Golf Magazines

I was flicking through one the other night and I always get a sense of de ja vu with them as they never tell you anything new and are just full of the same adverts and same advice (Hit it longer usually), same curmudgeons writing in complaining about the same old thing.

Which ones do you buy and what do you think about them?

GolfWorld, weekly (almost) and a precis-ed version on-line every Monday.
Always interesting.

Subscribe to Bunkered (mainly to get the free round at Fairmont St Andrews and the Kintyre @ Turnberry), but have to agree in the main the tips/advice are all the same. Probably prefer something like Golf International/World I think you get more interesting articles in those.

GI defo the best.

Read them all, but GI is simply the best.

The thing I hate about Bunkered (is there an English specific edition of this too) is the back page where "readers" are encouraged to send in pictures of themselves with the magazine in such far flung places as Tenerife and Majorca. Rubbish

S_R - always been tempted to send in the 'me on the sh*tter' picture.

I should add that the GolfPlus edition of Sports Illustrated is also superb, the occasional issues for The Players, Majors etc are excellent.

Tend to buy GM and TG, more out of habit than for quality of article as SR says. It's all the same stuff rebranded and just someone else saying it.

Agreed that they all pretty much keep churning over the same old same old but I do like the course reviews and new equipment write ups.

I read pretty much all of them, either up at the club, through buying them or killing time when shopping with Doris by nipping into the nearest WH Smith.

I don't read any. It's all on t'interweb anyway.

I'd say thats my only reason for buying them D4S to look at the courses and new gear, just flit through the instructional section, can't remember to last time I used a tip I found in a golf mag

Mav

If you take on board a tip to add 20 yards to your drive, then another to add 10% to your drives the following month then another 10 yards the month after that etc etc etc ..........

There wouldn't be a course long enough to challenge us!!

Wow maybe we should start following those tips soon be lnoger than Jamie Sadlowski. Wouldn't be a course that could contain us, hang on get one of the those cobra 48" jobies to and its on like donkey kong

Waste of money in my eyes. I'd rathers spend it on alcahol. A years subscription to numerous magazines adds up to a fairly decent session and a lap dance. Plus, all those extra calories will do more to help me hit it 10 yards further than a magazine will!

JPX - I like the way you roll. Next time Mrs MAv wonders what i'm doing in spearming rhinos i'll simply say adding 10yards to my drive

Isn't there more to golf magazines in GB&I than golf tips and equipment gubbins?

Perhaps someone ought to write an article on course design and Doak scales

Maverick wrote:JPX - I like the way you roll. Next time Mrs MAv wonders what i'm doing in spearming rhinos i'll simply say adding 10yards to my drive

Sadly me and my Mrs split last week so I don't have that problem anymore. Did I say sadly?

kwinigolfer wrote:Isn't there more to golf magazines in GB&I than golf tips and equipment gubbins?

Of course there is kwini, there are also the same old regurgitated letters about slow play, juniors whinging about inconsiderate seniors and newbies to the game getting a hole in one within a month of first picking up a club!

Sounds like Golf Digest, but even there you can usually find an article or two about travel, golf courses, personailities within the sport.

Nah. I don't 'read' them. Occasionally pick one up and then after 20 minutes, wonder why I wasted my money.

Same tips re-hashed. Equipment 'reviews' that rarely say anything negative about the main OEMs clubs or that the ProVI is the best ball. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

I had a look at most of the publications around the time I started playing, and decided to subscribe to Golf World as a result. This is the sister journal to Golf Digest in the US, so there are quite a few shared articles, and they attract star names from all over the world to contribute.

I tend to agree that the tips can be re-hashed (and possibly confusing, as different people obviously have different techniques), but there's a lot of other stuff besides the instruction - news, equipment reviews, interviews, regional and international course reviews, some great columns. They have hardly increased the subscription price over the years (rather less than inflation on the cover price I think), so I'm happy to continue.

Very occasionally might buy a different title, if there's a particularly interesting article or freebie. Incidentally, Urban Golf (simulator and club-fitting venue) seem to have gratis copies of Golf International, if anyone happens to be visiting.

Sky,
Do you also receive the Monday on-line mini-edition?

Agree GolfWorld continues to be terrific value.

kwinigolfer wrote:Sky,
Do you also receive the Monday on-line mini-edition?

Agree GolfWorld continues to be terrific value.

No, but I think I know the thing you mean. I might have a look into it (golfdigest.com is presumably the place to start?).

I should also take the opportunity to better explain my point on subscription fee - I pay by quarterly direct debit, and I think it's only been increased once (and even then, only marginally) in 3 years or so. What I'm continuing to pay is I believe somewhat less than either the current cover price or the subscription if you started now, but I wouldn't swear on it without checking. Not sure if this inflation-beating practice is normal though.

I have subscriptions to golf monthly and golf world and when I lived in Toronto and I had a subscription to golf digest.

My friend was interviewed in the Readers View section of Bunkered.
He told them a whole load of Porkys

I disagree that the instruction is all 'add x yards to your drives'. What about 'how to cure your slice'?

I used to subscribe to Golf Weekly, which was much more focused on the pro and top amateur games. The monthlies are, much like the major retailers, focused on the high handicap majority.

I subscribe to Today's Golfer.

It's great to dip in and out of articles and I'll be surprised if there's a better mag for keeping you up-to-date on the latest equipment.

I'd say it was the most accessible of the mags out there.

Pretty much like everyone else I couldn't agree more that it's all the same stuff.
Cure you slice before breakfast, chip like the pros, hit it 400 yards and how to practice flop shots off a tight lie in front of the mirror in your bedroom.

I buy GM or TG if I know I'm going to be bored somewhere like the train and usually end up wondering why I wasted my money

I have subscriptions to Golf Digest and Golf magazine. They must be the same publisher because it is uncanny how many of the stories/features are very similar.

I must admit I got a little bored and didn't keep up with reading them earlier this year, I got to the point where I was thinking of jacking them in. But I find that I do like to read them, I'm now up to the preview of the USPGA.

I tend to skim through the instruction stuff but there are some good interviews and profiles at times. However I'm not in the demographic they are aimed at, I do find myself thinking how likely am I to take a roadtrip in my new $60,000 car playing at places where the green fees are in excess of $100. Sometimes I think they miss real life.

Grumpy,
Completely agree with that "missing real life" comment. That's where the golf industry gets a bit incestuous and carried away with itself - just read Ron Whitten's year in golf architecture review in the latest GD; more of the same. Too many frat boys on expenses who haven't grown up, John Hawkins typically to the fore.
Actually feel as if GolfWorld is a little more down to earth though.

JPX wrote:

Maverick wrote:JPX - I like the way you roll. Next time Mrs MAv wonders what i'm doing in spearming rhinos i'll simply say adding 10yards to my drive

Sadly me and my Mrs split last week so I don't have that problem anymore. Did I say sadly?

Huzzah another single bloke on the forum... more time for golf, beer and women....