for serious reading.  I want something light and quick, with a lot of pictures. 

It's certainly not high-brow reading, definitely closer to US Weekly or People, but for 30 minutes  to an hour I find it enjoyable.

Then again, I'm not subscribing to it either.

[Howard Riefs]

I wonder who came up with the redesign and I wonder who signed off on it.

I was never a fan

Peter Hunsinger (GD president) and Jerry Tarde (GD editor-in-chief), among others.

They explain the new design…

http://www.golfdigest.com/blogs/the-loop/2014/05/whats-new-about-the-new-golf-d.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/02/sports/golf/transformed-golf-digest-tries-to-connect-with-younger-players.html
 

[Jim Hoak]

Not to lecture--but media is about the reader or viewer on the margin, not the average.  It's why TV ratings when Tiger is playing are about double what they are when he is not.  I doubt that anyone on this site is on the margin when it comes to golf.

[Tony_Muldoon]

I guess everyone finally cured their slices.

WW

 

[Scott Wintersteen]

I prefer Golf Magazine, but I get Golf Digest free every year as long as I attend the Chicago golf show.  I don't think I would buy Golf Digest subscription on my own. 

[Bill_McBride]

I think there is some truth to Mike's OP. But, I think it's more of an indication of the sales numbers being way down for the manufacturers than an overall demise of the game.


When an idea like Hack Golf is being endorsed openly by a major industry player, that's a pretty good indication that the white flag is being waived.

I never attend but wonder how the size of the exhibit hall (number of exhibitors, number of square feet) at the PGA Golf Show has held up since the recession.   

If those numbers are holding up then I suspect Golf Digest has screwed the pooch.   If they are way down then this could be an industry wide problem. 

[john_stiles]

As to Mike's post, and Bill' last post....

See the article in  Turfnet (Jan 31 2014) article by John Reitman  ...http://www.turfnet.com/page/news.html/_/construction-play-number-of-golfers-decline-in-2013-r249   ......


"  Of the 157.5 courses that closed last year (2013),   151.5 were public-access facilities;  just the kind that would appeal to those the game needs most, newcomers, casual golfers, women and juniors.  A total of 144.5 of the public-access facilities were daily fee and seven were municipal operations.  "

With the golf real estate problems, and public course closings,  it is just not a pretty picture for the sport we love.

When you put the internet and digital age on top of those issues for print magazines,   Mike's observation on advertisements in GD leads me to wonder how any print magazines will survive.

[Mark Pritchett]

As to Mike's post, and Bill' last post....

See the article in  Turfnet (Jan 31 2014) article by John Reitman  ...http://www.turfnet.com/page/news.html/_/construction-play-number-of-golfers-decline-in-2013-r249   ......


"  Of the 157.5 courses that closed last year (2013),   151.5 were public-access facilities;  just the kind that would appeal to those the game needs most, newcomers, casual golfers, women and juniors.  A total of 144.5 of the public-access facilities were daily fee and seven were municipal operations.  "

With the golf real estate problems, and public course closings,  it is just not a pretty picture for the sport we love.

When you put the internet and digital age on top of those issues for print magazines,   Mike's observation on advertisements in GD leads me to wonder how any print magazines will survive.

Are there any numbers on how many private courses have gone public in the last year?  I would be interested to know. 

[Carl Nichols]

Serious questions--

1.  How many monthly magazine delivery subscriptions do you have, where you actually pay for the magazine to be delivered in the mail?  (For us, it's none.  We do get National Geographic, but that's because my dad got the subscription for our kids.)

2.  How many times in 2014 have you bought a monthly magazine off the rack?  (For me, I'd say 3 times.  I travel a decent amount for work, but for various reasons I rarely grab something like Golf Digest to read on the plane.)