“Most Beautiful Women in Golf,” “Sexiest Tour Wives and Girlfriends,” scantily clad non-golfing models on golf magazine covers… Does it damage the game?
The move to digital has forced changes in the golf media business. Many magazines and media outlets have all but forgotten their core audience in an effort to reach an ever younger set of millennial eyes and increase digital advertising revenue.
Coverage of female golfers actually playing golf is difficult to find. You are more likely to find a gallery of the “Hottest Instagram Photos” than the results of that week’s LPGA event. If you look at the most popular story on a certain golf magazine’s website, you’ll find the “22 Hottest Pictures of Paige Spirinac,” an Instagram star who, while she was a college golfer, isn’t a professional player. Of those twenty-two photos, only three are related to golf.
Some call it click-bait while others call it damaging to the game, particularly for women’s golf. Is it golf media’s fault for creating this content or is it simply creating content where there is demand? After all, the Spirinac story is the most viewed on their site.
What do you think? Leave us a comment and we’ll start a discussion!