Alex Perry has become the new editor of National Club Golfer following long-serving incumbent Dan Murphy’s decision to move into a full-time business development role within Sports Publications Ltd.
Perry, who has been with the Leeds-based publishing company since 2016, was already the digital editor of the magazine’s website, nationalclubgolfer.com, and will now also assume editorial control of the brand’s print version from Murphy.
Perry is ideally placed to inject the print version with the same energy, thoroughness and freshness that the website has become renowned for.
With an emphasis on ‘kit, club and courses’, National Club Golfer magazine is delivered to the 1,000 leading golf clubs across the UK. Six issues will be published in 2021, with the first in the run-up to April’s Masters. The magazine is expected to return to a monthly schedule – pandemic permitting – in 2022.
“I’m thrilled to start the year in earnest as the editor of NCG,” said Perry. “It feels a bit like following Alex Ferguson at Manchester United – or, as Dan would doubtless prefer, Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds. It’s a real honour and I’m looking forward to upholding and building on the great reputation of the magazine, as well as bringing some of my own ideas to it.”
Perry will be working closely with publisher Christian Maiden over the coming months as the industry prepares to welcome back enthusiastic golfers to the game they love when lockdown measures recede.
After over 15 years and 180 issues as editor, Murphy will concentrate on the business’s wider interests, as well as continuing as NCG Top 100s editor.
“When I think back, a lot has happened in golf over the last 15 years,” said Murphy, Sports Publications’ content director. “Tiger was at his peak, a new era of European Ryder Cup dominance was just beginning, and NCG was just beginning to get noticed within the golf industry.
“Of course, it was all print in those days and the media landscape has changed unrecognisably since. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved and there is undoubtedly still a place for a print product that writes about what core golfers are interested in. We think that kit, club and courses are topics that resonate with our readers – along with substantial coverage of the majors.”
He added: “I’ve been privileged to meet and interview just about all of the great and the good of the game, test an array of new equipment, and play hundreds of incredible courses, so it’s not an easy decision to give up my editor’s hat. However, I know that NCG is in very good hands with Alex, ably accompanied by club golf editor Steve Carroll, equipment editor Hannah Holden, production editor James Broadhurst, and our graphic design department. I’d like to thank all the people I’ve worked with over the years, whether contributors, interviewees or colleagues from across the industry.”
Sports Publications has also announced the appointment of golf travel specialist Ross Bousfield to manage NCG’s Top 100s Tour, the UK’s leading series of competitive events for club golfers.
All events are played on courses that feature in the definitive NCG Top 100s rankings lists – ensuring competitors a top-class golfing experience. In 2021, there are over 30 events across Britain with each one offering great prizes from title sponsor TaylorMade.
The champion golfer at the Grand Final at Southport & Ainsdale wins a trip to the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass, courtesy of Golfbreaks.com.
And new for 2021 is the NCG Top 100s Matchplay – a knockout event that culminates in UK finals at top-class courses, with the grand final in Dubai at the end of the year.
Most events are co-ordinated by NCG Top 100s Tour events manager Georgina Simpson into two or three-course swings – ideal for those looking to book their own mini-tours either as an individual or as a group.
That’s where Bousfield comes in: creating accommodation packages by handpicking hotels that are ideally suited to golf tours in their respective regions.
“I’m delighted to be joining the NCG Top 100s Tour team and working with Georgina to build on her hard work,” said Bousfield, who has 10 years’ experience in the golf travel sector. “If 2020 proved anything it was that there is a huge appetite for golf – and specifically golf in the UK. I’m looking forward to helping golfers plan their ideal staycation in 2021.”
Tom Irwin, co-owner of Sports Publications, said: “Ross’ appointment is real step forward for us as we seek to expand our NCG Top 100s franchise to include holidays, competitive golf, awards as well as the rankings lists that sit at its centre. We know there is an appetite to enjoy the very best of British and Irish golf now more than ever.”