In one week, I read two press releases that should have been easy stories.
The first promoted a luxury resort’s golf getaway but never named the golf course. The second announced a major restoration of a well-known course, with plenty of quotes about its history, but never said when it would reopen.
I’ve been writing about golf and golf travel for over two decades. I tracked down the answers both times, but it took phone calls and emails to get information that should have been in the first paragraph. Most writers won’t make those calls. They’re on deadline, and there’s always another release in the inbox that has the details. Your story doesn’t get written, and nobody tells you why.
That’s bad enough. The bigger cost is that golfers do the same thing. A golfer who can’t figure out what your course is, when it’s open, or how to play it doesn’t email you to ask. They book somewhere else.
Here are the five things every golf announcement needs before it goes out the door.
1. The course, by name and by the numbers
Name it. Then give the basics: par, yardage from the back tees, number of holes, and the designer if you have the rights to say so. If something is unusual about the layout, like a short course or a stretch of holes along the water, say so plainly. That’s your hook, so don’t bury it.
2. The date
Opening, reopening, or the start of a package: give the date. If it isn’t final, give a target, like “Spring 2027.” “Coming soon” tells a golfer nothing, and it tells a writer the story isn’t ready.
3. Who can play, and how
Is it public, open to resort guests only, members only, or some mix? Can someone staying down the road book a tee time? Where do they book it? Leave this out and you’ve just turned away every golfer who isn’t sure they’re welcome.
4. What it costs
You don’t need to publish your whole rate sheet. Give a range or a “packages from” price. Golfers plan trips around budgets, and so do the writers recommending trips to them. No price reads as either “too expensive to say” or “we haven’t figured it out yet.” Neither one helps you.
5. Real assets and a real contact
High-resolution photos, drone footage, a course map, and a hole-by-hole guide, all ready to download. Then add a name, email, and phone number for someone who will actually answer within a day.
This is the one that tells me the most. When a release is missing the basics, it usually means the property doesn’t have the assets either: no video, no course guide, no one on staff who owns the story. The release isn’t the problem. It’s the symptom.
Renovations and rebrands need even more
If you’ve just spent millions on a renovation or a new name, the announcement is your one shot at a first impression. Show the before and after. Explain what changed and why. Walk golfers through the new holes. Give them a reason to come see it, and a date to come see it.
A renovation nobody knows about is just an expensive maintenance project.
The bottom line
Nobody writing about you is a missed opportunity. Nobody booking with you is the real price of a release that leaves golfers with more questions than answers.
Every one of these five things is easy to provide. The properties that provide them get covered, get found, and get booked. The ones that don’t are left wondering why the phone isn’t ringing.
At Traveling Golfer, we’ve spent 15 years telling the stories of golf destinations around the world. Through WingDing® Media, we produce and distribute that content across streaming TV, audio, and social platforms, so your story reaches golfers wherever they’re watching.
