• by Melynda Fuller , April 19, 2019

Golf.com, the digital arm of the Golf magazine brand, reported record traffic last weekend as Tiger Woods won the 2019 Masters, 20 years after winning his first.

According to the site, visits were up 36% and monthly users up by 13% during the first quarter of 2019 versus 2018. But numbers quadrupled from the first day of the event and more than doubled from the final day of the 2018 Masters.

Prior to its 2019 Masters numbers, Golf.com’s highest-ever traffic was recorded the Monday after the 2018 Masters. Golf.com surpassed that previous record by 83% during the Sunday of the 2019 Masters. 

Like other real-time events — namely royal weddings — the Masters provided an occasion for a traditional media brand to cash in on digital traffic. The outlet reports traffic spiked, with hundreds of thousands of new visits coming to Golf.com, most as Woods took the lead and played his final holes at approximately 2 p.m.

Golf.com is already planning for the PGA Championship at Bethpage in May, including creating dedicated landing pages and planting people on the ground to cover expected and unexpected developments. It is also preparing the back end of the website for traffic spikes and launching a rigorous daily content schedule. 

Jason Adel, CEO of Golf magazine and Golf.com, stated: "Golf.com is more set up for success than ever because of the investments that have been made in our digital platform, which means we're able to capitalize on historic moments more effectively than ever."

Golf, a former Time Inc title, was purchased by entrepreneur Howard Milstein in 2017 for around $15 million through his 8AM Golf Brand.

At the time,  he vowed to “expand the reach and quality of the publication,” including more content, voices and an increase in advertising pages. In January of 2019, Golf’s print magazine saw its page size increase by 17% and ad pages increase by 139%, compared to February 2018. New and returning advertisers included Lexus, TaylorMade, Callaway, Ping, Srixon and Dewar’s and Golf Myrtle Beach. 

Golf.com was redesigned in February to be more user-friendly and offer stronger editorial, SEO and social-media practices. 

Milstein also owns the Nicklaus Companies, club-fitter True Spec Golf and golf app GolfLogix.