• by Michael Shields , September 3, 2004

Golf magazine's October issue, which hits newsstands Sept. 14, represents the biggest issue for that month since the magazine's inception in 1959. Although this issue falls outside of the traditional professional golf season, the magazine is benefiting from surging interest in the Ryder Cup, the every-other-year tournament that pits the best golfers in the United States against the best in Europe.

"It's the Super Bowl of golf," declares Publisher Chris Wightman.

Golf's October issue is treating the tournament as such, with an extensive Ryder Cup preview including stats, lore, opinions, a description of "match-play" tactics (different than typical golf tournament scoring), plus a guide to the tournament course at Oakland Hill Country Club in Missouri.

The event has become more and more popular over the years, perhaps even more so given the course of recent world events.

"The match play format of the tournament allows for an intriguing competitive environment fueled with patriotism," says Wightman.

The growing interest in the tournament has made Golf Magazine's preview issue a destination for advertisers, birthing what Wightman terms a "monster issue."

At 130 ad pages, the October issue boasts a 40 percent leap in pages and a 50 percent jump in revenue over October 2003. A portion of the growth can be attributed to the fact that Golf has secured a host of new advertisers, including Tommy Bahama, Hewitt (presenting sponsor of the magazine's 45th Anniversary event), Pravda Vodka, Baume & Mercier watches, Lufthansa, and the new GlaxoSmithKline brand, Commit.

The issue has helped fuel a wave of increased business for the magazine in the second half of the year, which Wightman admits was feeling the sting of a slow ad recovery until recently.

"Our first half has been slow," he said. "Things really started to pick up in July. [This issue] speaks to a rebounding ad market and also speaks to the significance of the Ryder Cup."

For the year, Golf's ad pages are up 4 percent, and revenue is up over 12 percent.

Self Aggrandizing

When Self debuted in 1979, the health and fitness category was still in its infancy. There was no Shape, Health, Fitness, or even Men's Health yet, and there were a lot less books talking about workouts and wellness for women.

These days, Self continues to promote women's total body health using the tagline "be your best," though it has struggled of late as competition becomes more fierce. During the first half of this year, newsstand sales slipped nearly 15 percent, although subscriptions climbed 8 percent.

A special September anniversary issue features a cover retrospective that serves as a walk down health-trend memory lane. For example, in August of 1983, Self was talking about breast health, in May 1989 they were focusing on skin cancer risks, in June of '91 they were covering women and AIDS, and by '98 they were pushing Yoga. There is also a fun "Then and Now" section on fitness gadget trends, including predictions for the future.

Newsweek Puts A Lump In The Throat, Where It Belongs

Newsweek is being credited with helping raise awareness of cancer research.

A study released on Wednesday shows that cancer patients and the public are more willing than ever to consider participating in cancer research as a result of awareness efforts by the Coalition of National Cancer Cooperative Groups and Newsweek. Ninety-seven percent of readers surveyed by NOP World remembered seeing the eight-page section on cancer clinical trials that appeared in Newsweek's June 7 issue. Of those who recalled seeing the section, 98 percent found it very or somewhat informative, and 95 percent said they would investigate clinical trials as a treatment option if confronted with cancer.

"Scores of this magnitude are normally reserved for editorial content," said Martin Geraghty, vice president of the Starch Communications Division of NOP World. "This indicates that readers were highly involved with the content in the section, and the readership of this section is among the highest we have ever seen for this kind of advertising." The special section, "Knowledge is Power, Educate Yourself Now on Cancer Clinical Trials," is part of a multi-year effort conducted by the Coalition of National Cancer Cooperative Groups in partnership with Newsweek. Although cancer is a major public health issue--with nearly 1.4 million newly diagnosed cases each year--previous studies have shown that the vast majority of Americans do not know that they may be able to participate in a cancer clinical trial as a treatment option. End Notes:

Men's Health Editor in Chief David Zinczenko's new book, "The Abs Diet," which was excerpted in the magazine's September issue, will hit No. 3 on The New York Times' "Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous" bestseller list on Sept 5. According to the magazine, more than 75,000 people have signed up for the Abs Diet Challenge online so far.

Details and SFX toasted Andy Roddick and his Olympic teammates at Whiskey Park in New York Saturday at a pre-US Open party sponsored by INC International Concepts and Jaguar.

Fast Company hosted a cocktail reception honoring Senator John McCain at Elaine's in New York Thursday night. McCain contributed to the magazine's September issue celebrating courage.