Career in golf media comes to an end

[furu]

I'm done with golf journalism and media. Or - it's done with me. It's been my job for a few years. Testing golf clubs along with a team of Scandinavians. Gadgets, bags, apparel - I've done it all for a long time. Now I'm told that I'm not good enough at it. Someone else will be doing it in the future. 

 

Fair enough. But I've got a feeling it's not the entire truth. 

 

I was also told that "a lot of people" were not satisfied with my work. Readers liked it. A lot. At least that's what I was always told. So what's the problem? 

 

Writing in Norwegian gave me the opportunity to not publish those awful press releases. You've all read them. Magazines publish them without prejudice. They're full of basically crap about materials and performance. I normally turned a 2-3 page press release into 8-10 lines and added a few pictures. Maybe a video. Wrote them in my own words, using the info from the press release, but wasn't afraid to give the readers my opinion. Tried to be funny sometimes. The main thing with a press release in a small country and minimal golf market like Norway is the price, pictures and release date. Some brands didn't like this - strike one for Furu! PS: Worst press releases are Titleist/FootJoy (so loooooong with all those player comments) and Callaway (I know you love yourself, try cutting down on the words).

 

I had the audacity to compare golf balls in 2015. Used a pro (played on ET and CT), TrackMan and a lot of new golf balls. The most expensive ball test ever. We hit them in the range and didn't bother picking them up. Our main tester hit them so far (330+ yards) that we had no idea if it was even possible to find them. Funny thing is that except for two balls everything performed almost identically. I wrote that if you're not too concerned about short game backspin you might as well buy Supersoft over ProV1. You do not say that about the #1 ball in the game! - strike two. 

 

I had a fight with someone I actually like. On Twitter. They hate me now. It's a sore subject. Was told that "You do not argue with Mygolfspy on Twitter, it looks like it's the magazine who's doing it". I'm a freelancer. I'm not employed by anyone. But they didn't like the idea of me picking a fight with MGS. I still think I won when Tony ended up wanting to come for dinner to try my Indian Tandoori. Well, maybe not come over but I'm sure he would've like it. Anyway - rule #1 - you do not talk about fight club argue with MGS on Twitter. Strike three. 

 

I'm European. I hate baseball. That's why I've got more strikes coming.

 

I mostly write my personal opinion when I post on Instagram and other social media. On a regular basis, I've been getting phone calls, messages and emails saying "Why do you say that?" I'm not getting any feedback if I praise a product. Surprise. When the next message is "do you have any idea how much money we spend in ******** (I'm not writing the name or what they spend money on but you know the answer to at least one of them) ? " That's not just strike four - that's four, five and six. 

 

I was told we didn't have enough testers to be reliable. Give me more money then and I'll get more guys. We had five guys last year. That's all we could manage without more money. This method has been replaced by - from what I know - three guys. That should take care of the reliability problem. Strike seven. 

 

Done with the strikes. I'm definitely out.

 

I don't care much for the equipment industry. When you're on a release trip with someone and they say "we want to give you these clubs" - what do you say? I've politely turned them down. I've accepted shoes. Lots of shoes. There are quite a few happy golfers around here who have received practically new shoes. 

 

It's a religious cult. Do they brainwash reps? I miss honesty. Being realistic. And stop talking crap about other brands. Selling by talking someone down is just a way of showing that you've got no idea how to sell your own product.

 

I have absolutely no intention of working in the golf industry again. It's not like anyone wants to hire me...... If someone over here reads this, I'll probably get a phone call or three - that I won't answer of course. Send an email.

 

I'll keep posting about golf on Instagram. Probably the only way I'm going to stick my head out. Actually playing and enjoying golf without thinking about camera angles, spin rates, article layouts and reader satisfaction - I love that feeling.

 

I felt that I had something in common with MGS. The site and their methods was the standard I was aiming for. Impossible considering the lack of resources, but I still wanted to try. I appreciate what they're doing, but the honesty isn't worth repeating if you're in golf media and plan on staying there.

 

Not sure why I'm writing this here I think I wanted and needed to get it out. I have nobody to talk to about how I feel after delivering articles to the same magazine for five years, and suddenly having nothing. It's strange. It's been fun. Like they say in Canada - c'est la vie.

[Mr_Theoo]

Sorry to hear you got booted

[MGoBlue100]

Sorry to hear this. "Business" sucks a lot of the time. Best wishes in whatever you pursue. Hopefully you'll keep posting here. I enjoy your perspective.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[PlaidJacket]

Sorry to hear about your ordeal.

One thing that struck me was your social media mentions. Twitter is nasty for sure. I don't use it but read about it. I understand other "social media" outlets can/are be the same. This is the only form of social media I participate in. If you can call MGS community/forum social media. 

Perhaps there's a place for you here Furu in addition to posting in the forum.

[furu]

Yes - social media is a double-edged sword. With the lack of actual interaction, reach and responses on Twitter, it's tempting to say that it's seen its best days.

 

I would describe a forum like this more as a community. You don't see the hate that you get on Twitter.

 

The thing with MGS was no big deal for me. 

[revkev]

Sorry about this Furu. It seems to me that your issue is that you have an opinion. That's always appreciated when you post here.

 

Being a Euro you bring a fresh perspective that we don't often get. So please be sure to hang out here more frequently.

 

Sent from my VS986 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[Kenny B]

Interesting... sorry to hear about the number of strikes.  It's really tough to please everyone, and still please yourself.  I have been missing you here on the forum, and I wondered what happened.  Guess this was part of the story.  Best of luck, and please hang with us.

[cksurfdude]

Always tough when you've worked hard - which is rare - AND honestly - which is even more rare .. way too rare - and still get the proverbial short end of the stick......

 

Somewhat similar to.your situation, a Good friend of mine is a managing editor at a small print magazine - not golf-related, their audience is mil base ops and procurement officers - and he may be about to be "down-sized" (non-essential staff already been given notice).

 

He's always tried to make sure what goes to print is factual, accurate and represents what it's supposed to. Puts in the extra hours and weekends, travels, ...

 

So you do what you know is right, and .. what do ya get out of it......?

[Lonnie96]

Let it go. Focus on other outlets to share your expertise