Our editors, player-testers and more than 100,000 words of comments
One of the more underrated aspects of the Hot List is that an editor is assigned to a group of two player testers. The editors are prolific note-takers, although what you see in this issue is just a sample. In aggregate the editors routinely gather more than 100,000 words of player comments each year that help guide our decision-making process. More than just writing down comments verbatim, they are there as watchful interrogators, too. [Near left, Golf Digest’s Jared Goldstein interacts with player-tester veteran Sean Harper.] The editors keep a careful eye on shots being hit so that they can question scores that don’t match up to the eye test and squeeze relevant feedback from the players. If they’re satisfied with the answer, they move on to the next. The job of the editors isn’t to change a score. They just make sure the players are confident in the one they give. As for the note-taking, there are some light moments. Such as when a tester calls a mallet putter “as stable as a six-legged basset hound”. On the other end, not every club resonates with every player, leading to more negative thoughts such as, “It sounds like a cat after you step on its tail.” Whatever the reaction, we are there to jot it down. Word for word.
