The threads from these forums have been merged to the appropriate place/section on the forum. No thread has been deleted and can still be found in the section in which you would normally find this type of product. For example, the Lija threads have been moved to style. The Daphne's threads have been moved to clubs and accessories, etc....

Thanks for understanding the reasoning behind this and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.

Sponsored Forums
 

For the past year we have offered sponsored forum memberships to some small companies that wanted to contribute to our forum. It was something we set out to do to help some of the smaller companies reach our readers without costing thousands of dollars that they would have to spend on advertising elsewhere.

When we first started offering these we did not want to charge anything, but in turn had to do so to eliminate every single company coming here and spamming the board. We charged very little to let a company setup their own forum and chat with the people here as well as showcase products.

As we move towards 2010 THP is making a continued effort to keep the site golf ad free and I have decided to remove this feature and keep this a consumer only forum. We ask companies to come on here every now and then and explain things to readers, but we are still a consumer only forum.

We will offer other ways to get products seen by the THP readers and that is through reviews, profiles, and other avenues we use, and those will as always be completely free of charge. THP Media is growing by leaps and bounds and now have the website, THP TV for unique content, THP Radio launching very very soon, and of course THP: The Magazine.

With these four services we believe that THP can be prepared for the continued growth of the golf business from our side. I believe that remaining golf ad free on our site is something that is a necessity based on our business ethics and has helped grow this business to new levels as our venture moves forward.

These changes do not take place until the end of January and at that time the Sponsored Forums will be closed. We will archive the content however as we do not want to have these companies lose that information as that would not be fair to them or the people that have grown to become their fans over the 2009 year.

Does this mean the golf companies forum will be dissolved or is it something else?

That is correct. However all of those posts will remain archived in some form.

gothcha..that's what I thought you were relaying

It does, but never worry, both of those companies will be heavily involved with THP in 2010.

Well I hope the companies do stick around and continue to comment on questions, up coming events etc... I think the personal interaction that I have been able to have with individuals from different companies has made THP unique and invaluable...

No question about it. They will still be a part of the forum in certain capacities.

Yeah I figured... I think most of the companies that are already are apart of the forum get "it". It'd be nice to see additional companies come aboard (w/o spamming) as THP grows.

That's not a bad idea :)

I know a few other forms that I'm on, esp. car forums, they advertise and spam like crazy!!!

Go take a look at Golf WRX (don't wanna post the link here, just google) I am appalled at how much advertising crap they have on their forums.

So we dont get to see all of the new SSB putters he is working on anymore?

We want to make sure that the small companies get covered and have offered to make sure that via profiles and other things that SSB gets covered.

You have developed a cogent business plan, having found a niche in an industry that is struggling a bit due to the overall economy. Great job!

Bravo on this decision JB. I know it's a tough call when you think of how you want to help out the smaller companies, but really they can continue to visit THP we just won't have a specific area for them. I love how you keep the integrity of this great site your number one focus, it cannot be easy and accepting some $ in terms of sponsorships would sure help in some aspects but likely will only bring about an overall negative impact.

Great move, if only more people ran their companies like you run this site!