“Woods, Golf Digest end 13-year relationship” plus 2 more

Woods, Golf Digest end 13-year relationship
Golf executive, instructor is leaving for Buffalo job: Local Golf Insider
Tiger Woods and Golf Digest End Long-Running Deal

Woods, Golf Digest end 13-year relationship

Posted: 06 Jan 2011 05:28 PM PST

KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Tiger Woods has one less endorsement deal, ending his 13-year relationship with golf's biggest magazine when they couldn't agree on how many hours he should devote to the job.

Golf Digest, with a circulation of 1.65 million, announced Thursday the mutual end of a relationship that began at the 1997 Masters. He made his debut in the magazine in June that year, and the endorsement had been his second-longest, behind Nike.

"We appreciate the insights Tiger has provided to our readers," Jerry Tarde, chairman and editor-in-chief of the publication, said in a statement. Woods' articles mainly were instructional tips.

Golf Digest never disclosed terms of the deal, although it was believed to be among the smallest financially for Woods - no more than $2 million a year. The value came from exposure, along with some content provided for Woods' website.

"The reality is his deal was up at the end of the year," said Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG. "Because we're living in this digital world, they needed more time from him. He wasn't ready to commit to any additional time at this point with everything going on - trying to work on his swing and other things."

The announcement comes two weeks after Gillette said it would not renew its contract, which expired at the end of 2010. That brings to five the number of endorsements Woods has lost since he was caught in extramarital affairs. The other three are Accenture, AT&T and Gatorade.

Golf Digest put his column on hold last February while Woods took time off to sort out his personal life, resuming the column in September.

Woods' last column will be in the February issue, an indication that both sides had been negotiating a new deal.

Other playing editors at Golf Digest include Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson.

"I enjoyed my relationship with Golf Digest," Woods said in a statement released by the magazine. "But we have decided it's now time for a break. I wish my friends at Golf Digest continued success."

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Golf executive, instructor is leaving for Buffalo job: Local Golf Insider

Posted: 07 Jan 2011 03:08 AM PST

Published: Friday, January 07, 2011, 6:00 AM

The First Tee of Akron and the Northern Ohio Section of the PGA will lose one of their prominent members by the end of the month.

Steve Parker, a fixture on the Northeast Ohio golf scene for more than 20 years, will resign from both organizations to become the head professional at Wanakah Country Club in Buffalo, N.Y.

Parker, 43, has been the executive director of The First Tee of Akron for the past five years. He also has been on NOPGA's board of directors for the past three years and served as the organization's secretary for the past year. Regarded as one of the area's top instructors, he also worked at Firestone Country Club as the director of instruction. He was a two-time All-American at Kent State before graduating in 1990.

"It will be difficult to leave because I have developed so many great relationships in the Akron-Cleveland area," said Parker, whose wife, Diane, is the daughter of 1946 Masters champion Herman Keiser. "But, the move is best for my family. I will miss the area and all the people, but felt this was something I really wanted to do."

Elite group: Kent State's John Hahn is one of 16 amateurs to be invited by the USGA to attend a practice session for the 2011 Walker Cup at the Old Memorial Golf Club in Tampa, Fla. The practice is taking place this week and is aimed at providing an opportunity for team-building, alternate-shot practice and allowing prospective team members to meet captain Jim Holtgrieve and the USGA selection committee.

The Walker Cup comprises the leading amateur golfers of the United States and Great Britain and Ireland and will be played Sept. 10-11 at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Scotland, the sixth-oldest course in the world.

A two-time All-American at KSU, Hahn is 19th in the Golfweek/amateurgolf.com U.S. rankings. The Hudson High graduate won the prestigious Western Amateur match-play championship in 2009 and reached the match-play sweet 16 at the U.S. Amateur last summer. U.S. Amateur champ Peter Uihlein also is attending the practice session.

Record-setter: Lakewood Country Club pro Tom Waitrovich set the Gold Tee course record at the Bali Hai Golf Club in Las Vegas with a round of 10-under 61 during the Northern Ohio PGA Las Vegas Pro-Am last month. Waitrovich had one eagle and eight birdies during nines of 31-30.

They have honors: Sweetbriar Golf Club Director of Golf Brian Butchko and lifelong Kent resident David Pfeiffer earned awards from two of the largest golf manufacturing companies. Butchko was named Regional Club Fitter of the Year by Ping, and TaylorMade named Pfeiffer as its national sales representative of the year. Both are members of the Northern Ohio PGA.

Grad school: Clearview Golf Club's Renee Powell was awarded an honorary doctor of public service degree last month by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Powell, the 2003 PGA First Lady of Golf, was honored at winter commencement. The pro at the course her father built, Powell, 64, was the second black woman to compete on the LPGA Tour. UMES is the nation's only historically black institution with a professional golf management program

Stepping down: George Polinsky, whose golf teams at Mentor High won more than 450 dual matches, 25 conference championships and qualified for the state tournament six times over the past 30 years, has retired. Polinsky was named to the Ohio High School Golf Coaches Hall of Fame last year.

Filling the roster: The Kiely Cup at Canterbury Golf Club, one of the most prestigious boys high school events in Ohio, has added four new teams to the field for the seventh annual event to be played in September. The newcomers are Canton Central Catholic, Delaware Buckeye Valley, Findlay Liberty-Benton and Sugarcreek Garaway. They will join Archbishop Hoban, Avon Lake, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, Gilmour, Hudson, Medina, St. Edward, St. Ignatius, Stow, University School and reigning champion Walsh Jesuit.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: trogers@plaind.com, 216-999-5169

Tiger Woods and Golf Digest End Long-Running Deal

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 08:37 PM PST

Tiger Woods and Golf Digest parted company Thursday, ending a 13-year relationship between the world's most visible golfer and the world's largest golf magazine.

The breakup was announced in a statement by Jerry Tarde, the chairman and editor-in-chief of Golf Digest, a Conde Nast publication with a circulation of 1.65 million that has run monthly articles with Woods's byline since 1997.

Tarde said that Woods's column in the February issue of Golf Digest would be his last. Woods, whose deal with the magazine was his second-longest after his ongoing 14-year endorsement deal with Nike, will have his name removed from the magazine's masthead.

"We appreciate the insights Tiger has provided to our readers," Tarde said in the statement.

In a statement released by the magazine, Woods said: "I enjoyed my relationship with Golf Digest. But we have decided it's now time for a break. I wish my friends at Golf Digest continued success."

Unlike other business relationships that soured after the scandal that accompanied Woods's well-publicized affairs, the parting with Golf Digest was amicable.

During lengthy talks aimed at renewing the agreement, the two sides were unable to come to terms on the expanding amount of time the magazine was requesting from Woods.

Woods's agent, Mark Steinberg, told Bloomberg News that, "Tiger is not in a position to commit to more time, so we cordially parted ways."

Coming off the only winless year of his professional career, Woods has made no secret about his desire to spend as much time as possible working on his game in hopes of returning to form this season and resuming his quest to dominate the golf record book. He has 14 major championship titles among his 71 PGA Tour victories, 4 shy of the record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus.

The monetary terms of Woods's contract with Golf Digest were never publicly disclosed, but it was known to be modest in comparison to his other endorsement deals, which added up to $74.2 million last year. The primary value of the magazine deal was the exposure available through the 30 international Golf Digest affiliate editions published in the native language of every major country where golf is played.

Golf Zone

Friday, January 7, 2011