When I started Lying Four in 2019, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted it to be. I’d concluded that online golf media lacked for thoughtful, homespun, and independent golf writing — especially about golf in the Deep South. And I wanted to try to be part of filling that void. But I didn’t know exactly what that should look like. Two years later, I still don’t have anywhere near all the answers.
When the site launched, though, I was pleasantly surprised — shocked is more like it — at the warm reception. And not just from people who were interested in reading original writing, but also from people who wanted to contribute. They had stories worth telling, too.
For the past two years, I’ve struggled with how to handle that. To be honest, I’ve resisted guest contributions because it would expand Lying Four beyond what I originally envisioned: a low-effort, low-maintenance corkboard where I could slap my occasional ramblings or publish longer, deeply reported stories that were going untold. Then again, I didn’t envision this blog resonating with such a wide audience, either. I’m under no illusion that there’s a torrent of would-be contributors behind the floodgates, but I’m proud of the standard that Lying Four has set, and I’d want guest contributions to fit that. That would require working with contributors and helping them lend their stories their clearest voices. And I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be an editor.
But after two years, I’ve concluded that Lying Four can’t fulfill its mission without opening the floor to more voices. Golf has too many viewpoints and stories worth sharing for any one person to write them. If the devolved state of golf journalism is a result of fewer stakeholders, then the solution is to bring in more voices, not fewer.
Welcome, then, to Lying Four’s new “Voices” section.
My hope is that “Voices” will support diverse, energetic writers with all manner of stories to tell: feature stories, essays, PGA Tour commentary, or musings on their favorite spot for a weekend round. Some of them never will have written about golf for a public audience before; others perhaps will have familiar names. Some of the stories will be prosaic and uplifting; others probably will be succinct and biting. Those voices won’t all sound the same as mine, and that’s the point. That’s the hope, anyway.
So if you’ve got a story to tell, then please consider allowing Lying Four to help you share it with the world. I can’t pay you, but I can work with you to help refine it and share it. And I’ll send you a sticker. Lying Four’s core interest will always be Deep South golf, but the longer I’ve written this blog, the more I’ve come to understand that the stories and issues touching golf in this region aren’t limited to those happening here; no man is an island, nor is any region. So if your story’s connection to the Deep South is obvious, that’s great; and if the connection is less obvious, then that’s great too.
To be clear, editorial discretion may from time to time counsel against including a piece. I believe that golf is the best version of itself when it is inclusive and open to new people and new ideas, and anyone who’s read Lying Four regularly knows how I think that looks in practice. I will not elevate work that is inconsistent with those views.
But if you have a story to share, and if it shares Lying Four’s hopefulness for a landscape that honors the best elements of golf and shuns the worst, then that story has a home here. Shout at me at will.bardwell@gmail.com, and let’s figure out how to give your story a voice.
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