This isn’t the first golf title I have been involved with. I was lucky enough to be at Ramsay, Son and Parker (around 1996) when they acquired Compleat Golfer from the late Dennis Bruyns and local golf legend, Dale Hayes. Dennis fortunately stayed on as editor, organised me my first clubs and lessons, graciously shared his time and golfing passion with me, and I have been hooked ever since. Along the way I formed my own small publishing company and discovered whisky and mountain biking – both of which led to published titles. I now start a new publishing journey with one of my greatest passions – golf!

Welcome to THE GOLF MAG. Just like the name we plan to be very clear with our content, and the design is clean and modern. The magazine is of course fully digital, and I really hope you agree that our platform is super cool! Have fun navigating links, checking out the videos, listening to podcasts, plus all of it can be experienced brilliantly on your mobile. You will also find that you can share any of the pages or the entire magazine on WhatsApp or any other messaging service.

THE GOLF MAG is being done in association with GolfRSA, the body mandated to oversee and grow the game of golf in South Africa. It really is a privilege to be working with Grant Hepburn, Lali Stander and Philippa Byron on this exciting new project. This will be a project of love for the game and will have a distinct SA bias. The amateur game will get a large portion of our focus, without ignoring international content of course, but our attention will be on the local game, the players, the tournaments, the courses and the industry.

We launch in Women’s Month with Ashleigh Buhai on the cover. This was a conscious decision to underline our support for women’s golf and we will continue to do so. We will also feature junior golf, differently abled golf, development in golf and of course our professionals, at club level and on the professional circuits. A full basket of content that will hopefully keep you informed, entertained and coming back for more. The mag is free to all golfers so share with family and mates and get them to subscribe – let’s grow the love!

Finally, we would love to get your thoughts and feedback, but most of all your contributions. Start by sending us your golfing pics, whether on tour with your golf groups, some funny shots or something spectacular you managed to experience on the course. If you have a story to share – send it to either me or Philippa, make sure you have some pics to accompany it and if good enough and relevant, we can look at featuring it.

See you on the fairways!

Shayne Dowling

Publishing Editor

It has been a such an exciting year for South African golf.

Across the globe, our amateurs and our professional golfers continued the country’s proud record on the world stage, and at home, the local golf industry remains on an upward trajectory after the post Covid-19 surge.

The national lockdown in 2020 presented us with an opportunity to collaborate as a united force to get golf reopened and the resulting success of the collective effort of all the stakeholders forged strong relationships that continue to benefit the entire industry.

We are therefore delighted to be associated with THE GOLF MAG, published by Integrated Media. This new online publication will not only feature international content, equipment reviews and great tips to improve your game, it will also shine the spotlight on the South African golf industry and tell the stories of our current stars, future world-beaters and rising talent.

We are excited to be associated with a homegrown and proudly South African publication that also optimises technology to reduce our carbon footprint.

We hope you enjoy the launch issue, and we look forward to welcoming you to

THE GOLF MAG experience.

Grant Hepburn

CEO, GolfRSA