Today's Golfer Review

Overall Rating

Subscription through the door is easy
Free instruction DVD now and again
Genuine attempt to cater for the beginner

Patronising
Repetitive
Choc-full of "filler" articles
Stuffy

I got into golf by accident (and under duress) a couple of years ago, so the missus bought me a years subscription of Today's Golfer magazine for Christmas. I am still playing golf, but the mag was dropped as soon as possible.

This publication suffers from the almost impossible task of engrossing new readers and entertaining old ones. This is probably not the fault of the mag - golf is a funny game, and it's changing. New golfers are less likely to be impressed by the stuffy style of journalism that older golfers are accustomed to.
And golfers are a funny breed. One look at the letters page of Todays Golfer will give you a insight into the olde worlde attitude you can expect from a Sunday morning comp at an entry level golf club with aspiration. It appears that being a member of a golf club is something to be very proud of; TG reflects this on every page.

The articles written for beginners are great, with tonnes of solid advice and reassurance from club pro's. I found the tips and checks really helpful (right up to the point I had a club in my hand and a field in front of me), but here lies the problem with TG - now I'm no longer an eager beginner ready to lap up any advice thrown at me and there's nothing left to read.

The rest of the mag feels like filler. The reviews are by pro's who probably can tell the difference between one £300.00 driver and another. The letters page is haughty. The editorial is self congratulatory. Once a month TG plays against a celebrity for a £10.00 bet. This should come across as light-hearted, but the writers always manage to bludgeon the fun out of it (Chris Evans desperation to feel loved by any audience nearly brought me to tears). The last page of the mag has a nod towards the great things in golf, like - the bacon sandwich. The last issue I read had a two page spread on how to "pimp my cart". Gah.

TG tries; it really does. It's just that Golfpunk does this so much better. My advice? Save your cash and spend it on lessons. The only way to learn golf is to get out there and do it.