Golf Digest Reviewers 2014

jtown

Anyone know if the Golf Digest Reviewers have been contacted/ selected for 2014 ?

spacecoyote

jtown wrote: »

Anyone know if the Golf Digest Reviewers have been contacted/ selected for 2014 ?

They usually issue an email to all applicants ahead of the time stating they'll be contacted don't they?

jtown

spacecoyote wrote: »

They usually issue an email to all applicants ahead of the time stating they'll be contacted don't they?

Yip usually

kevgaa

Last year, I got a mail to say I wasn't picked. I haven't received a mail yet, so I'm taking no news as good news

The website has the following up

We haven't made the draw yet for the BIG prize but we can confirm that our favourite public reviews were written by James Hayes, Karl Duke, Nick Fingleton, Rob O'Shaughnessy and Sean Smyth who have been invited to join our official review panel for 2014. The stand bag for best forum post goes to 'rumcannonball' for an impassioned defence of Dun Laoghaire golf course, which continues to be one of the more heavily debated courses in our list. Is it too low at 56? Don't forget to have your say!

We are slowly making progress towards finalising our 2014 reviewer panel for the Golf Digest Volvo Top 100 Ranked Courses in Ireland! Everyone will be notified in the coming days. We can confirm that some, but not all, of the review panel from 2013 will be invited back. Between making changes to the process and bringing some new readers into the panel for 2014, this meant we could not retain everyone. The truth is that we have been inundated with applications this year and we regret that many of our 2013 panellists as well as many new applicants will be left disappointed. Please stick with us and contribute to the site; maybe we will be able to accommodate more reviewers in 2015!

kevgaa

Anyone get a mail today?

jtown

Yip I certainly did

spacecoyote

The website says that the overall draw hasn't yet been made, only the Top public reviews & top forum posts have been confirmed

ALBT

Yeah got the mail today .. good news this year:)

slave1

Yup, got an email this morning, the training this year is in Tulfarris

Reganovski

ALBT wrote: »

Yeah got the mail today .. good news this year:)

What happens if you can't go? Can someone go in your place? :D:D

Rikand

Reganovski wrote: »

What happens if you can't go? Can someone go in your place? :D:D

I cant go on Sunday, so hopefully you'll get my place - unless you want to pretend to be Rikand from Athlone Golf Club, lol

Reganovski

Rikand wrote: »

I cant go on Sunday, so hopefully you'll get my place - unless you want to pretend to be Rikand from Athlone Golf Club, lol

I wonder do they check ID etc?

Dealerz

"Hello I'm mr burns"
.....and your first name?
"I don't know....."

FixdePitchmark

Maybe Reganovski could pull it off.

But most of us on here.

"What do you play off"
"Em 5"
"How come you shanked your first drive and hit clubhouse from chipping area"
"Em I'm 5.1!"
or
"Don't get many passes from the wife"

"Understand totally now"

Rikand

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Maybe Reganovski could pull it off.

But most of us on here.

"What do you play off"
"Em 5"
"How come you shanked your first drive and hit clubhouse from chipping area"
"Em I'm 5.1!"
or
"Don't get many passes from the wife"

"Understand totally now"

They could see Reganovski tee off and question whether he's off 5 or +5!

colmsix

Got the golden ticket email today.:-):-):-)

princess poppy

Got an email today, thought it was an April fools joke first

Seve OB

no email yet, i'm guessing with all of you getting the nod yesterday, it doesn't bode well for me!

spacecoyote

AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Got the email there now confirming I'd been selected but in order to confirm selection I have to go to Tulfarris this Sunday for an induction day...talk about late notice.

Only catch is that I'm supposed to be having a bit of a family graduation lunch for the missus cos she finished her exams last week.
Schedule involves training in the hotel until 1.15, then a round at 2pm, wonder if I could squeeze in just attending the training and get back for the lunch

I'm not normally a praying man, but if you're up there Superman I could really do with some help right now.

Dealerz

spacecoyote wrote: »

AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Got the email there now confirming I'd been selected but in order to confirm selection I have to go to Tulfarris this Sunday for an induction day...talk about late notice.

Only catch is that I'm supposed to be having a bit of a family graduation lunch for the missus cos she finished her exams last week.
Schedule involves training in the hotel until 1.15, then a round at 2pm, wonder if I could squeeze in just attending the training and get back for the lunch

I'm not normally a praying man, but if you're up there Superman I could really do with some help right now.

Can I be First substitute if unavailable?

Seve OB

I'm in........wooo hooooo, now like you spacecoyote, I have to go home and break the news..... am already out golfing on Sat, so might have to just tell her that it's a days training!

Dr_Colossus

Crud bucket to it, no nod here which I presume at this stage is bad news. 4 years in a row now putting in for this and even wrote a number of reviews last year to try and increase my chances all to no avail. What's worse is that Sun would be perfect since we only have a foursomes competition in my home club and with the wife away for the weekend was looking to play somewhere. Maybe next year, again.

spacecoyote

So, assuming I can swing the permission slip, what does the training/induction day entail does anyone know that has been there in previous years?

Seve OB

I just seen tea , coffee, lunch and golf in the email........ What do you mean we have to train?

Ally McIntosh

spacecoyote wrote: »

So, assuming I can swing the permission slip, what does the training/induction day entail does anyone know that has been there in previous years?

The induction day will include an introduction from the editor, a presentation from myself - please excuse me if I go on a little - on golf course design and how I relate that to ranking courses (followed by a guess the course / hole quiz) and I believe a short talk by one of the other panellists. Coffee, food, golf, the last of which provides the first opportunity to submit a report.

indabunka

Been sitting here with the dog, He's patiently waiting for the postman and I've been waiting for the email.

Postman has arrived - dog happy.

No email from Golf Digest though- guess that means apply again next year!

slave1

I'm coming from the midlands, if anyone in interested in car pooling please PM me, thanks!

spacecoyote

sweet, permission slip sorted. Will deal with the consequences of skipping Sunday lunch at a later date

Cheers for the info Ally, really looking forward to this now.

Seve OB

spacecoyote wrote: »

sweet, permission slip sorted.

like it was ever in real doubt

Dr_Colossus

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Crud bucket to it, no nod here which I presume at this stage is bad news. 4 years in a row now putting in for this and even wrote a number of reviews last year to try and increase my chances all to no avail. What's worse is that Sun would be perfect since we only have a foursomes competition in my home club and with the wife away for the weekend was looking to play somewhere. Maybe next year, again.

Just got an acceptance email so must have made the reserve list of the main reserve list as people opted out of the training meeting on Sunday given the poor notice. I notice the email states you are NOT to review any courses that are not allocated to you. As far as I know this is a change in procedure and not one favouring the applicant as one of the main attractions in initially applying was that after reviewing your set list of courses you could go and play/review other courses around the country.
Anyway looking forward to playing Sunday now and meeting a few boardsies.

Seve OB

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Anyway looking forward to playing Sunday now and meeting a few boardsies.

Maybe we should have some sort of a wink and a nod to ID each other

Ally McIntosh

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Just got an acceptance email so must have made the reserve list of the main reserve list as people opted out of the training meeting on Sunday given the poor notice. I notice the email states you are NOT to review any courses that are not allocated to you. As far as I know this is a change in procedure and not one favouring the applicant as one of the main attractions in initially applying was that after reviewing your set list of courses you could go and play/review other courses around the country.
Anyway looking forward to playing Sunday now and meeting a few boardsies.

As far as I know, it means that you have to review all your allocated courses first. If you successfully manage this, then GDI will happily allocate you more and I'm sure will be open to the odd request.

The first couple of years saw a few reviewers go on a country wide tour of the big guns which doesn't go down too well with the clubs and is not the intention of the process.

yakkson

Do you have to stay for the golf in the afternoon

princess poppy

stevieob wrote: »

Maybe we should have some sort of a wink and a nod to ID each other

You got something like the free Masons in mind??????

Seve OB

princess poppy wrote: »

You got something like the free Masons in mind??????

well you won't miss me... i'll be wearing my miracle at Medinah Seve jumper, say hello

spacecoyote

I'll be the handsome bloke wearing the beige trousers & black t-shirt with thin white stripes

Rikand

Enjoy tomorrow chaps. Would love to be joining you but golf with Rikand Snr. has to come first

Rikand

How was today ?

spacecoyote

Was a very interesting day. Weather turned really nice in the afternoon so made the trip round the course a pleasant experience.

Thanks to Ally for a very insightful talk on golf courses from an architects perspective. Will be very helpful when analysing & reviewing the courses. Looking forward to getting stuck in to things once the allocation of courses is released.

Good to meet stevieob & slave too!

I know a lot if boardsies were interested in this. Chances are I'll be looking for a playing partner on the days I'm due to play to share a point of view on the courses. So will keep people posted & if someone is interested in joining me for a game at some stage we can get things organised

Seve OB

Well as Space says, we had a very, very informative and interesting talk from Ally on the design aspect. For me, it was the highlight of the day, so thanks Ally for that.

I wouldn't be one to drop names :rolleyes: but we had a PGA professional there who also gave us a good insight in how to look the courses from a perspective that most of us Amateurs may not normally take.

The guys from Golf Digest also gave us a good run down on the logistics and technicals of performing our reviews.

All in all, a great informative morning, nice to meet and chat with more golf nuts from around the country, all followed by our first task, play and review Tulfarris, so it was nice that the sun came out for the golf.

Then to walk of and find out that Liverpool are top of the League again and Everton are closing in on fourth.... I'm happy

Dr_Colossus

Just to reiterate what the guys above said, very interesting, informative and enjoyable morning. At first I was quisitive as to what the briefing was going to entail for 4 hours on a Sunday morning but the two main speakers, Ally and John, were excellent and the time flew. There was a good mix of people from all over the country with a lot having travelled long distances to get there. I was a little surprised with the age profile of the golfing congregation as I had envisioned a generally younger demographic given that the application and review process is all online, luddites therefore must have other interests than golf.
As said the rain abated and sun shone for the afternoon making the golf very pleasant although there was a tough stiff wind to contend with. Time now to begin the review process and get a few initial thoughts down for Tulfarris which the Golf Digest guys will critique to determine consistency for future reviews.

spacecoyote

From what one if the guys I was out with said, he applied via a form in the magazine itself rather than online, so that might account for some of the older reviewers?

Seve OB

guys, can you make a review on the site yet? I only have an option for public review which is not like the way we were shown today.

Dr_Colossus

stevieob wrote: »

guys, can you make a review on the site yet? I only have an option for public review which is not like the way we were shown today.

No, just checked now and only getting an option to submit a public review also. Guessing it might take a couple of days for them to update our profile based on today's attendance and mugshot with GDI ID being processed.

Seve OB

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

No, just checked now and only getting an option to submit a public review also. Guessing it might take a couple of days for them to update our profile based on today's attendance and mugshot with GDI ID being processed.

i hope i don't forget what i was going to say

slave1

Just to repeat previous posters experience and to add I had an expectation of a 'mechanical' first half of the day but nothing could have been further from the truth.
Ally's opening presentation was very interesting and informative as he gave a brief history of golf course routing and on through the various 'ranking/review' categories with good pictorial examples demonstrating the criteria to be followed, not too much rules but more guidelines and very practical, excellent hour or so.
The PGA golfer's presentation went through his version of a good golf course and this was in quite stark contrast to the golf architect perspective, very much a 'hit the ball, be rewarded/punished fairly, hit it again' opinion.
The logistic element the GD oversee is a lot deeper that what I imagined and the rankings are indeed quite well thought through with considerable combined effort.
There is however no escaping the subjective element, great day with the sun shining and you playing well will invariably sway your opinion at the back of your head and this needs to be tempered.
Everyone was very much into a golf course for all with no long green to tee walks and really an intelligent design to keep the game moving at it's core which again, was a very practical.
Discussion of which tees to use was also very informative, basically the game is for enjoyment and us males need to make more use of forward tees and get over the ego of whites/blues.
My closing memory was a comment on a golf club phoning the day after the GD reviewer had made his/her visit and basically were raging the reviewer had a 24 handicap and was it appropriate a 24 handicap was allocated, the response was "do you accept green fees from a 24 handicap player..."


PS Nice to meet Mr Space man and Stevie, the lone golfer....

Seve OB

I also thought it was interesting that when we are reviewing golf courses we are to review the golf course and nothing more.

so that means, if we get there and the clubhouse is closed, or there is no clubhouse, or no bar/restaurant, rude people or friendly people, if there is no decent road into it, no decent car park....... none of this matters, we score the course itself and nothing more.

I can completely understand what they are trying to achieve, but for me it is all part of the package. Having said that, I will review according to regulations, but I can see that the likes of these things will always play in the back of your mind.

oh yea, and the review option seems to be live now guys

charlieIRL

stevieob wrote: »

oh yea, and the review option seems to be live now guys

Linky?

Ally McIntosh

Glad you all seemed to enjoy the day.

Maybe one of you will end up as the readers representative on the main panel. In which case I will see you again in October.

Ally

Seve OB

charlieIRL wrote: »

Linky?

Sorry Charlie, for our eyes only.

actually, our own personal eyes and those of golf digest, not even our fellow reviewers are allowed to see what we wrote

charlieIRL

stevieob wrote: »

Sorry Charlie, for our eyes only.

actually, our own personal eyes and those of golf digest, not even our fellow reviewers are allowed to see what we wrote

ahh right, thought they would be posted on the website for all to read.