Keeping up with the Jones: When less is more
Two press releases caught my eye recently, and we included both in this month’s Starter section: the announcement that Rees Jones, a longtime friend of Golfdom, is reinventing Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa and shifting the two 18-hole Arnold Palmer designs into three nine-hole tracks that can be mixed and matched. The other: The crew at Detroit Golf Club, all smiles with shovels in hand, about to dig into a green and formally begin a renovation led by Tyler Rae.
The first one is interesting to me because Saddlebrook is saying they’re OK not having two 18-hole championship courses at the resort. And not just two championship courses — two Arnold Palmer championship courses — in favor of a more convenient routing with an improved practice area closer to the clubhouse.
They’re saying less is more.
The crew at Detroit GC had just finished hosting the PGA Tour’s Rocket Classic when they handed all their VIPs a shovel. I can’t help but think about how hard the crew worked all year on that green to keep it dialed in for their PGA Tour event.
You sweat blood to make sure it’s all perfect, then the tournament is over. The green that you were whispering sweet nothings to yesterday, you’re digging up today.
They’re saying you can’t always maintain the status quo.
Here at Golfdom, I’m not only intrigued by these two projects, but I’m also relating to them. I feel like we’re Saddlebrook and turning our two 18s into three nines. We’re like Detroit GC, and we’re ready to start digging.
The reason for this is because we are still reinventing Golfdom. Last month, I pondered in this space — is this a monthly magazine and a website? Or is it a community?
I’m still leaning toward the community. You might notice that this issue’s cover says that it’s the July/August issue. We combined these two months into one for a few reasons. First, our readers tell us they don’t have time to read a print magazine in the peak of golf season. And second, our advertising partners have told us they’re less interested in marketing their products in a print magazine during those busy summer months.
More changes are still to come. I foresee us combining months more often, when the situation calls for it. We want to work smarter, not harder. It seems our readers and advertising partners are less worried that we publish a magazine every month and more interested in seeing a steady flow from us in person, online and on social media.
We first learned of this desire a few years ago. We combined the November and December issues into one double issue and then added an extra issue in the spring, the Tour Guide special. That was such a hit for us, our readers and our marketing partners that we want to take it to the next level.
I looked back in the archives to see how much of a break in tradition this would be for Golfdom. This is Herb Graffis’ baby, after all. It turns out, in many of those early years in the 1920s and 1930s, the Graffis Brothers only published 10 issues a year.
Think about how much media has changed since then! And we’re going to keep changing and adapting, giving readers what they want, when they want it.
And the great news is your favorite industry trade publication (yes, I’m referring to Golfdom) is having its best year ever. And we want it to be even more successful. We’re going to chase more stories and see you at more tournaments. That’s why you’ll see so many photos in these issues of our team attending tournaments and meeting with the crew. And that’s why I’m writing this column as I sit on an airplane headed for San Juan, Puerto Rico; to chase a story.
Sometimes less is more. Sometimes, it’s time to change the status quo.
Email Jones at:
sjones@northcoastmedia.net.
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