Magazine Tees Off in Another Direction
What’s up with this? Interviews with Debbie Harry, the Offspring, Primus and L7. A cover shot of Doritos spokesmodel Ali Landry in skimpy dress. Alternative art from the likes of Anthony Ausgang and Frank Kozik. Playboy playmates. Mixed drinks.
No, it’s not another silly men’s lifestyle magazine. It’s Schwing!, a golf magazine for punk rockers.
The brainchild of San Francisco’s High Speed Productions, No Doubt’s Adrian Young and the Vandals’ Greg Escalante, Schwing! caters to Gen Xers getting a little long in the tooth to be surfing and snowboarding on a regular basis. Hence the appeal of golf--a sport you can play while simultaneously enjoying the great outdoors and sipping your favorite beer. Indeed, if the weather’s right and you have a cart, you don’t even have to break a sweat.
“We’re not trying to fix anybody’s slice here,” says Dom Callan, the magazine’s 30-something editor. “This isn’t intended to be a golf magazine that’s going to target the ‘typical’ golfer. We’re more interested in the grass-roots golfer, the public-course player, the person who’s into golf because it’s fun despite its stuffy image.”
Schwing! is for anyone who grew up watching “Caddyshack” over and over again--the Happy Gilmores of this world for whom Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield are gods. They’re the fellas who’ve taken to martinis and Frank Sinatra, curvaceous babes and classic cars--the hipsters with goatees and tattoos for whom Thursday marks the first day of the weekend.
The current issue of Schwing! (the third so far) features custom golf carts, putt-putt art, snacks to munch on the green, an essay on why wagering is important to the sport, and the occasional photo of a goldilocked head-turner practicing her swing, in addition to plenty of articles on cool golf courses and equipment.
“We’re looking around and seeing a lot of golfers who are just like we are,” Callan says. “And we figure, given that we’re the alternative golfers and that we see others on the courses, it follows we would make something that would be more for us.”