A pre-launch edition of GolfPunk will be published in November, with the first official edition being available in February 2008. Leading GolfPunk's assault on SA will be 29-year-old golf journalist and commentator Dan Nicholl, who believes GolfPunk can't hit the country soon enough.
“We're a long way from wooden drivers, regulation plus-fours, men's only clubhouses – golf is a different game today. It's transcended the boundaries of the course quite spectacularly, and has grown into an industry that lays claim to everything from fashion to real estate, wine to tourism, and no more so than in SA,” he says.
GolfPunk taps into a new golfing audience and challenges existing perceptions about the game, introducing more entertainment, and shocking the establishment by making golf sexy with its golf porn (no, not that sort…) and bunker babes.
Greenside Golf Publishing directors Michael Beatham and Scott Edkins believe the timing is perfect for GolfPunk to be introduced into SA. “There is a huge vacancy within the golf market for a publication of this nature. At last, here is a magazine that really celebrates the game – a magazine with the express intention of making players look like Hollywood stars, introducing equipment in a whole new light, and shooting the best fairway fashion ever seen.”
“GolfPunk is a magazine that makes people feel good about golf – its attitude, not age! This magazine is attitudinally driven, rather than demographically tailored. Seventy percent % of GolfPunk readers in the UK are between the ages of 24 and 44, and we're headed for a similar market. It offers an open minded approach – it's contemporary, fashion conscious, affluent with a high disposable income”
GolfPunk is published in 10 countries including the UK, Germany, Sweden, Italy, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, and now SA. The local edition will draw content from sister publications in the UK, as well as the eight other Golf Punk editions around the world, but the core of the magazine is strictly South African – and golf remains firmly at the heart of the magazine.
“The GolfPunk lifestyle is central to the magazine: we're golfers first and foremost so expect quality instruction, cracking course reviews, and the latest buzz from the quicksilver world of equipment,” explains Nicholl.
The November preview edition pays tribute to the growing army of local golfers who celebrate Ian Poulter's wardrobe, enjoy the indulgence of free spirited golf tours, and appreciate the intrinsic golfing value of bikini-clad models reclining in bunkers.
“Look out for GolfPunk On Tour, plenty of Golf Junk, fantasy golf resorts, and of course the bunker babes,” Nicholl concludes.” We've had great fun getting the SA edition up and running – and we'd like to think you'll have just as much fun reading it.”
In December 2005, The Guardian media section named the “brilliantly edited” GolfPunk as one of the Top 20 magazines in the UK, alongside GQ, Vogue, Tatler and The Economist. In addition GolfPunk was voted the Best Edited magazine at the 2006 BSME awards, and has been short listed for the same award for 2007.
