Minnesota Golfer Magazine Sets Gold Record at Annual Publishing Awards Banquet

EDINA, Minn. (Nov. 3, 2017) -- MGA’s publication, Minnesota Golfer magazine, grabbed six awards, including four gold awards – a publication best – at the 21st Annual MMPA Excellence Awards on Nov. 2. The Minnesota Magazine & Publications Association annual ceremony, held at Aria in downtown Minneapolis, was hosted by WCCO TV personalities Mike Augustyniak and Kate Raddatz. 

There were 535 entries for the awards and 57 judges who selected the award-winning entries. 

Augustyniak and Raddatz announced the bronze and silver winners and then called the gold award winners (best in category) up on stage to receive their plaques. Exhibitor, The Growler, Mpls/St.Paul and Minnesota Golfer magazines were among other multiple gold award winners. 

Minnesota Golfer, along with its publishing partner, MSP Communications, earned four gold awards—best Cover Design for the spring issue, best Directory for the directory issue, best Feature Article for the fall issue’s cover story on the 2016 Ryder Cup, “Epic Adventure,” and best Regular Column for Mark Craig’s spring issue column, “Golf… No Matter What.” The magazine also received two bronze awards for content in the summer issue: a best Regular Column for Tom Ryan’s “Teeing Up,” and a best Infographic for Dean Lavato’s two-page spread on the 2017 readership survey. 

The Growler was chosen as the Peoples’ Choice award and Exhibitor magazine was named Magazine of the Year (the first publication to win this category twice). Since 2000, Minnesota Golfer magazine has been recognized with nearly 70 MMPA publishing excellence awards.

A highlight of the evening came at the end, when MSP Communications’ long-time president, Gary Johnson, accepted the Hedley Donovan Award, the MMPA’s highest honor. Johnson reminded the audience that it’s been more than two decades since print journalism was written off as being doomed in the age of digital delivery, and that in today’s highly politicized climate where some news organizations have been accused of peddling “fake news,” magazine content remains especially relevant and important.

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