Tag Archives: golf

Five Ways Pitch Letter Writing is Like the Golf Swing

With the PGA Tour season coming to an exciting close this past weekend with more than $10 million on the line for eventual winner Bill Haas, it is timely to offer up insights on how pitch letter writing is like the golf swing.  I’ve been an avid golfer for most of my life and like many golfers believe that golf itself is a microcosm of everything we do in life. So here’s my take on how developing a pitch letter is similar to developing a sound golf swing (please note that I am a PR professional NOT a golf professional though it is still a dream to be one someday): Continue reading

No Children Allowed: A Recipe for Publicity

A few weeks ago, the owner of a little restaurant attached to a golf driving range in Pennsylvania, decided to introduce a new policy that it will no longer serve any person under the age of six.

As principal of a PR firm with restaurant clients, I followed this story right from the beginning. From what I observed, the story was initially reported by a local TV news outlet in Pittsburgh on July 8th. The Associated Press picked it up and reported it the following day. From there, the media frenzy took off.

If this were a legal blog, I’d pontificate about the obvious discrimination against children under six years old. From my understanding, children are not a protected class unlike senior citizens.  Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on your point of view), I do not hold a law degree so I can’t say whether there are legal implications to this restaurant’s policy.

Since this is the PR Breakfast Club, which serves everyone in PR (including the ones who at times act like children—you know who you are!), just let me say that from a PR standpoint, this new restaurant policy was a win. Here are my three reasons why: Continue reading

Examining Tiger’s Masters Return

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, chances are that you’ve heard the sports news that has also made its way into the gossip rags and morning talk shows – Tiger Woods is returning to the PGA tour at the Masters.

While the return of the world’s top golfer will help the Tour’s ratings, it also marks an interesting event for the media. In his public apology spoken press release, Woods did not field any questions and has not answered any questions about his marital infidelity.  So while we’d like to say that the media will stick to the tournament at hand, drama sells and the opportunities for juicy questions and an irate golfer are some must-see TV in the making.

But hey, you don’t come to this blog to read about sports or infidelity so let’s get to the root of Tiger’s return to the PGA at Augusta National as a PR move – one that is safe, nostalgic and was strategically planned.  Much like a CEO, Woods is advised by some top notch PR folks who carefully chose when he would return to golf. Given the course’s history, importance and pageantry, the Masters is an intriguing choice for Tiger.  Our two in-house Sports PR experts don’t agree with each other on this topic:

What a Great Move

The introduction for this post can be found here

Tiger Woods apologizes for irresponsible and selfish behavior in FloridaStacked Deck – Every flack likes controlling an interview situation as much as they can. The course is private and the only folks to get in will be credentialed or have tickets. According to the PGA’s site: the Masters is more restrictive of media credentials than any other major, and it is the one tournament where the media is not allowed inside the ropes, so chances are that the TMZ’s and Talk Soups of the world will not be granted access to the course. In a sense, the PGA can pull out a wild card and only offer press passes to the regular golf writers making the event pretty sterile. Continue reading

Dumb Move, Mr. Woods

The introduction for this post can be found here

Tiger Woods apologizes for irresponsible and selfish behavior in FloridaAs my esteemed colleague outlined above, some people believe that Tiger Woods returning to competitive golf at the Masters is a good PR move.  I whole heartedly disagree.

Let me count the ways:

Walk Before You Crawl – Would you want your first game of the season to be Game 7 of the World Series or even the Super Bowl?  From a sheer golf mechanics perspective, Tiger will not be at the top of his game.  He will not have played a round of competitive golf in nearly six months when he tees off at Augusta.  Why not work your way into peak condition before the biggest tournament of the year? Continue reading