The Hacker’s Guide is the first complete state-by-state golf course rating system since the United States Golf Association established par and slope ratings. Starting with the Twin Cities Metro area as a test market, the Hacker’s Guide will be rolled out to eventually include a review of the close to 16,000 golf courses nationwide.
Media Appearances & Mentions
7/18/10 -- Radio Interview on WCCO-AM Bruce Stasch from the Hacker's Guide was on with Steve Thomson, the Sunday afternoon host at WCCO-AM Radio in the Twin Cities. Bruce talked about the Hacker's Guide, our rating sytem, municipal courses and the launch of our new school fundraising program.
7/9/10 -- Venture Profile in Business Journal The Hacker's Guide was profile in the Venture section of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. For the article, a panel was assembled to lend insight into what the Hacker's Guide should do about expanding. A great panel participated: Bill White, former publisher and founder of SuperLawyers.com, Michael Turnbull, director of golf business at TeeMaster and Bradley Walz, intellectual property attorney with Winthrop & Weinstine.
7/5/10 -- Mention in the Star Tribune Over the July 4th weekend, a reporter from the Star Tribune responded to one of our press releases and put in a short plug for Hacker's Guide right there on page D4 in the business section. More importantly, they listed our website.
7/2/10 -- Book Review in The Hacker's Paradise A great review from a great website The Hacker's Paradise out of Florida. We're kindred spirits when it comes to reaching out to the "lightly-skilled" golfer. A nice review of the book and it is cool to see interest from readers to expand it into their markets.
7/1/10 -- Mention in Minnesota Business A short (very short) mention was found in the monthly Minnesota Business Magazine's Executive Lifestyle section alongside Grand View Lodge, Madden's, Giant's Ridge and Legends Golf Club. Pretty good company. We even got a picture of the book cover and our website listed. According to the plug we "hold the key to local golf." Nice!
6/22/10 -- TV Interview on KAAL-TV in Austin, MN Our Director of Golf, Eric Hart was interviewed by the sports guys at KAAL-TV in Austin. Home of Hormel, its also a great television station in southern Minnesota. The spot appeared on both the 6pm and 10pm broadcasts.
6/19/10 -- Radio Interview on KFAN-AM We joined the Dan "The Common Man" Cole on his Tee to Green golf show for a second time to talk up the new book, catch up and campare and contrast Minnesota golf courses.
6/19/10 -- Feature Article in the St. Cloud Times Newspaper Reporter Frank Rajkowski put together a very informative article on the genesis of the Hacker's Guide including some good quotables. He highlighted some St. Cloud area golf courses like Territory, Wapicada and Blueberry Ridge and gave us some press about your next book. A fine piece of journalism. (Unfortunately, it's now behind a pay wall)
6/13/10 -- TV Interview on WCCO-TV (4) with Esme Murphy Bruce Stasch was interviewed by Esme Murphy on the Sunday Morning News Show. Appearing on the same show with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Tarryl Clark, candidate for the Sixth District Congressional race, Stasch talked up the Hacker's Guide and the Top 5 courses in Minnesota.
5/24/10 -- Podcast Interview on Golf Smarter Bruce Stasch was interviewed by Fred Greene on the Golf Smarter Podcast which is the largest independent golf podcast on the planet and has been posting episodes (ours was #232) since 2005. Hear a good description of what we do and some of the plans for the future.
5/2/10 -- Radio Interview on Next Stage Business Radio Bruce Stasch was interviewed by Pamela Muldoon at Next Stage Business Radio. This locally-produced show spent time talking about the Hacker's Guide, our plans for 2010 and how someone can become a member of Team Hacker.
5/1/10 -- Feature Article in North News Newspaper Bruce Stasch was interviewed by Gail Olson, a reporter at the North News community newspaper. This Page 2 feature covered a lot of ground about Hacker's Guide, how it got its start, top rated courses, the rating system and living on the Northside.
3/17/10 -- Radio Interview on KSTP AM 1500 Radio Bruce Stasch was interviewed by Patrick Reusse on AM 1500 during the MN Golf Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Pat talked about the Hacker's Guide, how the MN Golf Show went and why quitting golf was the best thing he did next to drinking.
9/27/09 -- TV Interview with Channel 12 Cable Bruce Stasch was interviewed by the sports anchor at cable TV station Channel 12. The interview was conducted outside at Hollydale Golf Course in Plymouth, Minnesota. A nice pan-in close-up of the Twin Cities book ended the interview.
7/8/09 -- Radio Interview on KFAN AM Radio Dan Cole, The "Common Man" and Craig Waryan, the head pro at Edinburgh USA, interviewed Bruce Stasch on the Tee to Green Golf Show.
6/26/09 -- Feature Article in Press Publications The Hacker's Guide is featured in six regional community newspapers (Shoreview, Vadnais Heights, Forest Lake, Circle Pines, White Bear Lake and the St. Croix Valley). The article discusses the rating system, the courses and how the books got started.
5/25/09 -- TV Interview with KARE-11 Tim McNiff interviews Bruce Stasch in the backyard for his 11 Questions segment. This rapid fire chat was great fun and Tim wanted to join Team Hacker.
Press Releases
6/5/10 -- More Than 650 Golfers Sign Up to Become Members of Hacker's Guide "Team Hacker" Hacker’s Guide, a Minneapolis-based golf course rating organization that is in the process of rating more than 680 public 18-hole golf courses across the Upper Midwest, has just surpassed 650 avid golfers who have responded to its call for golf course raters. "This is the only golf course rating system in the country that rates a golf course on sixty unique factors and then writes ad 400-word review on every course, " said Bruce Stasch....3/10/10 -- Hacker's Guide Announces 2010 Hacker's Favorite Award Winners for Minnesota The Hacker’s Guide, a Minneapolis-based golf course rating organization, and publisher of the Hacker’s Guide to Minnesota & Western Wisconsin Golf Courses, has just announced the 2010 Hacker’s Favorite Award winners for Minnesota. These 25 courses represent the “best of breed” based on total score and their award is a reflection of their excellence when it comes to catering to the needs of average golfers (“hackers”) across the state:.... Read Press Release.
1/10/10 -- Hacker's Guide Completes 283 Minnesota & Western Wisconsin Golf Course Ratings for Review Guide Since the first snowfall that officially ended the 2009 golf season, Hacker's Guide has been hard at work preparing to publish its second book Hacker's Guide to Minnesota & Western Wisconsin Golf Courses. With more than sixty raters rating 283 courses, the book is scheduled to be published in February, 2010.... Read Press Release.
4/10/09 -- Hacker's Guide to Twin Cities Golf Courses now in Distribution across the Twin Cities Metro Area The Hacker's Guide to Twin City Golf Courses can now be found across the Twin Cities Metro Area at local Borders and Barnes & Noble bookstores, in Holiday Stationstores, online at Amazon.com.... Download press release.
1/14/09 -- Apex Golf Enterprises Introduces the Hacker's Guide to Twin Cities Golf Courses at the Minnesota Golf Show Golfers in Minnesota finally have a golf course rating guide that they can use to determine which course to play on a beautiful summer weekend. Apex Golf Enterprises, a Minneapolis-based golf company, is set to introduce the first in a planned series of golf course rating guides... Download press release.
Media Kit
Contains information on the Hacker's Guide, a backgrounder, FAQs, a sales sheet, an author's bio and contact information. Download Media Kit.
Logos & Images
If you are looking for logos and images to use in your publication, we've provided the following images:
Book Close-up: low-res high-res
w/Hacker Guy: low-res high res
w/Lottsa Books: low-res high res
Hacker's Guide logo: low-res blk/white high res
If you have additional questions, reporters can contact Bruce Stasch at 612-386-9062 or "ultimatehacker@hackersguides.com"
