The Australian Golf Writers Association is no longer.
In its place comes the Australian Golf Media Association as the organisation moves to reflect the changing nature of golf tournament coverage.
AGMA secretary George Begg said the association, which formally began on March 1, had not only changed its name, but also its fee structure so that reporters, bloggers, photographers, commentators, camera crews, editors, social media exponents and others involved infrequently in golf coverage could readily involve themselves.
“There’s no doubt the way golf is covered has changed a lot since the old AGWA was formed in 1976,” Begg said.
“Back then the majority of people involved were part of newspaper organisations and that has changed markedly, obviously.
“I’ll admit we had a few of our membership not overly keen to let go of that history, but to reflect the industry changes, the overwhelming majority voted to change.
“If we hadn’t made the move, we’d have run the risk of becoming irrelevant to the next generation of media performers – and we feel strongly that the AGMA is still a relevant and bold part of the tournament landscape.
“Clearly now there are less people being sent by their editors to cover events around Australia, so we’ve made a “tournament” membership category that costs just $5 for those who are asked to be at just one or two events each year.
“Hopefully in time, new members in that category are taken by what we do as an association and become more involved in things such as our annual championship and meetings.”
Begg also introduced the AGMA logo which depicts the changed method of transmission of information around which the association exists.
“It’s more modern and vibrant and shows that the information our members produce is instant and newsworthy,” he said.
“We think it’s a great fit for our future.”
