Have Golf Magazines Sold Out?

I’m sure we all enjoy reading golf magazines for their personal stories and articles but how much of it has been hashed and rehashed,  done over and over, time and time again with little new information to add.

I  subscribe to golf magazines based out of the United States, Japan and a of couple of british publications to stay on top of the latest.  I get to see a more international scope of magazines and what I noticed  was an increase in  the amount of ad’s in U.S publications.  I came to this conclusion while I was going through golf magazines i have had from the last 5 years and there was little difference in the info provided then compared to now.  The International Magazines like Golf Punk, Golf Classic, Golf Today, Alba and others are still sharing a decent amount of tech reports and articles that are actually new  as well as never seen before.

Why so many ad’s?

So let’s look into what could be happening here.  Are golf publication’s seeing a drop in sales due to the economy causing them to make it up in ad revenue? I mean the entire magazine industry is as a whole and maybe this is the reason why the massive increase in ad’s ?  I dont know if this is the case but when it comes to the top magazines big companies are the only ones who can afford the exposure. 

The going rate for a full page bleed in some magazines can run as high as 60,000 USD now that does reach a huge amount of readers, I suspect less than they advertise but the fact still remains Golf Digest has the most readers of any Golf Publication in the world.  Yet Golf Digest as the biggest also appears to be saturated with ad’s ranging from  Mercedes Benz, Rolex, Polo, and all the top Golf OEM’s of course.

I understand they gotta pay the bills but it comes at an expense. How many of us are out there feeling  jipped or dissapointed after we burn through the magazine in little time with not much to take from it.

Can too Much Help be Bad?

Is it possible that the advice on how to hold the club, swing it, stand, and a thousand other thoughts will mess a player up more than help?  I do know from personal expereince when taking lessons on a consistent basis I am usually told stay away from the magazines and keep my thoughts with the coach and my eyes on the prize.  Countless times before a round I have picked up a magazine saw something that may help me and have lost shots in my opinion due to this. On the other hand how many times has it helped my problem on the course? I dont know, what say you on this?

Objective Results

I must admit i do feel there is a lack of objective testing & reporting on equipment & balls. The reason I feel this way is because much of the text written in a review or a write up is the exact same sales pitch the company promotes often word for word. I see a lot of marketing but no real unbiased reviews, it’s as if everything is great and they dont want to upset the advertisor. In the end that only hurts the reader.  I know what I want is  unbiased Pro’s & Con to help me base our next purchase on as well as lots of technical data, measurements, and launch monitor results with most variables taken into account.

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