This past week, Golf Digest put Paulina Gretzky on the cover of its Golf Fit issue. This cover caused a barrage of controversy for a variety of reasons. The photo on the cover could be described as risqué, but by no means was the picture of explicit nature. The reason Gretzky being the cover is causing such uproar is because she’s not a golfer. She’s the model girlfriend of golfer Dustin Johnson and daughter of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.
We all know that “sex sells” in the media and Golf Digest has every right to do what it did in our capitalist society to sell magazines. That said, it’s doing a disservice to the sport of women’s golf and the LPGA.Paulina Gretzky is a very attractive woman, and it’s fair to say she is indeed a golf celebrity because of her golfer boyfriend and famous father.
However, there are some very attractive female golfers on the LPGA tour such as Anna Rawson and Kathleen Ekey, who I’m sure wouldn’t mind getting a little extra recognition on top of their golf game.
Many female golfers on the tour are upset with the decision by the magazine because it shows a lack of respect for the women’s game. This is not the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. This is an edition of Golf Digest called Golf Fit. This should be golf’s version of ESPN the body issue, an issue used to celebrate the bodies of golfers — male or female — who achieve their fitness from golfing or training for golf and ways for them to give advice to prospective golfers.
Golf Digest responded to its critics in a statement claiming that she is a golf celebrity with an interesting story to tell and she could possibly attract more people into the sport of golf. This response comes off as extremely shady. Like I said, the magazine is entitled to do as it please in choice of cover models, but it’s insulting everyone’s intelligence by trying to sugarcoat this issue. Golf Digest chose an attractive woman with a link to golf who can sell magazines. That’s it. I wonder if anyone who bought this magazine actually got any golf-related fitness tips from this.
