REVISED SLUG GD 75TH ANNIVERSARY
parted elders like Pete Dye, Herb Kohler, Frank Hannigan and Peter Dobereiner. His many alliances with industry lead- ers have mostly survived friction caused by moments of unfavourable coverage from the magazine and sometimes Tarde’s own column. “Jerry’s integrity has always been unimpeachable,” says former USGA executive director David Fay. “All the respect he’s earned over the years has cushioned the rough spots. Of course, a round of golf can be the softest cushion of all.” “Relationships are made on the golf course, and deals are built on relation- ships,” says Tarde. “In my experience, playing golf together does something to make those relationships less transac- tional than in other fields. It’s give and take, sure, but golf makes you more in- clined to be a giver and less of a taker.” By reimbursing club memberships and green fees for much of the staff, Tarde has always encouraged mak- ing the golf course an extension of the workplace to spur creativity and foster alliances in and out of the office. Golf Digest has long self-identified as a des- tination for “How to play, what to play, where to play,” but thanks to Tarde, it’s also explored that most rewarding territory of “why to play.” Tarde found his why in the game’s camaraderie. In his nearly finished memoir, which focuses on more than 100 golf people both prominent and ob- scure that he has known over the years, Tarde recounts how he began playing the game around age 13 at Juniata Golf Course, a threadbare par-63 muni a couple of blocks from his family’s two- storey rowhouse in the Kensington- and-Allegheny section of north-east Philadelphia. The all-day rate for juniors was 50 cents. “There was no range, so we never hit balls or practised or studied swings, except to copy the best player, a scratch golfer named Ed (The Bear) Billus who we envied for his ability to hit nothing but low hooks,” remembers Tarde. “We just went round and round and round until dinner, then came back to play skins until dark.” “I fell in love with the Dickensian cast of characters who hustled $5 matches during the day and went to the race- track or Atlantic City at night – so
umnist for the New York Times who is Tarde’s closest golfing friend despite having lost the majority of their $20 closeouts over the last 30 years. “Jerry has this deceptive way of seeming to not really be competing, but then you’re two down after nine, and, of course, he has been REALLY competing all along. It’s maddening, but it’s raised my re- spect and admiration for him. When I do manage to win, I feel like I’ve really done something.” When Tarde breaks away from con- versation to briskly go to his ball, espe- cially late in matches, he’ll lock in with a palpable inner strength that – call me crazy – reminds me how the late Sandy Tatum described what was most memo- rable about his rounds with Ben Hogan. “When it was Hogan’s turn to play, it was on the basis that he had been accorded the privilege of playing that particular golf shot,” Tatum said, “and that privilege carried with it a respon- sibility, and that responsibility was to give that shot all the thought and effort that he could, and to make it as effec- tive as he could. It was a very distinct characteristic.” Put it all together, and it’s what makes Tarde, while certainly not a great golfer, a nearly ideal one. The same qualities that make him a favourite partner on the course are also brought to the board- room. For all his skill as a writer and editor and as a recruiter of talent and wellspring of original ideas, it is his gift for networking and relationships that is most responsible for his astounding 41 years leading Golf Digest. It’s a ten- ure exceeded in the history of Ameri- can magazine publishing by only Jann Wenner (50 years at Rolling Stone) and Hugh Hefner (57 at Playboy). Tarde has countless friendships in the golf world, among the closest with de- The same qualities that make him a favourite partner on the course are also brought to the boardroom.
power to make people better. It’s evident in the joy he exudes when gener- ously sharing what he’s always found so fulfilling. The more I’ve been privileged to be part of some
MAN OF LETTERS
Tarde studied journalism at Northwestern, interned at Golf Digest, then became the head editor at 28.
of these rounds, the more I see Tarde as a deceptively passive but passionate evangelist. By temperament, Tarde is a natu- ral listener who is comfortable with thoughtful silence. Walking up a fairway together, I used to awkwardly struggle to fill the perceived void. Now I better understand to relax and remember that words can get in the way of those ineffa- ble moments of immersion in the game. I’m convinced that this disposition was steadying for Nick Taylor when he won the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am while partnered with Tarde, who was unflappable as ever with CBS cameras trained on his every shot. Poise under pressure serves Tarde’s game in a way that is inspiring, which is saying something for a guy with mid-80s mph driver clubhead speed who rarely cracks 200 yards (183 metres) even with a perfectly flighted draw. While genetics insured that he would never be a long hitter, it’s instructive that back in his early 30s, Tarde got down to a 1-handi- cap by practising his wedge game every morning for a summer at Winged Foot. The first time I played with him, in 1987 at Spanish Bay, he shot 74. Now at age 69, he’s a hard-to-beat 12 index who squeez- es everything he can out of hitting every fairway (once on a buddies trip in Scot- land, he played 10 rounds with the same ball) and blends a useful short game and an especially cold-blooded knack for making eight footers for four-net-threes with an original 3-ball putter he’s been using since Dave Pelz invented it in 1985. He keeps big mistakes to a minimum, letting that pattern insidiously insinuate itself until the opponent beats himself, bringing forth from Tarde a sympathetic word or nod but no hint of surprise. “He’s the sweetest, kindest, most vicious competitor I’ve played with,” says Thomas Friedman, the three-time Pulitzer-winning foreign affairs col-
IN A WAY THAT LEAVES ME even more convinced that golf is the greatest game of all, I’ve always found it tremendous fun to play 18 holes with Jerry Tarde. I can hear the howls that opener just set off. “Isn’t that guy your boss? Even if it wasn’t fun, what else are you going to say?” Yes, this is a house job, but I go forth confidently because however conflict- ed and compromised the assignment might seem, the case supporting the premise is overwhelming. First, this is the concluding install- ment in a series celebrating Golf Digest’s 75th anniversary, and no one has been more responsible for the publication’s success in becoming the standard of golf journalism than Tarde. Second, nothing
provides a more cogent representation of his philosophy, leadership and iden- tity as a guardian of the game than the way he goes about a round of golf. Of course, Tarde would never make this big a deal about it. His style is un- derstated but substantive, careful never to let what’s most enjoyable fall victim to over analysis. Outwardly, all he does is “play happy” in the best Bob Rotella- approved meaning of the term. He likes to revel in watching the ball fly over an artful landscape (Pine Valley if you’re lucky) and in between shots retell slight- ly embellished tales usually involving now absent Golf Digest figures, both for the hilarity of the punchline and as fond tribute. But inwardly Tarde is a golf roman- tic who knows the game possesses the
‘The Best I Ever Did’ How editor Jerry Tarde transcended to golf evangelist BY JAIME DIAZ
PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK SOMMERFELD
16 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 17
MARCH/APRIL 2026
MARCH/APRIL 2026
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