In his column last week, Don Estep made the announcement that I will be taking on the role of publisher of the News Journal as we enter into the year 2025. Trust me when I say that I am not taking this appointment lightly.
The reason that this newspaper has continued to be successful is because of the combined experience of the incredible staff that has been in place here for so many years. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the abilities of Managing News Editor Mark White, Office Manager Linda Carpenter, Circulation Manager Jennifer Benfield and Advertising Manager Melissa Hudson, all of whom have been responsible for teaching me a great deal about this line work. Timothy Wyatt has also proven himself to be a reliable and valuable member of this staff in recent years, contributing as a reporter, photographer and part-time delivery person, among other duties.
I would like to thank our outgoing publisher for showing such confidence in me. Over the past fourteen years my goal has always been to simply do my job to the best of my abilities, whether that be writing stories, working with advertisers, taking photos, making deliveries or laying out content on pages. I understand the value that this newspaper has had, and continues to have, to the local communities that it serves. I just want to do what I can to ensure that continues on.
A big thanks as well to owner Terry Forcht, and to others within the Forcht Group, for their support during this time of this transition. I would be remiss if I didn’t also thank former News Journal Publisher Trent Knuckles for his support of me in the past, and a special thanks to the late Jim McAlister, who helped and encouraged me when I was making the move from sales representative to full-time sports editor back in late-2013. Trying to step up and fill Jim’s shoes was intimidating to say the least, but I like to think that I was able to make him proud with the job that I did before his passing in the summer of 2021.
Most importantly, thank you to our readers. You are the reason why we do what we do.
Now, on to another announcement that I hope many of you out there will be very excited about…
I have never really been one to make New Year’s resolutions. Not that I am against the idea or anything, but I just know how it typically goes. You set your mind to something, get off to a great start, but then by the end of February life does its thing and you get completely derailed. With that being said, I have made the very serious decision to adopt a New Year’s resolution for 2025. The resolution? Learn how to play golf.
I have had the opportunity to write about golf in the pages of the News Journal many times over the past dozen years or so. Usually, I am interviewing a golfer to get his or her thoughts on a big match or tournament, but I also did a series several years ago where I let high school players in our coverage area talk about techniques, offer tips to our readers and explain which clubs and accessories are crucial to success on the course.
When I interview golfers for stories, I just about always walk away impressed with the level of passion displayed by those who are serious about the sport. To the outsider, using a club to drive a ball long distances so that you can use a different type of club to send the ball into a hole may seem pretty simple. It is anything but.
I can’t speak from experience, at least not yet, but my intention is to learn how to do it as the weeks and months go by in the year 2025. Along the way, I plan to write about my experiences in a brand new weekly golf-centric column that I am calling “Par for the Course.”
I have been making plans to launch this new column for the past couple of months, and my hope is that it will be a weekly mainstay here in the pages of the News Journal for at least the foreseeable future. In addition to writing about my own experiences learning to play the game, I am hoping to use the space to discuss a wide variety of topics related to golf. That could include things like:
• Player interviews
• Coach interviews
• Coverage of local competitions
• Historical information
• Information on some of the courses located in our region
• Gear reviews (clubs, bags, gloves, balls, footwear, etc.)
• Anything else that readers might find interesting
This weekly content will be sponsored, as I have found several businesses in our local area that are eager to help promote the sport of golf in our local communities. You will learn more about these sponsors as we go along, but let me go ahead and thank Legacy Golf Cars (drivelegacygolf.com) and Cinema Social (cinemasocial.com) for being among the very first to help make this new column possible.
Also, a big thanks to Riverdale Golf Suites (riverdalegolfsuites.com) for their recent support and enthusiasm over this new series being launched.
Only time will tell where this endeavor will lead, but based on initial reaction, I am excited to see how things will progress. I have been reading up on the game, seeking advice from knowledgeable friends and acquaintances, and reaching out to folks who I think have interesting stories to tell. I look forward to continuing to meet more people and hear plenty of new stories in the near future.
YOU CAN HELP! I encourage anyone reading this to reach out to me if you have a good idea for a golf story that I could tell in an upcoming installment of “Par for the Course.” I can’t promise that I will use every suggestion that gets submitted, but I am always open to hearing about potential new subject matter. If you have any ideas, feel free to reach out to me at tsherman@corbinnewsjournal.com.
Also, if you are a business owner who would like to learn more about how you can help sponsor this content in our newspaper each week, then please contact me at the above-mentioned e-mail. I would be happy to discuss ways that we can get your business involved, and figure out a strategy for promoting your goods and/or services.
