Opinion & Analysis

Golf Digest puts Jimmy Fallon on its cover

Published

12 years ago

May 1, 2014

When Golf Digest teased us on Instagram a few days ago, with a silhouette of who would be on the next cover of the latest issue, I don’t believe many people’s first, second, or even third thought would have been Jimmy Fallon. What does the host of the Tonight Show have to do with golf anyway?

The obvious answer is that there was a 30-second clip in the movie Fever Pitch in which Fallon was playing golf with the parents of his new girlfriend, who was played by Drew Barrymore.

But seriously, what is Jimmy Fallon doing on golf’s most coveted magazine cover. Well, if you haven’t already noticed, Golf Digest’s image and brand has changed. Look no closer than the new Golf Digest logo and website. The re-launch of Golf Digest’s website is now more user-friendly, and follows a look and feel consistent to the new trend of web design. According to Golf Digest, the restyling initiative is to draw more attention to new points of emphasis; that being technology, golf science and statistics. Its product has also become “edgier” and has “more attitude” than ever, you could say.

The facts are the facts, and they are that the golf industry is struggling. When it comes to the growth of the game, getting new participants to pay their hard-earned dollars and commit to five hour rounds is an uphill battle. From Golf Digest’s perspective, would having Tiger or Phil on the cover for the 30^th time discussing their “Secret Tips for Going Low” be interesting enough to make their magazine fly off the shelves? Probably not, which is why Golf Digest has changed its course.

The goal for Golf Digest seems to be to move golf away from its perception as a game for 55-year-old men who belong to country clubs, because that generation is no longer who advertisers in Golf Digest are looking to spend their dollars on.

In an article in the New York Times, Bill Pennington discusses how those who advertise in Golf Digest are looking to target the “Millennial Generation (ages 18 to 34) to market their new products and initiatives in the game. In the June Issue, in which Fallon is on the cover, you will find surveys from millennial golfers where 11 percent of those surveyed have admitted to smoking marijuana on the golf course versus 3 percent of those ages 35 to 54, and 1 percent of golfers over 55. The article lists more statistics about the patterns of the different generations of golfers, alluding to the popularity of the millennial golfer.

Paulina Gretzky, daughter of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and fiance of PGA Tour player Dustin Johnson, was Golf Digest’s choice for its May 2014 Fitness Issue. In 2013, the magazine selected Golf Channel Personality Holly Sonders for its fitness issue.

Golf is currently perceived as more of a lifestyle than a sport, and the approach Golf Digest has taken is placing more of an emphasis on the lifestyle of the people who play golf. Coupled with the fact that magazine sales, not just in the golf industry, are probably down substantially from their heyday, Golf Digest has had to make a switch in the content they present. If their target is this so-called Millennial Generation, a generation that will respond better to Paulina Gretzky and Jimmy Fallon than Dave Stockton and Thorbjorn Olesen, then I really don’t have any beef with that.

Over the last decade, I have probably read more “Secret Tips for Putting into the Wind” than one needs to in an entire lifetime. So hearing about Jimmy Fallon’s ties to golf, and how golf courses in Colorado might give you a joint at No. 10 if you also buy a hot dog and a coke is definitely something that I (a proud Millennial Golfer) would spend money to read about.

To be honest, this revamping of the magazine doesn’t mean that the traditional Golf Digest content needs to be compromised. It just probably won’t be the magazine’s focus in the future.

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Oliver Berg

Oliver Berg is a golf fanatic whose roots in the game were formed in the rugged and rocky golf links of Southern Ontario, Canada. By putting the pen to paper, or more appropriately, his fingers to the keyboard, Oliver turned his passion for ‘talking golf’ online by starting The High Fade Golf Blog. Oliver works in the digital marketing space in the fashion industry in Toronto and has applied what he’s learned from social media marketing to his own Instagram golf account - @thehighfade. Having grown up in a family of golfers, Oliver was given a special gift at young age from his grandmother -- a pillow that reads “Life’s a game, but Golf is serious” is something that he sleeps beside every night, and he pretty much lives by that!

23 Comments

DerTrommler

May 9, 2014 at 11:39 am

Canceling my GD subscription now. It’s official. Paulina Gretzky on the cover was ridiculous. Now Jimmy Fallon. I don’t care that he’s a 6, or played on his HS golf team. I think he’s very good at his comedic craft, but that’s not why I subscribed to GD.

Like others have said, golf is tough and not cheap. It is what it is. GQ is for cool & trendy. The geniuses at GD are free to change their brand & theme & content. I have elected not to follow.

Reply Report comment
crisis_denier

May 2, 2014 at 7:51 pm

If this move helps Golf Digest sell more magazines, go for it, but I’m completely over hearing about the tragic demise of the game. Golf is on the decline because the “Tiger Bubble” is loosing air. It was inevitable. Now there are any number of proposals (15″ holes?!) to “save” golf, mostly being peddled by people like Mark King, who have a financial interest in how many people play.

Golf is not for everyone. It’s really, really, really difficult to become proficient. It is time consuming. It can be expensive and access to courses is an issue for some people. The deck is stacked against mass appeal, and that’s what makes it special for those of us who love the game.

Reply Report comment
enrique

May 2, 2014 at 9:38 am

At least Fallon PLAYS golf.

Reply Report comment
timbleking

May 2, 2014 at 3:49 am

I stopped buying and reading GD a long time ago. It seems that it was a good decision.
Paulina is way right an eye catcher, but who is supposed to play golf in bra? That’s ridiculous…

Reply Report comment
HackerDav

May 1, 2014 at 8:49 pm

It’s no wonder golf’s participation continues to decline every year. With geniuses like those commenting on Facebook about this, who are so steadfast in making sure “real golfers” are represented, its not wonder the game won’t grow. If it’s going to survive this game needs a shot in the arm, and guys like Fallon can help provide that as Sinatra, Hob Hope, Carson and others did before him.

Golf lacks cool right now, and last I checked Kenny G isn’t really doing that, nor is 90% of the PGA tour. If you took ten seconds to google it, you’d find Fallon plays off a 6 and played on his high school team and loves the game. Stop your whining and wake up. Your precious, sacrosanct game is killing itself. Things like this are good for golf, especially in helping attract new players. Maybe try to welcome them in rather than judging them on your way to slicing your drive off the first tee box.

Reply Report comment
- Tony Lynam
  
  May 1, 2014 at 10:02 pm
  
  I don’t know, it felt pretty cool shooting a 75 today and that took some skill and being “cool” had nothing to do with it. A lot of people thought Barack Obama was “cool” and it got him the double dip in the presidency. But it turns out that we needed a competent President not a “cool” one. My point is, “cool” is a frame of mind and/or someone’s perception about another person, place or thing. Does not help much in the game of golf or running a country.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - HackerDav31
    
    May 1, 2014 at 10:15 pm
    
    Not sure what exactly you’re talking about, nor am I sure the hell the president has anything to do with this discussion, but sure…
    
    The point I was trying to make was that icons help make things attractive to those outside of an activity or sport. Tiger did it for golf in the early 2000’s and that spike has now dipped. Golf could use an image refresher to make it attractive to people who don’t play in the hopes of enticing them to do so. That was the point. You think golf is cool because you already play it, and so do I. Its the coolest sport on the planet. The problem is, people who don’t play don’t know that, and the image with which golf is associated is elitist, old, and drab. Why not align the games image with something fresher?
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Tony Lynam
      
      May 2, 2014 at 9:00 pm
      
      My point was “cool” is in the eyes of the beholder, and at the end of the day what does it matter. You are right on the Tiger affect as I’m a product of that era as a golfer (although as a kid I caddied for the old stuffy types but never really got hooked until I gave up team sports and still needed athletic competition). I think that golf has made strides with clothing trends that are “cool”, but the single most glaring thing holding back golf from growth is cost. Look at equipment prices alone. $500 plus for a driver that material wise did not cost $100 (I know R&D drives prices for the most part, but really?) is just insane and that is only one economic issue plaguing golf. I do agree with your comments along the lines of stuffy people in golf, that is why I frequent courses where the staff and pro’s are younger men and women, because they get it and still believe in what they are doing and they believe in service to the customer. But all in all if you want more people playing, the golf industry needs to stop out pricing the masses out of the game to start.
      
      Reply Report comment
      - Philip
        
        May 4, 2014 at 3:01 pm
        
        Actually, what is affecting the golf industry regarding how they price affects everything now. A friend at work cycles and I am interested in getting back into it. WTF – the prices are off this planet, yes I know that some of the tech costs a lot to produce, but on some things a little change doubles or triples the cost and we are not talking adding titanium or some other precious metal.
        
        We are in the age of “What the market will bear” and cost of production is not even remotely connected to market price. Golf is not even close to being an essential like clothing, cell phones and even televisions.
        
        It is all about perceived value for each of us as cost does not stop many from buying the latest gadget or outfit … etc.
        
        Reply Report comment
      - Dale Mitchell
        
        May 15, 2014 at 2:55 pm
        
        This is so true. I’ve been saying for years that the cost of golf has far exceeded inflation for all the years since the “Tiger boom” began. The golf industry (including equipment and courses) just got way too greedy and drove off a lot of the lower and middle income players who could no longer justify the cost. And even for younger players, the cost can be prohibitive. The industry shot itself in the butt. The market is no longer bearing the cost, and the industry won’t adjust.
        
        Reply Report comment
- brad
  
  May 2, 2014 at 6:37 am
  
  +1
  Perhaps the most sensible comment on here in months (except maybe the dig at the end of the comment)
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Brad
    
    May 2, 2014 at 6:41 am
    
    Dang. Meant to hang hat under @HackerDav’s post
    
    Reply Report comment
yo!

May 1, 2014 at 8:29 pm

pic of paulina squeezing her boobs together to demonstrate the golf address position is an eye catcher to say the least.

Reply Report comment
Martin

May 1, 2014 at 8:05 pm

Almost as stupid as Paulina.

Reply Report comment
DC

May 1, 2014 at 6:16 pm

Well this definitely helps clarify my decision to cancel my subscription. If I want to read about Paulina Gretzky or Jimmy Fallon I will buy US Weekly or People Magazine.

Reply Report comment
- Tony Lynam
  
  May 1, 2014 at 10:04 pm
  
  Agree. Golfwrx takes care of pretty much everything the golf rags used to provide me and then some.
  
  Reply Report comment
Curtis

May 1, 2014 at 6:11 pm

Great idea!! I stopped buying GD (except for the Hot List of course) because I was sick of reading tips from mostly the same guys. I like where they are going finally! LT & Win from GC next!!

Reply Report comment
- John Spalding
  
  May 1, 2014 at 6:24 pm
  
  I hope for their sake the new target readership will subscribe in the numbers equal to the loss of p1 subscribers….individual copy sales won’t feed the bulldog!
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Hector
    
    May 1, 2014 at 7:04 pm
    
    they’d probably switch out some lost subscriptions for getting better numbers in the younger demo.
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Tony Lynam
      
      May 1, 2014 at 10:06 pm
      
      Funny, that is what the Obama administration thought about Obamacare and the younger demo signing up to carry it.
      
      Reply Report comment
      - Hector
        
        May 1, 2014 at 11:29 pm
        
        there’s no guesswork in the ad game, the younger demo is more attractive to advertisers as a whole
        
        Reply Report comment
      - marionmg
        
        May 4, 2014 at 11:42 am
        
        Okay we get it Tony – you’re not an Obama fan.
        
        Reply Report comment
      - Xreb
        
        May 4, 2014 at 8:32 pm
        
        You seem to want to drag the President into every conservation about golf….
        
        Reply Report comment

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