Looking for golf writing position

I would love to find a golf writing position, for either a golf magazine or a tour, covering any level of golf. I have almost seven years of experience in writing and I've been a golfer my whole life. I just completed a Spring Communications Internship with the American Junior Golf Association this past May. I'm currently a sports writer in LaGrange, GA, but my dream is to cover golf for the rest of my life and I can't wait to be able to travel all over the country to do this. I'm 28 and single, so I'm free to do whatever is necessary. Please contact me via e-mail at chadtracy22@hotmail.com if you know of any positions available. Thanks. CHAD

 

D-backs' Chad Tracy plays golf, too.

 

There is no doubt finding a golf job is virtually impossible. I've been trying for a while now, but my fingers are still crossed that I can find something down the road. I just have that hunger and drive to travel and cover the game that I love so much. And, by the way, it's pretty cool to have the exact same name as a famous athlete. I only wish I made the kind of money he does, but his golf swing looks pretty solid.

 

echoing mizzou: there aren't many fulltime gigs out there except at some of the large metros. A lot of papers have a golf guy, but he's usually hitting the regional pga, lpga and champions tour stops and the the majors. To think that you'll be on tour nearly every week from the mercedes through the Tour championship unless you get a magazine gig is a little unrealistic.
you're best bet to even get a foot in the door at some place is to get some experience. That means landing a fulltime gig at a newspaper somewhere and starting to build your clips file. occassionally the agate page job comes open at golfweek. which is a way to get your foot in the door somewhere.
Send the various tours your resume -- they might have a communications job come open. good luck.

 

What's wrong with the AJGA? Perhaps that's an area you can stick with for a bit. It would seem like a smart avenue to network in for a bit and then something may come of it. You have already done an internship with them and that's great. Also, I live in California and I see a lot of new golf magazines popping up every now and again. Perhaps if you are willing to move to an area where golf is entrenched (Florida, California, Arizona, etc.) it could provide you with an opportunity. Then again, in a highly competitive atmosphere where it is already bursting at the seams, maybe if you look at a state where golf might not be the big deal, but you could find a paper or an online site interested in an outdoors/golf writer, that could be your ticket, too.

Good luck.

 

The AJGA is an excellent internship. The LPGA Communications staff recruits heavily from there.

There's all kinds of good advice here. Nobody with the exception of Tom Auclair of insidetheropes.com travels to every event. Even Doug Ferguson or the Swinging Richards at the trades: John Hawkins, Ron Sirak, Jeff Rude, Jeff Babineau, Gary Van Sickle, et al, don't go to every event. Nor would they want to.

As someone who was a finalist for one golf job and spent the better part of the 90s and early 00s trying to get one, I can vouch for the fact that's one tough matzah ball to crack. When USA Today had an opening three years ago, they got more applications for that position than any other. When that position came open again last year, they hired from within (Steve DiMeglio).

I heard that Orlando is combining its golf job with outdoors and GA. Don't think that a golf market like that should go that route, but nobody asked me. You get the point.

Claws has a great point. I don't know where you are geographically, but find the regional magazines and hit those HARD. They're always looking for writers and they're popping up like mushrooms. I freelance for three of them.

If you're at a small paper, hopefully you're near an LPGA, PGA, Champions or Nationwide event that you can dive in on and kick ass on. Make your bones there and things should open up for you.

Good luck.

 

go out and report and write a great story that a magazine will buy.
something different and new and noticeable.
use it as your springboard.


no one is going to hand you a job unless you offer something better than sausage factory production line stuff.

 

You're hired?

 

Tenth reply. You fuckers are sleeping.

 

Wrong. It was the second reply, but Moddy deleted it.

 

I realize I'll never find a golf writing job where I'd travel to every single tournament and I never expected that. I just want to cover golf, which will include some traveling, for a newspaper or a golf magazine. I wouldn't mind combining golf coverage with other sports coverage as well. It's a tough gig to find, I know, but that's my dream and I'll keep building my resume with the hope of coming across something down the road. Covering junior golf, amateur golf, professional golf, or all of the above...I would love to be apart of it one day.