The ageless question which gets muttered either by oneself, or heard from others after a minuscule idea becomes something big. Any time I hear a really cool or interesting idea, my first thought is always 'I really wish I had thought of that.' Now more than ever, especially with the influence of social media and the instant gratification of any thought or observation, we're living in an ever-competitive landscape. I relate this to golf (shocker) in terms of how do I receive my golf news? Where do I go to find golf coverage, learn more about my favorite pro, interact with said pro and even discover a really cool filter to use when I get the chance to have a picture taken with them.
The genesis of this entry is this: golfers (and pro athletes) have most likely played their respective sport for almost as long as they've been alive, and if their lifelong goal is to make it in that sport, they play it. Day in, and day out. Tournament after tournament, heartbreak after heartbreak, these are all too familiar feelings pro athletes feel growing up to chase the dream. For the rest of us who are simply fans of the sport, we all have so-called dream jobs (shocker again, mine is to work in golf media) and we too need to train day in and day out in order to either get discovered or continue pursuing success if we are lucky enough to land our dream job.
Think of golf coverage in a traditional manner: golf is a game almost as old as time as far as I'm concerned and the very early days of golf coverage can include still-photos, old newspaper articles and even word of mouth from the locals at their respective country club. Fast forward to today, there's livestream on Twitter and Facebook (as of this past weekend). There are numerous podcasts that are catching steam as a way for tour pros to share their stories in a non-traditional media format. There's still golf magazines (Golf Digest being one of the best publications in sports even today) and writeups you'd find in your local newspaper. The problem with these traditional forms of media is everything is faster today. Following his win at Hartford last weekend, Bubba Watson was being live-streamed on Twitter and Periscope from the PGA Tour account, live-streaming HIMSELF on Instagram and there were various wrap-up shows also broadcasting live to those looking to tune in (shout out No Laying Up who produce the most hysterical post-round recap you'll find online.) Same can be said during practice rounds, pre-tournament gatherings and opening tee shots where live video is pushed to social media users and the content can be endless. PGA Tour Live is one of the best video subscription services I've ever seen and can watch early tee times from Thursday and Friday rounds for most tournaments.
So where do you even start? I'm 29 years old, I try to blog every once in a while about the sport and what I find is interesting about it. But what about the Dan Jenkins' and Alan Shipnuck's of the world? Imagine if Twitter was around when Jenkins wrote his famous books back in the day? He's a whirlwind of a follow today, but I can only imagine what it'd be like for him to receive instant feedback on any comment he makes. Shipnuck from Sports Illustrated has decided to embrace social media and helps put out an almost-weekly podcast and asks for questions to be submitted via Twitter for his Knockdown column. You have guys like Alex Myers from Golf Digest who focuses on the social side of the game and adds video to his columns most notably from 'The Loop'. Alex and his colleagues also put out a podcast almost twice a week complete with interviews, predictions, etc. Final example is Shane Bacon, who used to play professionally and has dug out such an amazing niche for himself with a podcast and email newsletter. Fast forward to two weeks ago, he was interviewing WAYNE FREAKING GRETZKY live at the U.S Open...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I want his job, and I've mentioned that to him personally. Sup Shane?
I guess to answer my question, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. Embrace the sport and interact where you see fit. Again, Instagram and Twitter is such a cool medium to interact with tour pros and in my opinion they are the best follows in all of pro sports. Maybe if you're lucky you'll get a picture with a few of them (have I mentioned that before...?) This time, Dylan Meyer at Hartford. Great dude.
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