Editor’s Note: No. 30

They see it hanging from our bags or on our hats or notice it on our headcovers–a tee cracked nearly in two. Sometimes they ask what course that logo is from, a little envy in their look, and we smile and tell them it’s the insignia of the Broken Tee Society. Their envy might grow a little–a golf society they didn’t know about or had not been asked to join. We all covet, but logo-loving golfers covet more than most.

The Golfer’s Journal is the Broken Tee Society, but the Broken Tee Society is more than The Golfer’s Journal. What began as a label to identify TGJ subscribers has become a community and an experience larger than the pages of our magazine. From events around the world to an online golf community, to friendships, networks, and memories we could not have fathomed if not for the people we’ve met via the BTS, subscribing to a magazine has broadened our golf lives in unexpected ways. But what is it, precisely?  And how is it different from the magazine? The Golfer’s Journal is about golf culture, but the Broken Tee Society, I would suggest, is golf culture brought to life.

As I read through the pages of Golfer’s Journal No. 30, it’s a distinction that feels important, because it underpins everything we make at TGJ, including this latest edition. Every story here is a living dialogue between members who are reading the same words around the world. Most of them were written by Broken Tee Society members (myself included) and are a lens into how our fellow members experience and view their golf lives. Whether it be Charlie Warzel’s adventures with a horse whisperer turned golf fiend, or Geoff Cunningham’s illustration of the contents of a dead man’s golf bag, or my take on a nine-holer that tests the bounds of imagination, or Christian Hafer’s photographs of golf set against a steel skyline, No. 30 is a book not just for the Broken Tee Society, but by the Broken Tee Society. The BTS is golf storytelling in action, and it doesn’t just happen at event sites or in our Discord server. I hope you find that it takes place in our pages as well.

As you read through pages that travel from Ireland to NYC to England, from the US Open with a golf psychologist to a tattoo parlor with a top-100 chaser, recall that each story here is the Broken Tee Society; each is an example of a golf life in action. And perhaps consider the ways you can broaden your own golf life by being not just a subscriber but a participant in our community’s golf story. Attend an event or meet up with a fellow member. Travel with the BTS or sit down and write about your own golf adventure. I hope the book you receive this month is entertainment worthy of its price, but what you’re paying for is bigger than coffee table art. It’s a community that talks and travels and plays and laughs. It exists in every golfing corner of the world and invites you to seek it there. It has the potential to make your golf life bigger, and your everyday life better. And if you’re reading this, you already belong. 

So thank you for supporting The Golfer’s Journal, and thank you for bringing a broken tee to life.

Sincerely,
Tom Coyne
Editor

Explore TGJ No. 30