Five Questions with Pat Leahy of Golfweek

In this month’s installment of Five Questions, we spoke to Pat Leahy, Publisher at Golfweek and Vice President of Revenue for USA Today Golf. Enjoy this monthly series where we check in with professionals around the golf industry to discuss trends, big ideas and more.

1. As golf looks to continue the momentum built in 2020, what trends or initiatives are showing promise that participation will continue to grow? 

Well, the business of golf seems to be very strong and the equipment companies and resorts/destinations are reinvesting in the business, which is a good thing.  Interest in golf from all levels of players is at/near record highs as measured by site traffic across almost all of the major golf media outlets.  In terms of initiatives, I was very impressed by Make Golf Your Thing and the support behind it from the biggest stakeholders in golf.  Golf seems to have resonated with a new generation of players during COVID so hopefully Make Golf Your Thing can help sustain it.

2. The 2021 PGA Championship was historic with typical major galleries returning and Phil Mickelson becoming the oldest major champion in history. What stood out to you most about the week? 

I was fortunate enough to spend a few days at Kiawah during Championship week. My prevailing thought in navigating the golf course for meetings, having dinners out with business associates and traveling to/from the venue was that we’re finally on the other side of this COVID thing.  The energy around the event was incredible.  I saw fans walking around hauling bags stuffed with Championship merchandise that rivaled what you see at The Masters.  People are excited to get out and spend money and that will only benefit our industry.

3. What is the most important factor in ensuring those who were introduced to golf in 2020, continue to return? 

I think a major obstacle is changing the mentality around lessons/coaching.  There’s a perception that lessons should be an occasional thing for when you’re starting the game or playing poorly.  Pairing folks who are just starting to play with a coach and creating that ongoing relationship is so important.  I think what the PGA of America is doing with PGA.Coach is really cool and should make a big impact.

4. The U.S. Women’s Open brought with it plenty of excitement at the Olympic Club. What were a few moments or storylines that stood out to you throughout the week? 

Megha Ganne!  It’s an incredible story that’s been fun to follow living in the Tri-State area.  She’s a product of the First Tee program, so that tells you things are working.  Her confidence and charisma point to a very bright future ahead.

5. What is the biggest change you’ve seen from the time you began covering golf until now?  

With the migration of our audience to digital media from print, we’ve had to constantly evolve how we cover golf and the team we use to do it.  The majority of our audience comes to Golfweek.com from search and social, so there are methods we use to improve how our articles stand out in those two areas.  Page views ultimately pay our bills, but Golfweek has a long legacy of covering women’s golf, college golf and junior golf – topics that typically don’t drive a ton of page views, but are super-important to who we are.  We pay incredibly careful attention to the balance of stories that we know will drive page views vs. stories that our core audience will enjoy and engage with.  The search and social game is constantly changing so we need to be on top of it to continue to be successful.